Track Power Controller 400 TPC

The Lock On will trip at ten amps. 10 Amps x 18 Volts ~ 180 watts (180 VA for the nit pickers). They both have fast breakers, not sure you need the Lock Ons with the 180 watt bricks.

Pete

Are you planning on powering the accessories via track power? If so 18 volts might be too much. 12 volts might work for the accessories but would be rather low for operating TMCC or Legacy engines.

If using a TPC to control track power there would be no need for the direct lockon unless you wanted to use it to provide power to another loop of track.

You could connect the two 180 PH's to the TPC using the combination cable and then get another 180 PH for the direct lockon.

I power my layout using four 135 PH's connected to two TPCs  and use a separate K-Line 120 Watt accessory transformer for lighting and accessories. You might consider that approach.

Yes, you can dial back the voltage to the track by way of the TPC.  The direct lockon will only handle 10 amps.  If you use the cables to parallel the two bricks I would recommend not using the lockon.  Also, the lockon was designed for 18 volts.  As you start to dial back the voltage the unit will not function properly, especially as you get down below 12 volts.  

I like the lockon's because they continuously monitor power and interrupt whatever is going to the track whenever their is an anomaly and then tries to reset when the issue clears.  This is great for dealing with true transients.  Unfortunately it isn't much help if you are running over 10 amps.

Thanks Pete... So if I have an anomaly on the track the breakers will trip the bricks? I like the protection of the lockon.  Also, I take it I can set the voltage maximum on the track from my hand held?

Its up to you. The Lock On has the advantage of using self resetting breakers vs the manual reset required of the bricks but you will be limited to ten amps. You will lose the extra current the TPC 400 can supply if you needed more than ten amps. I save my Lock Ons for Post War transformers with slow breakers. 

Pete

As you are going to use the lockon, you might as well only use 1 brick to the TPC, as you can only pull 10A/180W before the lockon will trip.

You could then use the other brick and another TPC (Or other device) to control power to your accessories.

Alternatively, you could get a Legacy Powermaster (Around $75 or less at most dealers.) and use that for your track with 1 brick for power, and use your TPC with one or more bricks to power your accessories.

If you plan on running MTH DCS stuff on your layout, forget the TMCC Direct Lockon, it is not compatible with DCS.  Also, the TMCC Direct Lockon is intended for fixed voltage command operation, it drops out at around 12 volts, so it's somewhat pointless to use a TPC with it.

I use the tpc with a single brick AND a direct lockon.  I'm not fond of running at full 18 volts so I dial it back to 15 (smoke isn't an issue and I prefer the incandescent lights at 15 volts).  I will probably pick up one or two of the Legacy PM's (thanks for the thorough review, Nicole).

Thank you all for your responses.  I now have a direction on which way to take this, with insight. Since I use Fastrack I may go expand my layout into some zones, utilizing some track blocks which will give me a better handle on controlling the voltage overall. Accessories will be hooked up to power independently.