Hello. I’m a complete newbee to this model train stuff. I just bought a house and it had a train set they left .It was working good till today when the controller won’t slow the train down,it pretty much runs at 90% even when I have it at 0. I tried another engine and it did the same? The controller is a
Tech II Railpower 1400.
There’s 2 tracks with seperate controllers but the other track works fine. Thanks alot
Frostman,
If the controller fails at a fixed speed, it is often that the “speed knob” has failed or the transistor that is controlled by this knob has failed. The knob is connected to a potentiometer, a variable resistor. It controls the amount of voltage that is sent to the output transistor. Sometimes they fail. It is probably cheaper and faster for you to buy another throttle to replace this one than to try to repair it. Just disconnect the wires to the layout from that side of the throttle (To Track) if it is a twin cab throttle. If it is single cab, just unplug the whole thing and replace it.
Mark C.
Do you mean just buy a whole new controller?
I would suggest spending the extra $40 and get a new controller… or just upgrading to DCC
Frostman,
Yes, unless you feel competent enough to disassemble the thing and locate and replace the damaged part. That would be my first thought if it was mine, but I have the tools and experience. You may not. If you want your trains running on that track soon, go find a new throttle. There are inexpensive throttles available that should be less than $20.00. When you are more familiar with your railroad, or decide to change over to DCC, then consider something more expensive.
Mark C.
Ok,what controller would you recommend?The other track has a Trainpack model 100, looks cheap. Should i just get 2 new controllers?I’m not sure what switching to DCC means,thanks
Here’s a pic,maybe you guys can tell me some stuff. There’s little switches that change the change the track but the toggel switches I’m not sure what they do.There was a not that said they run power to the track but it seems to run fine with them all off?? thanks guys
It’s possible your controller has a fixed DC output on the back. Check the back to see which screws the track wires are connected to. They should be wired to the pair that is regulated by the throttle, and no other pair (the terminals will be labeled “variable DC”, Fixed DC", and “AC”, or something like that) Even a bit of the track wire just touching a fixed power screw will set the locos permanantly on full speed. (I’ve done it before [:I])
Make sure the wires ONLY contact the main variable outlet.
Of course, if I’m wrong, and there is no fixed DC outlet, the power pack has a problem.
Frostman,
Yes, definitely check the wires first. Your original post implied that you hadn’t changed anything. If you have, then you may have re-connected the wires to the fixed voltage output. If the wires are OK, get another Trainpack or similar throttle at a local hobby shop or train show. The train show would be your best bet to get a used or new throttle at minimal cost. For where you are at this stage of the hobby, just get another inexpensive power pack…
Mark C.
Those switches on your layout have nothing to do with the power… those appear to be switches for your turnouts and stuff like that… you may want to take a look at your layout while the power is on to the tracks and flip a switch to see where the turnout/switch is located at for that particular switch.
“Untill today”?
Chances are that this track has been wired to the fixed DC terminals.These are for powering a second controller or accessories, and from your description sounds like it doing just that…
“Untill today”? Puzzling. what ELSE changed?
Your picture shows TWO POWER PAKS (‘Controllers’.)and with ith diagramed tracks they power. What “OTHER” track?
DC=direct current: you have very basic control, all off, or all going the same speed.
DCC=Digital command control: Each locomotive has a decoder chip inside (you’ll have to install them, but that’s not too hard) The track gets its power from one AC power source, so the locomotives are always on, the lights will be on on all of them, whether or not they’re running. Each loco also gets its own address (basically a 2 or 4 digit ID number) that lets it know when a signal is meant for it. Go to www.digitrax.com for a better explanation.
Hope this helps,
Greg
Yes 2 seperate tracks 1 controller for each track. Thanks for the explanation on the DCC,sounds good. Is that what most people are running DCC?I think I’ll take the controller apart and take a look. I really liked that controller, it was so smooth from start to full compared to the Trainpack. thanks
So what would I have to do to convert my set to DCC?2 new throtlles and chips for my engines?thanks
The little white button switches switch the tracks.I still havn’t figured out the use of these black toggle switches,they are running power to different parts of the track?but why would you want to turn the power on and off on different parts of the track?Sorry if these are dumb questions but this is totally new to me as the setup was here when we moved into the house,now me and my son are kinda of getting hooked on this hobbie 
thanks
I’m not trying to make you feel bad but from the sound of your experience you need to go to the Local Hobby Shop and talk to someone face to face. As Mark said their are some of us that could take it apart and fix it but I think in your shoes I’d just replace it after asking the LHS what to do.
Have a good day
Bob
Ok, looking at the photo, this would be my guess about the control panel. The toggle switches may well feed power to the sidings - you don’t want this to be live constantly as engines parked there would move along with anything on the main line. Try parking a loco in a siding, set the track switch for the main line, then open the throttle a little and see if the loco moves - if it does (or doesn’t) try flicking the toggle switch to see if that makes any difference - it might well do so.
If you upgrade to DCC (which is worth doing early - converting a large existing fleet of locos is expensive but if you fit decoders as you add locos it spreads the cost out), you might want to take a look at Bachmann’s locos and their new “E-Z Command” system - it’s probably the cheapest DCC system out there and isn’t bad value for beginners. However, if you can afford to I would suggest a more advanced system like the Atlas Commander - I have the Lenz version of this which is great, it can address 99 locos and do some programming of decoders - the Bachmann system can only address 9 locos and can’t do a lot of programming, it’s also not very expandable. The good part about DCC however is that if you did decide to buy the Bachmann system to begin with, you could replace the throttle and still use the decoders you’ve fitted to the locos - all DCC decoders can operate with all DCC systems, that’s the beauty of the standard. There’s plenty of discussions on DCC on the forum, so best advice would probably be to read these - there’s one floating around asking which is the best DCC system, feel free to ask questions if anything doesn’t seem to make sense - DCC is easy to use but takes a little time to learn. Hope this is of help!
Brit your right,the toggle switches control power to the side tracks.So I can have more than one engine on the same track. I just rewired a couple to better places and they work great,thanks
I believe since there are two power packs that you have DC “Cab Control” wiring…the slide switches control the turnouts (diverts the train from one track to the other) and the toggle switches control each section of track from either the CAB A power pack or the CAB B power pack…what you might want to try is putting one train on the layout turn the throttle to “zero” on both power packs" and positioning every toggle into the “up” position then run the train with which ever power pack is designated CAB A or CAB B…(one powewr pack at a time) after this is done, put the toggle switches in the down position and try to run the train throughout the entire layout on only the other power pack …if there is a problem you will know it right away (provided the previous owner wired all the toggles the same way)…once you are done, try to locate the “Blocks”…there should be insulators between the rails of all the sections of track throughout the layout…they can be either slivers of plastic glued between the rails, plastic rail joiners, or rails that are gapped and not touching together…once you identify each “block”…try to run the train in that particular block using both power packs switch the toggle up for one power pack and down for the other power pack in each block…if there is a power pack problem, then it would be for the best if you purchase a new one…MRC (Model Rectifier Company) is a top of the line power pack for DC wired train layouts and they really aren’t that expensive…the tech 4’s are under $70 to $80 us dollars…Chuck
this is typical for a DC layout…say you are switching rolling stock onto a siding and a thru train is about to come along…you can get the train on the siding, turn off the power, and then let the thru train pass…after the train passes, turn the power back on and continue switching the rolling stock…this is why i believe you have cab control…you can use one or the other power pack for the same section of track…one question…was the other power pack on when you were having the problem of not being able to stop the train with the other power pack?..if it was on then the toggle switch was positioned in a way that powered the train from that power pack instead of the one you were assuming was controlling the train…chuck