Model railway decoder current budget calculator

Calculate concurrent current and current margin with your own figures.

Your numbers

Use the units shown. Results update as you change valid inputs.

Use concurrent current and current margin to compare changes to your inputs. The method and limits below explain the scope.

Examples

Examples

Try the starting example

Concurrent locomotive and accessory currents (amperes)
0.5,0.8,0.2
User supply operating limit (amperes)
2
Concurrent current (amperes)
1.5
Current margin (amperes)
0.5

Try another scenario

Concurrent locomotive and accessory currents (amperes)
0.8,0.9,0.4
User supply operating limit (amperes)
2.5
Concurrent current (amperes)
2.1
Current margin (amperes)
0.4
Calculation method

Calculation method

Concurrent current (amperes)

Sum measured concurrent currents.

Current margin (amperes)

User limit−sum currents.

Symbols and units
a
Concurrent locomotive and accessory currents (amperes)
b
User supply operating limit (amperes)

Use the units shown. A list keeps the order in which you enter its values. The symbol ^ means “raised to the power of”.

Assumptions & limits

Assumptions & limits

  • Measured simultaneous current sum against a user-supplied operating limit; no supply/wire sizing recommendation. Supported limits: All numeric inputs and computed intermediates must remain finite. Supported numeric input magnitude is zero or 1e-12 through 1e12 in absolute value; reject values outside this bounded range. All lists/JSON record tables are limited to 100 records unless a stricter bound is stated; reject malformed record arity and wrong member types. All numeric values must be finite. Lists contain at most 100 records; required lists must be nonempty. Rates, probabilities and fractions are entered as fractions, not percentages; fractions must be between 0 and 1. Use a single consistent user-selected currency for all amounts; no exchange-rate conversion.
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