Powerhouse Lockon vs TMCC Direct Lockon

CAPPILOT, what is the name of your dealer? i am interested in the older powerhouse lockons..........roger

The 22914 lockon is for the 135 watt powerhouse only. The breaker

will trip at 7.5 amps. The direct lockon is selectable for 135 or 180 watts or

7.5 or 10 amps.

I've never quite understood why you'd want the TMCC Direct Lockon with the Powerhouse 180.  The breaker on the 180 watt PH is very fast, so the TMCC Direct Lockon doesn't seem to bring anything to the party.  I see the utility with the 125W 135W PH, it's breaker is much slower than the TMCC Direct Lockon.

Corrected to read 135W

Roger,

Sidetrack has about a dozen or so available.

Ron

thanks CAPPilot!! i just ordered 2 of them!!!!......................rogerw.

I agree. I had been using the lockon with the 180. On John's advice I removed it. I like the 180 breaker better. On derailments the lockon keeps tring to power track back up on its own. I like that I have to push reset button on 180. This way I can fix problem then reset track. Also if you are powering a TIU and track with the lockon every time it blinks and resets due to a train derailment each reset powers the TIU on and off which seems to be a bad thing to do. IMHO. 

Yep, I like the breaker to stop and not connect again until I connect it. 

Another small issue.  The TMCC Direct Lockon seems to trip on several locomotives I have as they come by the track feed on my test loop for no reason.  Both of them are ERR equipped, one with the Cruise Commander M and the other with a MiniCommander 2.  Never did sort that out, but the MTU TIU or the PH-180 work fine with them.  I also don't see any unusual currents from them.  Putting a 4.7uF cap across the TMCC Direct Lockon makes it work, but I shouldn't have to do that.  Oddly, putting a TVS across it didn't have any effect.  Finally, the TMCC Direct Lockon is not compatible with DCS, it kills the signal, another minus.  Since the TIU offers as good or better protection, it's redundant anyway.

The TMCC Direct Lockon has fallen out of favor at my place.   Anyone want to buy some?

gunrunnerjohn...how much????...............rogerw.

When I figure out if I'm really going to sell them, I'll let you know.

gunrunnerjohn........ok!!....just LMK.............rogerw

Jeff,

When you removed the TMCC Direct Lockon, how did you connect the power leads to the track? Did you just cut the connector off that's designed to plug into the TMCC Direct Lock on?

Thanks

Bruce

Gunrunnerjohn I have had the TMCC direct lockon and DCS issue. Did you find that you

had to have the power go from the lockon thru the TIU to the track, rather than from the TIU to the lockon?  

Sorry to hijack the thread

Regards

Nick

Thats actually the correct way to do it. The Lock On is simply a fast breaker that protects the Power Source. The TIU has a TVS built in to protect the engines. I agree there is no need to use the Lock On with a Powerhouse as they both have fast breakers. The one advantage of the Lock on is the breaker is self resetting while you have to manually reset the breaker on the Powerhouse. Not a big deal on the typical home layout but a PITA on a large modular layout.

Pete

That would eliminate the issue, but then the TMCC Direct Lockon really isn't doing much.  Truthfully, with the PH180 and the TIU, I see no role at all for the TMCC Direct Lockon. 

As far as the breaker reset issue, I actually prefer the breaker opening and then manually closing it after I resolve what is causing the short.

The TIU and Lock On are in series either way. The Lock On will open just as quickly no matter which side of the TIU it connected to. The time the TIU has to endure the current surge remains the same so In fact the Lock is doing as much.

For those of us whose layouts are sometimes the size of a basketball court, self resetting breakers are a blessing.

Pete