think of a BPC as a device with 4 individual toggle switches connected to one transformer or you can connect 2 separate180w powerhouses to one BPC device but you can only power either aux1-1or aux2-2 powering all 4 track outputs at same time but not both powerhouse can run all 4 outputs at same time with the ability to turn each one off independently.
I took a look at lionels owners manual for sc-2 you can wire up to 12 accessories and will assume a track can be considered an accessory ?
the down side is only one power supply to each unit and at $129 ea maybe more than you care to pay as it would take 6 of them as you are using 6 individual 180w powerhouses.
now for districts 1&2 you can use first 2 outputs to aux1-1 and the last 2 outputs to aux1-2 that would take care of power districts 1&2.
then power districts 3&4 would be on a second BPC setup as 2 outputs to aux1-1 and aux1-2
then the 3rd BPC would be setup as above for power districts 5 as aux1-1 then power districts 7&8 would be on last 2 outputs set as aux1-2.
not sure if it can be used this way you would have to try it on work bench to see if bpc's can be split in half track output wise with 2 individual powerhouses supplying power to 2 each track outputs.
this makes a total of 3 bpc's setup using 2 individual180w powerhouses.
hope this helps and makes sense to you ?
now for simplicity if more than one block of tracks in each district it would save for complexity if each 180w powerhouse and 6 bpc's are used so you now have 4 individual tracks per 180 powerhouse you can power or turn of individually thus allowing rest of track/s to still be powered.
if you setup as 6 bpc's if on any one loop/track your running conventional trains now you can turn power off to that one block section yet rest of blocks on that same bpc are still powered. this comes in handy if you have switches where one train can come from a inner loop to the outer loop.
it might help if you included a track diagram so we can see what you are actually doing as of now sounds like all of district 1 is one loop or? of powered track.
All:
Background:
I am in the process of setting up the power districts for my PRR Panhandle 2.0. It is a TMCC layout.
There will be 8 power districts supplied by 6 Lionel Power House 180 watt bricks. My revised thinking is:
- District 1: Steubenville (part of the mainline); PH180 #1
- District 2: River Route; PH180 #2 & TPC-400 (conventional & command)
- District 3: Coal Mine spur; PH180 #3
- District 4: Weirton Junction Yard; PH180 #3
- District 5: PRR Bridge (part of the mainline); PH180 #4
- District 6: Weirton (part of the mainline); PH180 #5
- District 7: Weirton Steel Yard; PH180 #6
- District 8: Staging Area; PH180 #6
The yards sharing a PowerHouse 180 lack enough activity to justify their own power supply.
I want to be able to turn off power independently in Districts 3, 4, 7, and 8.
Question(s):
I am thinking about using a Block Power Controller to shut off power to Districts 3, 4, 7, and 8. Previously in PRR Panhandle 1.0 I did this for 4 yards using a single BPC and a single PowerHouse 180. With districts needing more power, my questions are:
- Can this still be done with just 1 Block Power Controller or do I need 1 for Districts 3 & 4 and 1 for Districts 7 & 8? Remember that 1 PH180 powers districts 3 & 4 and that 1 PH180 powers District 7 and a 3rd powers District 8. you have 6 separate power supplies so districts 3&4 is one BPC, districts 7&8 is 2nd bpc districts 1&2 a 3rd bpc and district 5 would make the 4th bpc. I think the outputs can be split on bps as 2 outputs connected to each separate 180w powerhouse I'm not positive if you have the bpc and 2 powerhouses set them up and see if it can be done that way.
- Can 1 BPC deal with 2 PH180's? yes the bpc has at left corner tr-1 and tr-2 this is where the separate hot wire connects to each bpc so if all 4 set as aux1-1 then tr-1 controls all 4 outputs. or possibly tr-1 aux1-1 the first 2 outputs connect to it and tr-2 set as aux1-2 the last 2 outputs to track use that 2nd 180w powerhouse supply you'll have to test this and see if it will work that way.
- Each BPC has four addresses, so the first will address 1-4, the second will address 5-8 (District 7) and the third (District 8) will address 9-12, right? you are correct each bpc is in multiples of 4 also when you go to setup each bpc individual id # all you need do is push accessory on remote then aux1 and then with a#1 or a #5 or A #9 for each successive bpc.
I hope this answers your questions.
Thanks,
George