I have this item on my layout
and I don’t understand how to get the two metal wire ends to connect to the track. This is the bare metal side, not the two prongs seen in the picture. Hopefully I’ve described it ok. The image should speak for itself. Would really appreciate the help. Thanks
The old ones were just screw terminals. It looks like it noow is some sort of push terminal - should show how they work on the back of the card it came on. The spade end is for screwing to the power pack terminals.
–Randy
I think Randy has the answer.
Now…if you are building a decent-sized layout, you will need far more track power feeders than just a few of these terminal tracks. You’re going to have to learn to solder. I solder my feeder wires to the underside of rail joiners to provide power. Others solder feeders directly to the rails.
Still confused.
What am I doing wrong? No action at all from any of the engines on the tracks.
If you do not have a meter, put a quarter on the rails and the overload should work on the power pack.
Even a twelve volt auto light with a couple wires will work as a voltmeter.
At an auto store you can get a socket with pigtails to connect to the rails as a cheap tester.
They even sell a tool that looks like a screwdriver with a pointed tip and a wire with a clip. A bulb is in the clear plastic handle. Old style auto electrical tester.
Rich
How will I know the affect of the quarter?
The quarter will tell you that the power is on and will create a short. The same thing can be done with a screwdriver.
Double check the track connections and or clean them. I use to do this when a locomotive doesn’t want to run.
(If): You didn’t mention the power pack. I had one from a train set (bachmann) to test my diesels on a yearly bases. Until it died two years ago now I’m using my Kato one.
Be VERY careful with the power pack (transformer) if you are using it for HO!!!
The one shown in your photo is for G scale and has an output of 24 VDC. If you turn the throttle up too far you WILL toast your HO locomotive.
Maybe an MTH loco will handle 24 volts, they are designed to accept a higher voltage, but any other HO locomotive will not be very happy at anything over 12 or 13 volts.
Ditto what Rich said: Get an inexpensive volt-ohm meter and use it for troubleshooting. You will be amazed at how helpful a meter can be.
Good Luck, Ed
Good call, Ed. I did a double-take when I seen the power pack.
I use a 12v. bulb with aligator clips on each wire. Tells me right away if I have power or not.
Mike.
Exactly what I was going to say. That power pack is NOT suitabe for HO.
So a loco placed on the track witht he wires connected to it does not move AT ALL when the power is applied?
You can test it with a 9V battery - put the loco on the track and connect the wires to a 9V battery insteadof the power pack. That will tell you if the problem is the power pack or something else. With NO WIRES connected - you can touch the terminals of the 9V battery across the rails and the loco should go - that eliminates everything except the loco itself.
The second terminal track - what is your layout like? How is the track arranged? If it’s just 2 loops - to power that one you just hook the wires up exactly the same as the other pair - same color or the same terminal and all. The power pack terminals can handle more than 1 wire each. But please - get an HO power pack before you fry your trains and/or burn out the headlights. MRC makes some good ones.
–Randy
Hello all,
Does anyone think that the OP fried his locos?
There was no mention of losing the magic blue smoke.
Yes, even an inexpensive meter would help.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the warning, everyone. Luckily, the only engine on the tracks at the time is still working just fine. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even realize I was using a G scale controller. It has been put away. I guess my next priority is buying new power packs, since I don’t think I can use the bachmann ez controller with the atlas wires.
Yes, you can. Don’t buy another power pack. You may just need to change the ends of the wires.
How would I go about that
Post a picture of the terminals on the Bachmann power pack and we can make suggestions. And show us the wires that came with the Bachmann power pack. It may be just a matter of cutting off connectors and stripping wires.
Yet another thing I hate that the different manufactueres went with these various plugs that are never compatible with one another - confuses the heck out of newcomers.
If you have oen fo the Bachmann plugs, just cut off the wires some distance fromt he plug and splice them to the Atlas wires - that simple. You can splice it all together - two Atlas wires plus the original Bachmann wire if you still need to plug in to a Bachmann terminal track.
–Randy
Here we are:
the one problem is— I don’t have the original cord that goes to this power pack. Can I still make it work or will I need that cord without a doubt?
Not sure why that is upside down. my bad.
You will need the Bachmann cable to use that power pack (without creating your own cable by figuring out what the right plug would be). It might be available as a spare part from Bachmann.
http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=66
Or, yes, you’ll need to buy another power pack designed for HO trains. The Bachmann train set packs are pretty low quality compared to MRC.
Might look into MRC then. Better quality and wouldn’t have to make any crazy mods to the cord for compatability- correct?