I use mostly MTH buildings.
I have about 20 from the big ones to the small ones.
If you could estimate roughly, how many buildings could be powered with the 180 brick?
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Probably could put all of them on one 180W brick if they don't have the blinkers in them. If they do, cut it in half.
LIONEL posted:Probably could put all of them on one 180W brick if they don't have the blinkers in them. If they do, cut it in half.
Thank you. They do have the blinkers in them.
Dave
I'd buy an AC amp meter and wire it to the brick. The brick handles 10 amp.That's a lot of lights.
Rod Miller
I agree with Rod. Judging by the number of buildings I had on my old layout of which included not only MTH buildings with blinking lights but also Miller Engineering Billboards I'd be very surprised if a 180 watt brick wasn't enough for 20 buildings with flashing lights as I used one 135 watt brick to power all my buildings/signs/street&traffic lights.
-Greg
If you can convert lights to LED, the brick will go a lot farther!
But why would a blinking light use more power?
Why guess? The small voltmeter/clamp meter at harbor freight is like $10. Just set the meter for amps and place the clamp around the hot wire that you currently have supplying the lighting.
We have the RailKing engine Shed, The switch control tower, the #455 oil derrick, gabe the lamp lighter, the large station with two platforms, the freight platform, a Lionel switch tower and the arched trestle bridge with a blinking aircraft light that were taxing a small AC transformer.( see here Eagle Scout project click me) I put the clamp meter on it and got a reading of 1.85 amps.
This was a state when all were powered and included any resistance from all of the wire, connectors and activation buttons. I changed it to an MTH Z-1000 brick accessory output and the lights became bright and the accessories activated in a snappy fashion. I went from a 2 amp to 5.5 amp supply at 14 volts AC.
The incandescent light bulb draw will add up, Plus the wiring and connections, but I can't see you having more than a 10amp draw with 20 buildings.
You need to have a multi-meter when you play with electric trains.
Dominic Mazoch posted:If you can convert lights to LED, the brick will go a lot farther!
But why would a blinking light use more power?
The blink is accomplished by an element that heats and breaks, cools, connects and repeats. More resistance, more watts needed.
