@ftauss posted:I'm looking to protect the MTH trains. 2 Christmases ago I had a derail with NPC 0-6-0 Lionchief. It blew the circuit board and the wires cooked off and burned the rug, I ain't worried about the ZW, I'm worried about the delicate electronics.
This has been talked a lot on here, you do a search you will find a ton of discussions about using modern electronics with older transformers. It boils down to 2 things:
1)Having a quick blow circuit breaker or fuse in line with the power from the transformer to the track. Some use a quick throw breaker, others use things like quick blow auto fuses. Depending on your usage, they prob should be between 5 and 8 amps IMO, others may disagree.
2)TVS diodes across the power feed to the track (Some put it right across the U and other terminal on the transformer you use for track power, others at the track between the hot and common wires. A TVS is a voltage clamp, it prevents the kind of surge that can happen when a short occurs that can do real damage to modern electronics.
If you search the threads on here for TVS and circuit breaker, you will find a lot of recommendations. Modern transformers should not have this problem, though I think a tvs still makes sense.
