Emergency E-Stop works on remote but not on WiFi app

I have to test mine. I have it enabled. I just never had to use it with the app so far.

Hold the estop button for a few seconds to trigger it.

I believe this might be to prevent an accidental triggering.

Son-of-a-gun! You are right it takes about a  5 second press for it to execute the E-stop command!  My use of E-stop is on those rare occasions where I see an unavoidable collision coming (layout is relatively small and unforgiving for switching errors!) and the E-Stop can stop the trains much quicker than waiting for the graceful stop of pressing Reverse.  But a 5 second execution of the E-stop through the app wouldn't be quick enough, IMO.

I discovered something else today in experimenting with E-Stop.  Typically, an E-Stop would require resetting the power on the TIU and remote. Today I executed an E-Stop as a test, and anticipated having to do the power reset.  But when I reset the TIU power, the track power did not come back up.  I scratched my head on this for quite a while and eventually took the TIU out and set it up on the bench. Of course there it powered up normally.  I tried to recreate the problem after re-installation, and it did it again. Then I realized that the WiFi unit was powered separately, and I had not recycled power on it.   Just disconnecting the TIU from the WiFi unit successfully recycled the TIU.   There is a red LED inside the TIU that can be seen through the cover. It curiously stays lit even when you remove power from the TIU.  That LED is apparently backfed power from the WiFi unit's USB cable. Unless BOTH units have their power recycled (to make the red LED go out), the TIU does not reset.  This had never been a problem for me before because only recently did I put the WiFi power on a separate "always powered" strip.  I did this so that I don't have to wait so long for the WiFi unit to boot up when I turn on the layout's "master" switch at the beginning of a session.  

I’m still not an app fan. I have it. I upgraded everything. This is an example where form over function fails. I don’t even have the WiFi hooked up on my new layout. The remote is better. If you want to use the app, have the power supplies on a power strip and hit the switch for absolute manual estop.

George

Thanks for posting about the WIFI power reset. I have mine powered separately and will power up the WIFI before anything else. There are times I leave it powered during breaks, and shut off the rest of the layout. Waiting for the WIFI and my old phone to power up fully, is something longer than our grandson likes. It gives him time to swap the head end power before the session even begins. That's something I don't like.

 I think MTH forgot to reset the time needed to trip the e-stop on the app. 5 seconds seems very long. Mine seemed to trip faster. I didn't time it. It did take some effort though and more than 1 second. Now that I see it, I think it has been turned off for the last year or more. I turned it on a long time ago for emergencies. Somewhere along the way, it got hidden.

 I wonder how it works with several WIFI units in use? It must kill them all?

 There are quirks with the app that are different than the remote. Each has pros and cons. After using the app for any length of time, I loose patience with the thumbwheel when I have to scroll thru the engine list or alphabet for naming stuff. The read on the app seems much faster here too.

 I look forward to having a button type controller in use with the app like in the other post. I'm losing interest in my trains and this time it's not returning very fast.

 I want to report back on my own post today.  I ran the E-Stop test again and this time the train stopped instantly,  no 5 second delay.  No explanation as to why so many previous times it did nothing or yesterday took  5 seconds to execute the stop. Will investigate further.

Also want to comment on remote vs. app.  The app has a learning curve as does the remote.  If you are performing a lot of actions in quick succession, finding what you need quickly can be a challenge.  My biggest gripe is that the "Custom Sound x" entries should be editable so you can insert your own description. Referring to an external paper table of what Custom Sound does what is really a sign that the software wasn't finished.

Background: My layout is about 135 sq ft, and I have 4 trains parked in the "yard".  There are no 2 loops that are completely independent of each other, and there is a short "choke point" that all train routes must pass through if I try to run 2 or more trains at once.  My goal with the Record/Play feature is to run multiple trains while managing the choke point.   This involves rehearsing the record/play over and over again until I get one right. Of course each session also involves some load/unload activity and stops, so I tend to be very busy issuing commands and operating switches via the AIU.  As soon as I make a mistake, I have to start over!  It's a challenge--one of these days, I'll get a good session and save it.

I want to make a belated correction to my post above regarding making Custom Sounds editable. They are, of course, editable, as I discovered today. I was happy to find that they are. It's a feature that had eluded me earlier in my DCS WIU app.