powering a layout

1]Be sure that the railpower transformers---the 180 watt PoHo and the Z-100 are in phase with one another.

 

2] If you are running only in Command the voltage will be fixed at the same rate

[18 VAC] in each of the power districts[loops]. Therefore crossing the insulated center rail between districts will not be a problem when the engine's leading pickup is in one district and the trailing pickup in the other.

 

Currently I am only using the Lionel brick for track power and the 750 for TIU power.

Do I just need to isolate the center rails?

I have two channels, one on each loop, each powered with a Lionel PH180.  Crossing over is never a problem, they don't miss a beat.

 

So. No track isolation..?

Yes-insulate the center rail in the crossover between the power districts.

I get the theory...my concern is letting the smoke out of my mth engines...
I would like to power the track via my TIU fixed. with the Lionel brick. And the mth
Z1000 

So how much space is required to seperate the rails...because as the contact roller crosses..if the space is to small..could that create a connection?
Or as long as they are in phase, not a concern?


I wish I could see visual...
Or had a hobbyist close by who is doing these things.

I will post a photo that hopefully will show you a gap in the crossover center rail that I cut with a Dremmel and fiber disc. I never used fiber pins to insulate the center rail, only the 3/32 to 1/8"{-}air gap.

 

In the photo below follow the center rail in the crossover from right to left starting from the track switch and you should locate the air gap. This is a crossover between the inner and outer mainlines as shown in the wider view.

Layout has been dormant since Feb. '10, hope to be back to work this Spring.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So the momentary contact created btmy the roller is of no concern as long as both power supplies ate in phase...
Thanks

Correct!

 

Take a look at the bottom of one of your locomotives, and observe that there are two (or more) center-rail rollers. So, your concerns about a single roller somehow causing a problem, as it bridges the gap, are unfounded.  There will often be a period of time when the pairs of rollers, wired in parallel, are bridging that gap, and no smoke is released.

As does gunrunnerjohn, I energize the adjoining power districts[insulated at the crossover I pictured earlier] with a pair of 180 watt PoHos pictured below. 

Good to know.

I am a Low Volt Tech..I can install and repair anything that communicates electronically
With a schematic I can tackle anything...
but my comfort level diminishes when its MY trains...
And MY money

And I am still not comfortable with AC running my trains
Since I ran DCC in HO    this change has been intimidating

Thanks for the info

PVC cord management...pretty cool

You are running conventional..correct?

What are the dual aluminum cases?

Running DCC, little did you know that you were already running AC to your trains!

 

DCC Power

 

Oscilloscope trace of a DCC waveform as seen on the track.

I run TMCC primarily and Conventional with Grand Kids stuff plus a few favorite old Ps-1 engines. 

The dual aluminuim cases are Track Power Controllers [TPCs]which enable me to program and run Conventional from the handheld Cab 1 remote. Old but reliable equipment that I have owned since I C Controls invented them.

MY KNOWLEDGE of electronics and DCC in HO
Tells me that while thecscope reads the signal as a sine wave
The DVM  reads the voltage in DIRECT CURRENT...
Not Alternating Cureent

The VM. dont lie

You must have a unique DVM if you've never gotten ambiguous results from it.   If you actually measure the DC component of a DCC track signal with a decent DVM, you should get very close to zero, as it really is high frequency AC.

I get the same DC voltage amount as I get from my Digitrax output.

Whatever, as long as it works for you.