Legacy power supply Question

No Lock ON needed with the 180 bricks. They already have a fast breaker. The Lock On would be one choice for a post war ZW though you would be limited to command only. No conventional running.

Pete

You should be fine with 720 watts of power available unless you have a wonderful number of lights and accessories!  Just run a handle from one of the ZW channels and set it to full power - or less if you want to limit the top speed.

Legacy will control the output of the ZW-C if programmed to do so.  You will be able to vary all four channels independently. Check your manual for more information.

That should be more than enough power for a  really good sized layout, trains and accessories. I regularly run at least 3 scale steamers on my 10'x16' layout with just one 180w brick. I use two CW 80s from starter sets for accessories.

Don't skimp on the wiring, its crucial for getting the power to the track where its needed. I have 14ga buss with 14ga feeders every 10'-12'.

Accessories should be fine with 18 ga, but larger wire certainly won't hurt either.

I'm using fastrack and simply soldered the 14 ga feeders to the power supply tabs under the track, done. No power drops anywhere.

Norton posted:

No Lock ON needed with the 180 bricks. They already have a fast breaker. The Lock On would be one choice for a post war ZW though you would be limited to command only. No conventional running.

Pete

Don't understand sorry??  

What does the brick connect to?

It has an adapter on one end to connect to something??

The TMCC Direct Lockon is not necessary.  You can buy or build a Molex cable to connect the PH180 to your track directly.  The TMCC Direct Lockon also kills the MTH DCS signal, something to consider if you ever plan on running DCS.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The TMCC Direct Lockon is not necessary.  You can buy or build a Molex cable to connect the PH180 to your track directly.  The TMCC Direct Lockon also kills the MTH DCS signal, something to consider if you ever plan on running DCS.

Your talking to a new guy!!

Are you saying cut the connector off and use some type of splatter?

RickO posted:

That should be more than enough power for a  really good sized layout, trains and accessories. I regularly run at least 3 scale steamers on my 10'x16' layout with just one 180w brick. I use two CW 80s from starter sets for accessories.

Don't skimp on the wiring, its crucial for getting the power to the track where its needed. I have 14ga buss with 14ga feeders every 10'-12'.

Accessories should be fine with 18 ga, but larger wire certainly won't hurt either.

I'm using fastrack and simply soldered the 14 ga feeders to the power supply tabs under the track, done. No power drops anywhere.

I have 4 individual loops running 4 trains. One for each loop. I like t a lot of trains running at same time and so Close to each other. 

Your 180 brick? How is it connected to track? TMCC lock on?

Dkokoszka posted:

I have 4 individual loops running 4 trains. One for each loop. I like t a lot of trains running at same time and so Close to each other. 

Your 180 brick? How is it connected to track? TMCC lock on?

I use a lionel TPC unit, the Legacy powermaster mentioned above is the "modern" equivalent.

It adds an extra level of protection by having its own breaker, but having said that, as Norton stated above the breaker on the brick always pops first. I don't even know if the TPC breaker even works.

 FWIW I believe Lionel "recommends" using a TMCC lockon.

Lionel sells a cable if your are unable to fabricate one like John has.

Dkokoszka posted:

Norton posted:

No Lock ON needed with the 180 bricks. They already have a fast breaker. The Lock On would be one choice for a post war ZW though you would be limited to command only. No conventional running.

Pete

Don't understand sorry??  

What does the brick connect to?

It has an adapter on one end to connect to something??

 

 

You are confusing a Lock On which is just a clip on the track for two wires with a TMCC Direct Lock On. The latter provides a very fast electronic circuit breaker. Post War transformers have a very slow breaker which is not fast enough for Command engines. 180 watt bricks also have a fast breaker so no need for two fast breakers. Because the relay in a TMCC Lock On does not close until about 13 volts is applied to it, it is no good for conventional engines unless you like to go from zero to 100 mph in about a second.

Pete 

So I am guessing if I have a 180 brick I can connect to track as follows;

1. Legacy Powermaster ( some programming needed)

2. Legacy NEW 360 Powermaster  ( Some programming needed and are they available yet)

3 TMCC  direct Lock on (easy enough but not needed)

5 ZW-L or ZW-C: $$$$

6  Make your own Cable: Not me!

7 Buy pre made cable from Lionel  ( This looks like easiest way) but are they available ?

Thanks

How many accessories are you powering that you using all 720 watts of power?

How large is your layout? I would think you could dedicate at least 2 of the zw bricks to your layout.

I can. I did not to worry about it since I was running all Lionchel + using the 72 watt wall adapter. 

So the 4 bricks were not powering trains.  3 bricks for lights 1 brick for accessories.  Probably an over kill  

I used the CW 80 for lights and had problems. Could only lite 6 MTH buildings at once. Probably a bad CW  

I have 20 MTH buildings, flood lights etc. 

dave

Direct brick -Make your own-yes! Cut the ends -NO!

here's the housing

Here's the pins

center is hot(A),  bottom is common(U),  top near point is not used- guide hole for jumpers on ZW-C - point is a locator

or just run the wires from the ZW-C channels and set the voltage.

I run through the ZW-C to have the ability to manage the voltage when needed.

Dkokoszka posted:

So I am guessing if I have a 180 brick I can connect to track as follows;

6  Make your own Cable: Not me!

7 Buy pre made cable from Lionel  ( This looks like easiest way) but are they available ?

Thanks

The Lionel cable set (#6-14194 TMCC TPC Cable Set) would work for you. I tried to get one of these from a dealer near me several years ago and it never came in. I finally gave up and found PH-TIU adapters at CT McCormick Hardware, which were perfect for my application. CT McCormick shows the Lionel cable set as 'In Stock' and others may now have them as well. In your situation I would try for those first.

However, if all else fails, the PH-TIU adapters that CT McCormick Hardware has are pre-made (I think the make them themselves) for connecting a Powerhouse 180 to an MTH TIU. It has a PH-180 connector on one end and banana plugs on the other. You could either remove the banana plugs or adapt them to connect to your track in someway. The adapter is on their website under the 'Transformers & TMCC' button on the left vertical menu. The Lionel cable set is also located there.

In my setup, I have my PH-180s going first to my TIU (as shown in GRJ's picture above) and Legacy is connected to the TIU output commons, so the McCormick adapters are perfect for me. They are also very well made and use good quality parts, including the banana plugs, which are not all created equal. If you ever add MTH's DCS system they would also work well for that.

But, as GRJ and Moonman say above, the 'make your own' adapters would definitely be the least expensive. 

Thanks I guess no-one uses all of the other stuff?

Dave

Dkokoszka posted:

Thanks I guess no-one uses all of the other stuff?

Dave

There are uses for all of it and it is all used. Like a lawyer would answer a question... "it depends". Since you have a ZW-C, it is all of them rolled into one controller and four transformers.

It will power a layout and control conventional and command engines via the remote or at the transformer. If you change to MTH DCS, you replace the ZW-C controller with a TIU and you can run both systems with the Legacy 990 connected.

So, in your situation at this point in time, the ZW-C is your answer. Use A for trains, B & C for accessories and lights and leave D open for future use.