Question about TPC and block power controler

I'm confused?  You have one TPC and one PBC?  What are you trying to "switch"?  

 

You use the PBC to change block control between multiple power supplies (aka multiple TPC's or PowerMasters).  If all you are trying to do is remotely activate a block an ASC or SC-2 might be an better choice?

 

You could view a PBC as remote control rotary selector.  You have track blocks wired to the selector and as you turn the knob control of that block is handed off to the specified power supply.  e.g.  I have four blocks of track labeled 1,2,3,4 and four power supplies labeled A,B,C,D.  At the main power feed for track block 1 is a switch with A, B, C, D.  Repeat for blocks 2-4.  If you want to control blocks 1 and 3 from power supply A, you set the dial to A on those two blocks.   The PBC is just an electronic version of this with remote control capability.

Hi Art Not an electrical expert and still working thru this on my layout. BUT, if you look again at the manual, one TPC and one BPC can operate two blocks or four blocks. It has to do with the coding. You code the BPC to tell it how many blocks. Then you put the wiring from Block one to track one and block two to track two. You connect the TPC to the TPC 1 connection. No TPC jumper is needed. This is in the manual which is available on the lionel site for the BPC. That is the manual you should find with the info you need. Ralph

Thanks for your replies. I have one tpc and one bpc and I want to control 2 blocks one for accessories one for trains.  As I look at the instructions it indicates that I need two tpcs and that I can hook them up to 4 blocks but I don't want to buy another tpc.

 

Thanks

 

 

BPC is used to swap active control of blocks from one power supply to another, aka you need to have more than one source of power.  If not it will just shut down the non active block.

Art

I'm probably not understanding your goal.  You want to put power to tracks and power to accessories.  The normal way to put power to accessories is with ASCs - Accessory Switch Controllers. The TPC plays no part in it.  

 

Does your transformer have an accessory power supply? Why not run a bus from it and connect your accessories to that bus. You can use the accessory control switch or toggles to control on/off power to the accessories. 

 

The BPC transfers power from a TPC to tracks - it isn't an on/off switch like an ASC or OTC.

 

ralph

Art, the simple answer to your original question is Yes you can use the BPC to control two blocks (on/off) with one TPC. Connect the TPC to T1, one block to B1 and the other to B2. If you programed the BPC as ACC 1 then press ACC, 1, AUX 1 then 1 to turn block one on and 0 to turn it off. For block 2 press ACC, 2, AUX 1 then 1 to turn block two on and 0 to turn it off.

 

As far as you using one block for the track and one for the accessories, remember that whatever voltage the TPC is set at will go to whichever or both blocks that are turned on.

 

The BPC is designed to do more than what you're doing which is why it was suggested to use an ASC instead but if you already have a BPC then use it.

If I remember correctly, you have to program the BPC in a multiple of '8'. You can't just continue with a random number in your programming. Just a quick thought, but something to take into consideration.

Yes multiple of 4.   These are IC Control BPC's one controls Blocks 1 through 4 the other 5 through 8.  As has been explained you can have two power sources (Two TPC's). Of the (12) 14 ga solid wires hooked to each BPC. (4) are from TPC #1, (4) are from TPC #2 and (4) with the number markers go to the (4) Blocks.  Primary use is to turn blocks on and off. Please note that the Lionel BPC is wired different from this.

To the right in the picture are ASC's controlling switches and accessories. Note the smaller 18 ga wiring.

Twisted pair wiring 24 ga either green/green white or blue/blue white is Dat/Com wiring from a Cab 1 Command base. This wiring daisy-chains to all the devices shown including the two TPC's.

18 ga Thermostat wire, brown cover/red and white, is 12 volt AC power to the BPC's  It is also daisy-chained (one device to the next).  


Note the (8) fuse blocks (fused at 7.5 amps) one for each of the out going wires to the (8) different power districts.  Upper left next to a large accessory transformer.

Hey Mike CT: Nice work on the wiring..I could never get it like that..mine works but yours is picture perfect!

 

You can have one TPC and one BPC and control 2 blocks.  It's not designed for that per se, but it should work.  Program it for 2 blocks and use the one power input, the one TPC, and you should be able to turn power on and off to the 2 blocks.  Say if your TPC is programmed to TR1, and your 2 blocks are programmed to ACC1 and ACC2, turn power on and off by ACC1 - AUX1 to one block, and ACC2 - AUX1 for the second block.  A BPC is really designed to be able to apply power from 2 power sources to 2 or 4 blocks per BPC.  In my case I have one TPC set in conventional mode and one set in TMCC mode and can change from command to conventional on 8 blocks of track through two BPCs.  I think that is the more traditional way to use a BPC. 

What the heck, here are my boxes.  I still have a number of the original IC Controls units doing duty daily.