Lionel 180w Powerblock with 6-34120 TMCC Direct Lockon Question

What is the number of the "PowerBlock". If its the 180W brick you don't need the TMCC Lock On. It already has a fast breaker. Adding a second fast breaker in series is redundant. You could use the TMCC Lock On with your ZW though. Thats what they were designed for, to run modern command engines using older transformers.

Pete

I bought the 6-34120 to connect the 180w powerblock "brick" to the track as the PB has an odd white plug that goes specifically to the above mentioned lockon. This combination was recommended to me by Ryan Kunkle from Lionel at the show when I explained to him what I have and what I needed to do.

Note that the TMCC Direct Lockon will kill the DCS signal.  If you're running MTH DCS, the Direct Lockon is not recommended.  You can use it if you put it behind the TIU on the input side, but it's really redundant as the PH180 has an excellent circuit breaker, and the TIU has a TVS protection diode across the outputs.

If you don't ever plan on running DCS and have no TIU, ignore this comment.

John,

Yeah no worries there. I only run Lionel Legacy, TMCC, conventional and whatever else I buy from you that has TMCC jammed into it.

cubalz posted:

I bought the 6-34120 to connect the 180w powerblock "brick" to the track as the PB has an odd white plug that goes specifically to the above mentioned lockon. This combination was recommended to me by Ryan Kunkle from Lionel at the show when I explained to him what I have and what I needed to do.

Here are some connectors for the white plug if you don't want to make your own...

http://www.lionel.com/products...pc-cable-set-6-14194

I don't use a 180 brick, so I may be way off, but wouldn't you just cut the plug off and connect the wires to a distribution block, like the MTH 50-1014, and then run as many power drops as you need from the block to the track ? 

The PH180 plugs directly into the TMCC Direct Lockon, no need to cut anything off.

Richie: That thought came into my head but I was trying to come up with a solution that did not involve cutting off the plug.

I think what I am going to do is connect the powerblock to the direct lockon and then run a wires to a distribution block. I can then run all of the power drops to that. I know it seems silly but I just cannot bring myself to cut the plug from a brand new powerblock.

Gunrunnerjohn: I do believe this is what you were instructing me to do when we talked at York, correct?

That will work fine, when you take the top off the Lockon, you'll find a white connector to plug the PH180 into.

I guess my last question is: Can I attach two sets of wires to the thumb screws inside lockon housing? One pair to run to power the track and the second to run to the distribution block. I don't see why I could not do it, but want to make sure

As long as they fit under the screws and make good contact.

In addition to the wires fitting under the thumb screws, the wires also have to to fit through the Lockon slot.  Heavier wires may be harder to fit through the slot.  If you are running Legacy, you can bypass the Lockon (ignore the manual) and connect the Legacy control wire directly to the track using .110 connectors, which saves a little space in the Lockon slot.

Instead of running two wires from the lock on just run one wire from the lock on to your terminal strip and then from the terminal to the tack

cubalz posted:

 Can I possibly run all power drops to the 2 thumb screw connectors inside the lockon? For reference, I have 3 power drops.

Thanks!
John

That's what I would do. Depending upon how many drops you have, you may want to use the MTH 50-1014 terminal strip. Miller Engineering has a 10 terminal version PN#4805

How was the layout connected to the old ZW? or How many of the A,B,C,D posts did you use?

You need to connect those to the two posts in the Lock-On. 

You can use an orange or blue wire nut and twist the existing transformer track leads from the old ZW and twist them to a new jumper wire to make a single connection for the Hot and the Common.

edit: You may need a yellow wire nut - but, you get the idea