ZWL

I suspect you have a ZW-C, the SW-L doesn't use bricks, the transformer core is inside the main case.

Do not parallel the outputs of the ZW-C, that's just asking for problems.

If you're tripping a 10A breaker on 120 feet of track, maybe you should consider what you're running and why it's drawing that much current.  I routinely run two or three locomotives on one 140 foot mainline powered by one PH180 brick, other than some derailment issue, I have no issues with overloads.  If you're running passenger cars with incandescent lighting, those can be a major source of power consumption.

The ZW I have can be jumpered inside to allow all four bricks to power each output connections. I think my problem is trying to run too many passenger cars and all thee lights - that makes sense - didn’t realize how much power they take.

If I put all four bricks capable of powering each output, what gauge wire would I need for each track line?

Me thinks I be wrong. I don’t think all four bricks can be set to one track. The jumper is to have one handle controller all four outputs, each at 180 watts.

Correct, my point is don't parallel the outputs, that's a bad thing.  Putting 20-30 amps on the rails is asking for problems in any case.  Lionel actually still has support for paralleling two bricks using the PowerHouse 360 to connect two bricks to a single output.  However, I don't put any of my equipment on such an arrangement.  We did that years ago on our modular layout, derailments resulted in some welding of wheels.  I saw the carnage and simply packed up and became an observer until that idea was abandoned.

Another issue with parallel connections, it seemed to sometimes confuse the otherwise excellent PH180 circuit protection and the bricks didn't immediately trip for the overcurrent and thus let the excessive current flow longer than reasonable.  I'm sure that issue was why some continued arcing and damage occurred.

IMO there is never a reason to require more than 10 amps on a single power district.  I know there are some opposing views, they're entitled to their opinion, just as I'm entitled to my opinion.

Thank you. I think I need to run shorter passenger trains or eliminate the car lights. Do you have an idea about the amps they draw. From what I gather from the conversation, 10 amps should be the limit.

Question - the standard ZW has 250 or 275 amps. Is that dedicated to only one post or split between the 4 posts on the controller?

I meant 260 or 275 watts

Each incandescent lighted passenger car typically draws from around .25 amps to a bit over .5 amps, depending on the specific lighting type and the number of bulbs.  I convert stuff over to LED's, that way a whole passenger train car set typically draws no more than about .25 amps total for 7 or 8 passenger cars.

The postwar ZW delivers all of it's power to a single post if the demand is there.  Postwar transformer are rated on input power and not output power.  So typically, the postwar ZW is really good for around 220-230 watts output maximum.

Here's a drive-by of a passenger LED upgrade I recently did for a customer.  With just the passenger cars on the tracks before the LED conversion, the seven cars were drawing right at 3 amps.  After the LED upgrade, the seven cars were drawing 0.2 amps.  The lighting is more even and flicker free.  You can also adjust the intensity of the lighting to your liking with the LED modules.

Obviously, is you were running three passenger car trains at once on a 10A transformer with incandescent lighting, you'd be using almost all the capacity of the transformer to just power the car lights.

I was running 3 passenger sets with a total of 22 passenger cars. The brick couldn’t handle it but the ZW did. I didn’t want to run the ZW for long w/o protection.