Emergency Stop question (E-Stop) when Using TIUs in Passive Mode

If all the tiu shut down  You're stuck with high voltage and no dcs signal on the tracks. Engines will carry on with their last command  now with no control.

The fix.... I don't know but I bet someone comes up with a pretty good one.

A separate switch to kill all 120-volt power.

Daniel,

Look up the topic "Anyone use a layout, "kill" switch?".  This gives several ideas on layout kill switches.

I also have my TIUs wired in passive mode.  However, all track power goes through either a TPC or PM, so I can use the emergency stop button on the CAB-2.  When I'm running a DCS equipped engine and a CAB-2 is not near by, I can turn off all track power via two centrally located wall switches.   

ADDED: I guess I could add the TIU/TMCC-Legacy Connector Cable between one of my TIUs and the Legacy Base, set up my Legacy PMs as TMCC, and be able to use the DCS Handheld's E-Stop button to turn off the TPCs and PMs.  May try this.

The following thread:

https://ogrforum.com/t...-passive-mode?page=1

discusses how the E-stop button on the DCS remote itself can be used to remove track power to a passively connected TIU.  While not particularly expensive to implement, it is far more complicated than the independent "kill" switch methods. 

I am not aware of any other method that uses the actual red E-stop button on the remote for a passively connected TIU.

Guys, by the time you figure out what to" press" or  "do" it's tooo late.  .

Stan's pointer to the other thread is the way to make that work if you really need it.

I do this and it works perfectly;  the DCS remote issues a TMCC halt command when you press E-stop, so the TPC shuts down.  If you already have your power routed through TMCC devices, adding the Base-TIU cable is a no-brainer.

If someone in your club has been fiddling with Arduino microcontrollers boards (less than $10), they can write a simple program that listens for this TMCC halt-command on the Base-TIU cable and activate a relay(s) to remove track power.  So that's yet another alternative to using the actual red E-stop button if you aren't using PM/TPC for power.

Good day,

Many thanks for all the replies.  Great Great Great information !!!

My conclusion is, yes, there are ways to use the TIU in Passive Mode and still have the E-Stop (Emergency Stop) of the DCS Remote to be operational.

It requires some customizations, but overall, it is possible.

Thanks!

Daniel

Note: Just as a FYI, below is a summary of all related links that I found pertinent while reading all the answers received:

Great info with electrical schematics ==> https://ogrforum.com/t.../tiu-in-passive-mode

Kill-Switch ideas ==> https://ogrforum.com/t...a-layout-kill-switch

Some related Kill-Switch products/ideas links: 

http://www.woodcraft.com/produ...sthash.XAGZtTzs.dpuf

http://www.amazon.com/Lutron-M...N-APPL/dp/B006M7L5M2

https://www.1000bulbs.com/prod...rFx9hl7K0BoCkJnw_wcB

Micro-Controller mentioned in one of the reply: http://www.arduino.cc/