Lionel Powerhouse step-down voltage regulator/converter?

You will get a lot of suggestions on this one.  My thought:

1) sell the powerhouses.

2) take the proceeds and buy a good 1033 for the 14 volts AC and an old computer power supply for the DC.

These options are safe and won't burn your house down.  Now, take the remaining money and go to dinner with your wife.

I use 16 volts for most DZ1000s.  For Ross tinplate switches, 18v is necessary for reliable throws on the heavy points.  Nothing worse for operations than a switch half thrown.

A ZW, with the 4 variable outputs, usually provides power depending on the layout, but I also have a collection of bricks and wall warts that output 14, 16, and 18 VAC that I have used on some layouts ... depends on how many DZ1000s need power.  The switch motor draws current intermittently and with TMCC routes, the throws are not simultaneous so overloads are not an issue.

If you want to use the Powerhouse, put a variable transformer (trade name Variac) between the transformer and the house AC socket.  The river site has one for $51 here.  Trim the Powerhouse output voltage for what drives the DZ1000s reliably.

@Tracker John posted:

If you want to use the Powerhouse, put a variable transformer (trade name Variac) between the transformer and the house AC socket.  The river site has one for $51 here.  Trim the Powerhouse output voltage for what drives the DZ1000s reliably.

Be careful if you go this route.  The particular variable transformer mentioned, and most others, also allow you to turn up the input voltage to the PH-1, all the way to 140 VAC.

PH-1's are not designed to handle that.  A normal wall socket delivers 120 VAC.  You could easily see sparks and smoke.

Mike