I am considering getting a Z-DC1 to power up the lights in the buildings on my small layout and several stand-alone lights.. I have about 10 assorted MTH Railking buildings, 2 Lionel yard lights, and 4 Model Power streetlights. I intend to wire these to a bus bar and then connect that to a transformer. Would the Z-DC-1 work for my purposes? Thanks.
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From what I can tell, the variable-output Z-DC1 is rated for 20 Watts providing up to 17.2V DC.
While it obviously depends on your mix of buildings (number of bulbs), I'd suggest 20 Watts is under-sized for your dozen or so lighting accessories.
Do you need the variable control to adjust brightness? Or is this a set-it-and-forget-it situation?
If you are only powering lighting and DC is acceptable, another idea is to look at a universal laptop power supplies. For less than $10 on eBay (free shipping from a US supplier), you can get a 90 Watt DC output brick with a slide switch to select from a set of output voltages. Here's one that puts out 12V, 15V, 16V, 18V which kind-of sort-of straddles 14-16V range often associated with O-gauge accessories.
Most of these bricks come with the barrel/coax connector, so pair it with a female adapter that converts to screw-terminals so you don't have to splice the connector cable.
So you get 4 times the power for a third the cost.
Yep, a little transformer for a lot of money.
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