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John,

I have that remote that you pictured and plan to use it to control my Lemax rides.

Just how are you able to reset the 180 bricks from a dead short.  I would think you would need to press the circuit breaker back in.

Based on your answer I should be able to reset a  dead short on my ZW-L without having to press the circuit breaker back in.

On my Pyle rack mount power strip, switches 3 through 8 each control one PH180 brick. Simply switching them on and off, in the event of a short, does the trick.  Switch 1 controls the Legacy system, switch 2 controls the ZW-L, and switch 9 controls the Legacy expansion remote.

Now, controlling each of THOSE switches with a remote would be cool !

Command Center 6

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  • Command Center 6
Last edited by dennish
@dennish posted:

Now, controlling each of THOSE switches with a remote would be cool !

No problem, this is what I use.  One kills the whole layout, the other four individually control the PH180 bricks.

DEWENWILS Remote Control Outlet,15A/1875W (2 Remotes + 5 Outlets Set)

I actually bought more remotes for these so I could have scattered around within easy reach all around the layout.

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  • mceclip0

No problem, this is what I use.  One kills the whole layout, the other four individually control the PH180 bricks.

DEWENWILS Remote Control Outlet,15A/1875W (2 Remotes + 5 Outlets Set)

I actually bought more remotes for these so I could have scattered around within easy reach all around the layout.

I can vouch for these.  After I saw John post these the first time I bought them and they are fantastic.  For my AV system I have two devices behind my AV cabinets amidst a maze of wires.  One click and they are powered on instead of reaching behind to flip an on-off cube tap.

Thanks John,

John

When you turn off the power to the PH180 brick, that resets the breaker.  When you turn it back on, if the short is cleared, all is well.  To reset them I just turn them off and right back on, same as pushing the button.

So, if you have a short, once the short is resolved,  there is no need to press in the circuit breaker as mentioned on page 10 of the instruction manual just turn off and turn on the power.  Nice feature.

Too bad that will not work with the ZW-L.  Once you have a dead short and the circuit breaker is activated you need to turn off the power resolve the short press in the circuit breaker and then turn the power back on.

Well, I can't help with the ZW-L, I don't own one.  However, the ZW-L should normally not trip the thermal breaker, doesn't it have fold-back current limiting?

Your Lionel ZW-L is equipped with three levels of overload protection: dynamic power limiting, foldback
current limit, and circuit breakers. Each output has its own fold-back current limit and circuit
breaker. The dynamic power limiting is applied across all four outputs. This provides multi-layer protection
for your trains and transformer while supplying the maximum power possible for pulling lighted cars or
fighting over grades with heavy loads.

And their take on the actual physical circuit breakers, seems they assume the electronic current limiting will deal with most overloads.

The circuit breakers on the ZW-L Transformer are designed as a fail-safe for the electronic over-current
protection. Because most problems will be protected by and corrected during fold-back mode operation
(described in the previous section), circuit breakers should be tripped infrequently.

Seems like a power cycle would cure 90% of the ZW-L overload issues as well.

A look at the wiring!  The ABSOLUTE BEST piece of advice I have gotten on the forum is to run as many wires as possible BEFORE the deck is put on!  Much easier access!

Wiring 1Wiring 2Wiring 4

I decide to remove the grounding bars and use the remaining spots on the barrier strip for grounding.  There is a picture of a completed "feeder station" below.  There are a total of 18 of those for the layout.

Wiring 11Wiring 12

The before and after photos of a "feeder drop station".

Feeder Drop 1

Feeder Drop 3Feeder Drop 2

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  • Wiring 1
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  • Feeder Drop 3

dennish, you obviously have an excellent, detailed plan and your execution is first rate. Well done! One of my goals is to wire everything before laying the plywood surface as you have.

I can get under things and crawl around but I have to stretch for 30 minutes first. (I have to stretch to get out of bed.) It would be nice if one of the writers here on OGR came up with some kind of physical warm up program for model railroaders.

I agree: Wiring before the deck goes on is the way to go! I did that with the both levels of my new layout. Unfortunately, I've changed the wiring plan significantly for the upper lever. It is no fun making those connections with the frames in position and the decks installed! Contortion City!

Hmmm... I may have just renamed the town!

Chris

LVHR

Some track laying pictures:

I made a couple of jigs to keep the straight runs "straight-ish".  I have 2 runs of about 20 feet each that are essentially straight, so I figured it was worth the investment in time to make these.  The holes in the jig are for drilling holes in the deck for wire drops.  Because I am laying track on short-napped carpet (a sin for some people on the forum ), I heat up the drill bit with a torch and drill the holes through the template and I get no puling of fiber in the carpet.  Works like a charm!  We have run trains on carpet for our club for years and never once have I ever had to pull carpet fibers out of a locomotive.  I see it as instant ballast.  It looks great against green carpet for grass or brown carpet for "summer grass".

Dennis

Track Guide 1Track Guide 2Track Guide 4Track Guide 5Track Guide 6Track Guide 7Track Guide 9Track Guide 10Track Guide 12

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  • Track Guide 1
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  • Track Guide 9
  • Track Guide 10
  • Track Guide 12

Thanks to all for the kind words and encouragement!  As a high school mathematics teacher, I always tell my students to plan your work and work your plan!  I try to model that motto in what I do, as well.  I generally build things 100 times in my head before I actually start the physical labor.  It is one way to occupy my mind when my wife does not go with me on afternoon walks with the dog !

The track plan is simple - 5 concentric, around-the-room loops on a 13' by 32' layout.  The scenery will consist of Lemax/Department 56 buildings and figures, for the most part.  I've done the detailed, high-rail scenery on my previous layout and it gets to be overwhelming, so much so that I felt I would never get done!  This way, my wife, who likes to help decorate the layout at club events can help on the home layout, too.  She has no interest in the high-rail scenery either !

The outer loop is O120, followed by a mix of O120 and O96 for loop 4, a mix of O96 and O81 for loop 3,  O81 and O72 for loop 2, and O72 for loop 1.  Should be able to run the Lionel Big Boy and Challenger at the same time on the outer 2 loops!  I had to move the outer loop because of a clearance issue, but at least I caught it now!

Loops 1 and 2 will be controlled by a ZW-L, and loops 3, 4, and 5 are command only, controlled by two PH180's each.

The cable management - I am just fussy !

Dennis

Last edited by dennish

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