Bachmann DC controller problem

[Len]

The only reason I know is back when I had my repair shop, a customer brought in a home built power cord he'd made to get a longer reach. He said didn't work, but the set cord did. He wired it 'tip' and 'ring', figuring the 'sleeve' wasn't used. I'd never thought about it before, so I got out the ohm meter and checked a standard power cord and discovered nothing was connected to the plug's 'tip', just the 'ring' and 'sleeve'. So I rewired his plug that way and when he got home he called to say it worked fine now.

Once I knew that, I bought a handful of ministereo plugs and started a sideline selling power cords to plug into Bachmann controllers, with open ends to connect to other styles of track.

Len

[Terry Toenges]

So I am befuddled now. I bought some connectors. The red wire is the tip so I clipped that off. I checked it with my meter to see which wire was the tip.

I connected the female half to the booster. I connected the male half to the track wires.
I plug the male into the female on the booster and everything works fine on DCC..
I plug the male into the DC controller and the loco still only goes one way. Booster and DCC controller are turned off and not connected to track at all.
I reversed the track wire connections and it goes the other way but not reverse.
The left side of the direction  slider on the DC controller is what works. When I switch it to the right, I get nothing.
When I tried it on my short length of test track, both buttons work and the loco reverses.

[Terry Toenges]

So frustrating. I tried a different way.
I replaced the black male connector (that I bought) with the Bachmann red wire and plugged it into the DC controller and wired the ends to the track wires.I thought maybe it was the black connector that I bought. Same result. Loco goes one way but not the other.
Then, I used jumper wires with alligator clips straight to the track. I hooked the other ends of the clips to the DC controller wires. Same result.
I plugged my DCC set up back with the booster and DCC controller. With the DC loco I was using, it ran back and forth on address 10.
I still can't figure it out.

[Terry Toenges]

I made a video showing how the DC controllers won't work in reverse on a loop but work fine on a test track. I'm still befuddled. I'm not using any off the wall connection set-up, just the standard Bachmann red wire.
https://youtu.be/6dXP8CNY7KA

[Terry Toenges]

I figured it out. It was the power supply. On my layout, I put a plug on my track wire. When I wanted to run DC, I unplugged track and power from DCC and plugged it into DC controller. The DC loco ran fine forward. When I was doing the loop track on the floor, I plugged into the layout power.
When I was doing the test track on the table, I was using a different power supply.
I looked at both power supplies. The one with the E-Z Command is DC. The one I was using at the table was AC. Now I know that I can't use the same power supply by just switching the plug from the DCC controller to the DC controller.
It was still strange to me that it would go forward with the DCC one and not backward. Since that's what it was, I'm surprised it went at all.
I was hoping to be able to just switch track and power plugs from DCC to DC controller when I wanted to run DC stuff. I'll have to plug in the other power supply to run DC stuff.

[Terry Toenges]

I just didn't even think about the power supplies being different and I know that DCC is different.
Oh Well.
I know now that DC power will let a DC loco run directly down the track in one direction. I know that AC power will let a DC loco run down the track in alternating directions.

[Ralph S]

Sorry, guys, my wife made me go on vacation, so I didn't catch this one.
Terry, The two controllers (power supplies) that you have, can you provide the model number of each one.   

The reason I'm asking is that Bachmann doesn't do a good job on distinguishing the DC controller, their DCC controller (if there is such a thing), unless it's the DCC command controller.
I've jump through hoops, just like you just did, trying to keep these controllers (power supplies) straight.  I'm going to surmise that both of your power supplies have the same model number, and they are DC only, not AC as you mentioned.

Bach Man if you're reading this, please provide your take on this too, if any.


P.S. your video (U-tube) was pretty good, I've gotta learn how to do that.

[jward]

Terry,

Am I correct in assuming that your booster remains connected to the track at all times? If so, that could be the problem. The DC controller and the booster should not be connected to the track at the same time.

[Terry Toenges]

The DC one I'm using says -
Hobby Transformer - Model:AC1601000 - Input:AC120V 60Hz 24W - OUTPUT:AC16V 1000mA 16VA - Made in China by Sandan
The DCC one going to E-Z Command says -
Toy Transformer - Model:SPS1601000 WU - Input:AC120V 60Hz 22W - OUTPUT:DC16V 1000mA 16VA - Made in China by Sandan

[Terry Toenges]

The booster is not connected to track all the time. I remove the track plug from booster and to connect to DC controller.

[Terry Toenges]

This is the way I have it set up.

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I used these connectors. The plug part is connected to the track wires. The two sockets are connected to the booster and dc controller.
No chance of having them both connected to the track at the same time.