Wiring accessories - a Newbie question

[Anonymous]

I'm relatibvely new to model railroading. I have an O gauge layout that my boys and I are building (8' x 8'). I am running a Lionel LionMaster with TMCC on MTH track. I am thinking of switching over to a DCS system. In any case, my question is how do I wire accessories (such as houses that liht up, etc.) into the system? Do I need to buy some type of an accessory transformer, or do I run them off the existing transformer?

[wrmcclellan]

crahol,

Which transformer are you using?

Many (but not all) toy train transformers have some fixed voltage accessory outputs (typ 12-14 vac).

Regards,
Roy

[Anonymous]

I have a ZW Controller with two 135 watt PowerHouse

[wrmcclellan]

Run them off your existing transformer - the ZW is excellent for this as it has four controllable voltage outputs.

Please let us know if this is not addressing your question

1. At tis time, you should have variable voltage control out of the B-U and C-U terminals on the rear of the ZW. The smaller handles on each side of the ZW controll these outputs. This lets you provide a lower voltage for accessories. You will find that most accessories group into those that need 14-16 volts and those that need 12-14 volts.

The A-U and D-U terminals should be used to supply your tracks (at full voltage for TMCC operation). These outputs are controlled by the two large outside handles.

2. With two 135 w PHs, this gives you about 7 amps per PH for current supply from the ZW. You can increase this by adding up to two more PHs (I recommend you get the 180 w versions) at your convenience.

Regards,
Roy

[Anonymous]

Roy: Based on what you are stating, I will take the wire from the accessory (say a house) and waire it to either the B-U or C-U terminals on the rear of the ZW.

If I am goign to be running 10-20 accessories, do you recommend that I get a separate transformer that will be dedicated just to the accessories? If so, what do you recommend? (Again, I may be changing over to a DCS system, but I'll keep the ZW and the two 135 PHs). Thanks for your assiatance. When it comes to electronics and wiring, I'm really a novice.

Craig

[wrmcclellan]

Craig,

Yes. Just wire from the B-U or C-U terminals and use the controller handle to set the voltage level - which is easy as you can start low and bring the voltage up until you are pleased with that accessory's performance.

One note of caution - too high a voltage can shorten the lifetime of lamps in the accessories. Run the voltage as low as possible for best performance for the motors on a motorized accessory, which will help to preserve the lamps.

As far as separate transformers - this is really a choice of convenience for you.

The new ZW can really handle some power with 2 135 w and 2 180 w PHs attached.

Going to DCS will not really cause any issue regardless of which way you go. All the DCS TIU requires is up to 4 transformer inputs to supply up to 4 track circuits - so at some point you may wi***o use the 4 ZW outputs through the TIU and have a separate transformer for accessories if you end up with 4 track cicuits.

In the meantime - use the ZW for all your needs.

With the 2 135 w PHs, you will be limited to the number of accessories and trains you can run. Accessories vary, but a starting point may be to allocate 1 ampere per accessory. This means a 135 w PH will power about 7 accessories continuously.

However - the good news is that one typically does not run all the accessories at the same time. So - this means you can probably hook up to more accessories than 7 or 8. The number of lamps that are on will determine the load. Regular toy train lamps typ draw about 0.2 amps. This means 5 lamps are 1 amp and most accessories only have one or two lamps. So you could power 20 accessories with one lamp (4 amps) and run maybe 2 or 3 of them continuously (2 - 3 amps).

Regards,
Roy

[Anonymous]

Your awesome. Thanks for your help.

Craig

[wrmcclellan]

Craig,

You are quite welcome. Check back and see if there are any other thoughts that come up on this post. If I made any errors or omissions in my logic, someone will post a useful reply.

Happy New Year - run some trains!
Roy

[willpick]

Craig, this is just a suggestion: buy another 180W powerhouse and add it to the ZW. Use either the B or C input- your instructions should tell you how to add powerhouses and set up the outputs. The 180W powerhouses can be bought for less than 75$ at most hobby shops. Use the new output strictly for the accessories. If (or when) you change to DCS, then you shouln't need to buy another powerhouse[unless you want to run more trains[:D]]

[GPJ68]

One other thought, if you haven't already thought of it, is to pick up some terminal or barrier strips to wire all those lights and accessories to, then run only a few wires from the strips to the transformer . Avoids creating a birds nest of wires on the transformer and makes disconnecting and troubleshooting those accessiories easier should one develop a problem or a short. You'll want to use substantially heavier guage wire between the transformer and strips to avoid potential overheating problems from the power draw of the accessories.

[Chris F]

IIRC, ZW's supplied with 135W PoHo's (like mine) contain a 7.5A circuit breaker. You can use 180W PoHo's, but you will only get about 7.5A (135W @ 18V) out of them.

Check the plate on the back of your ZW controller to see if this applies to you. If it does, you should use the lower values when determining how many accessories you can run from one PoHo. Lionel doesn't offer the 135W "brick" anymore, but if you can find one it probably will cost even less than the 180W version.

[Anonymous]

It sounds like if I really want to be certain to get the most out of my accessories, that I might think about purchasing a separate transformer that I can dedicate to accessories. That being the case, what transformer do you all recommend?

Thanks for all of your assistance,

Craig

[willpick]

How big a transformer to buy depends on how many accessories you will have on the layout. If you have 5 or less, then a Lionel transformer (a 1033 or 1044 rated at 90 Watts input[75W output]) would be sufficent. between 5 & 10, i'd use a TW or SW type as they have 100+ watts output. IF you just want to buy one unit, get a postwar ZW. with four outputs,all variable, and 180 watts of output power, you wouldn't need to buy another transformer for a very long time. HTH