Magic Smoke - DCCWiki

DCC Terms

DCC Components	Accessory Decoder, Automatic Phase Inversion, Command station, Computer Interface, Consists, DCC Booster, DCC Ready, Decoder, Digital Packet, How Digital Command Control Works, Multifunction Decoder, Power Supply, Speed Steps, Throttle, XPressNet

General	Address Partitioning, Ammeter, Analog Control of Model Railroads, Bus, Cab, Can Motor, Command Control, Coreless Motors and DCC, DCC, DCC in a Box, DMM, Distributed Power, Frog Juicer, Jump Port, LCC, Layout Command Control, Locomotive, Motor, Multiple Unit Consisting, Original Equipment Manufacturer, Phase, Power Bus, Programming Track, Pulse Width Modulation, Rail Size, Serial User System Interface - SUSI, Slots, Standard Dimensions, Turnout Motors, Turnouts with Digital Command Control, Voltage Drop, Zero Stretching

Mobile decoder	Analog Conversion, Back EMF, Decoder Connection Method, Digitrax Transponding, Ditch Lights, Dither, Energy Storage, FX Lighting, Functions, High-Frequency Decoders, Kick Start, Lenz USP, Lighting Effects, Locomotive Interface, Momentum, Multifunction Decoder Assisted Consisting, NMRA Connector, NMRA DCC Plug for Multifunction Decoders, Power Conversion, Programming Lock, Quartering, Silent Drive, Snood, XOR

Non-DCC	Continuous Load, FRED, Heat Shrink Tubing, Magic Smoke, RJ12/RJ25 Connector, Rule 17, Series Resistor, Stall Current

Primary DCC Components

Boosters · Command Station · Decoder · Power Supply · Throttles/Cabs

Short Definition

Belief that electronic devices contain 'magic smoke' that escapes when the device is overloaded (ie burned out).

When an electronic device (LED, transistor, computer chip, or DCC decoder) is electrically overloaded you sometimes get a whiff of something burning – and you might actually see a puff of smoke rising from the remains of the device. There is a sentiment in the world of electronics that this is "Magic" smoke. It is sealed into the electronic device at its manufacture, and "letting the magic smoke out" is a way of saying that the device has been electrically destroyed.