gunrunnerjohn posted:36 amps through the TIU will certainly toast things, you might want to re-think that.
That's what's available from each transformer. Of course, I have a 10 amp Airpax circuit breaker on each output tap between the transformer and the TIU. So the TIU will never see 36 amps.
And to be more specific; I run two transformers; each transformer has 2 18v constant output taps. So with 2 transformers I have 4 total 18v outputs. One tap per TIU channel. Each channel then split for 2 independent loops; total 8 loops.
BTW: I tested the Airpax breakers against several other types of fuses and breakers, including the high priced breaker people recommend on this site; and Airpax is the fastest. Though unscientific I suppose, I simply connected the breakers I wanted to compare in series and tripped a short (no engines on track of course). The Airpax would always trip first. The breakers I use are the military spec delay "B", which I found "new old stock" on ebay for $12 each. These are very expensive off the shelf at a retailer. And I talked to a tech at Sensata before I bought them, told him what I was doing, and he said they should work fine for my application. Which they have.
I might add that I also talked to a tech at Signal before I bought the transformers; he was quite helpful and told me what to look for in a transformer for my purpose, (isolated, noise suppression, pure sine wave, etc.) whether I bought an Signal MPI transformer or not.
What I'm finding out about this hobby is many people are locked into using just "hobby" equipment; they don't realize that there are usually other options out there. Of course, when I mention using alternatives, then a few people will pop up and say, Oh, yeah, I also use a non-hobby transformer. But I don't see these people pointing out the alternatives very often, until I mention it. Or so it seems to me.
