Suddenly no power to the track

I think I may have found the problem. Will check it out.

I’m still working on a solution. It may be in the BPC or perhaps the TPC. Can a TPC go bad? I know a power spike can impact a PCB but just not activated for several months. What about the TPC.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

WAYNEPA you don't mention if you had saved your settings for tpc's so I will start from scratch address tpc eng 2 then at bottom of remote either push L for command or M for conventional command will have a green flashing light now address the engine itself as engine 4 or whatever number you assigned the engine when that engine shows in remote display screen now look at bottom below keypad you should see a start button and the stop button next to that push the startup button if a command engine it will power up sounds and all.

if these are conventional engines after addressing the tpc and selecting M for conventional on remote now turn that big fat red knob and the engine should start moving.

are you sure the the BPC's 1-4 are selected for power ? as in acc-1 aux1- 1 do same for 2-3&4 if your not sure if powered on after aux-1 push the # 2 key you should hear a click of relay inside the bpc then push the #-1 button and you will hear relay again.

I am assuming your trying to run a lionel engine? if an mth engine you need to address the tpc differently for both ps-1 and ps-2

lastly make sure the Dz data wire driver is working I had 3 failures of them and drove me nuts I finally bought the lionel version and nary a hiccup since just sayin guys don't get feathers ruffled just my experience like in baseball 3 strikes your out.

hope this helps you and or gets the mind thinking of possible what ifs

Both TPC’s were reprogrammed and set for command. The green LED’s flash. The BPC is programmed 1-4 and the two jumpers are installed. I did manage to get power but to both outside and inside loop at the same time. Apparently through only one of the TPC’s is providing power.

All of the components are receiving the signal as the green LED’s flash when I address the TPC’s or the BPC.

I’m going to recheck the programming on the BPC and try addressing the tracks to see if I can get control of the power from each of the TPC’s.

Although I have a data wired driver installed on the base that should not have anything to do with the problem since it mearly is a pass through and should have no affect on controlling the TPC’s.

All my engines are Legacy. I do not have any conventional engines.

When I rebuild my layout I plan to only install the BPC and an ASC. I’ve remove the ARC and AMC and sell them. I just need the ASC to control power to the yard and operate my 213 lift bridge.

WAYNEPA you can use a bpc to power the yard tracks as well just a thought then you could use the asc for other duties? 

I will assume you addressed only one tpc and resulted in both loops of track are powered up? are each tpc powered separately? have you isolated the middle rail from both loops where connected together or are these loops not having a switch so trains can go from inner to outer loop of track? have you somehow crossed a wire from both tpc's power out to tracks?

I had an old TPC that I thought went bad. I took it apart. It's just a circuit board. I cleaned the contacts on the board and plugged  it back in and it worked.

Jim D

StPaul posted:

WAYNEPA you can use a bpc to power the yard tracks as well just a thought then you could use the asc for other duties? 

I will assume you addressed only one tpc and resulted in both loops of track are powered up? are each tpc powered separately? have you isolated the middle rail from both loops where connected together or are these loops not having a switch so trains can go from inner to outer loop of track? have you somehow crossed a wire from both tpc's power out to tracks?

I have one BPC connected to two TPC’s. A single BPC can only control four blocks. I set it up to control the power to the outside loop, inside loop and the inside passing track. They were programmed in the BPC as ACC #’s 1,2,3 respectively. Both TPC’s are independently powered with two 135 watt bricks each.

There is a pair Ross #6 switches allowing an engine to go from the inside loop to the outside and vice versa and into the four way yard. I can also bring an engine our of the yard and onto either of the main lines. I’m not sure if the center rails on the switch have an insulated pin or not. They are in the back of my layout up against a wall and not easily accessed.

The only thing I did on the layout was remove the DZ-2500 machines from the switches so they could be replaced. I have not reinstalled the replacement switches. Anyway, I’m going to try reprogramming everything over again and see I I can resolve the issue. 

I think it has more to do with the BPC than anything else.

WAYNEPA are you trying to use both tpc's to that one bpc? if yes how are you getting power from second tpc into and out of the same bpc? normally far as I know wiring wise you can only have one tpc connected at same time to a bpc with power going to track. you can connect a second tpc to same bpc but only as tr-2 and when you change the bpc from accessory 1 aux-1 to accessory -1 aux-2 now power from the first tpc is disconnected and only the power from the second tpc is going to the tracks now.

so I will assume your using power from first 2 outputs of bpc to outer oval and the next 2 outputs from bpc to the inner loop is this correct? if so then the second tpc is doing nothing far as I can tell. if you can find an older bpc type that allows all 4 outputs to be changed you could attach that to second tpc and have more track power outputs for expansion.

On page 9 of the instruction manual the heading says:

USING A SINGLE BPC TO CONTROL FOUR BLOCKS WITH TWO TPC’S

That is what I was doing. I used the ASC to turn power on and off to the four yard tracks.

The ASC is more useful in that the two sections of device have separate grounds. Therefore you can use one side to turn power on and off and the other side to operate an accessory.

In hindsight I did not need the BPC just one ASC. When I redo my layout I’ll just use the two TPC’s to control power to the main lines and the ASC to turn power on and off to the yard tracks and the passing track. That is if I retain the yard.