GW-180 controller

My bricks work everywhere but the Gw180 controller, I read about the tape trick.....I am having opposite issue

If you have the new PH180 bricks, you must have a pin in the 3rd empty slot to activate the switch that enables power output.  My guess is the GW-180 controller doesn't have that pin.

The instruction manual shows the GW-180 controller has all three pins.  Unless one of those pins is missing,  I would think both old and new PH-180s would work.

If the programmable plugs and the plugs controlled by the handle both have no power, I personally think the controller is bad.  

There is a pin in controller( 3 pins)......but the molex connector is empty......maybe the controller is bad......bricks work everywhere but the controller....Thankyou and I will continue to read......

If the brick has no switch in the 3rd hole, then it's the older brick.  In that case, you turn it on, there should be roughly 18 VAC coming out.  If that's working, the controller is defective.

Thanks John and Ron.....the find was a bust....was hoping if my next brick was a new one....perhaps the controller would work......time to move on

@Catdaddy posted:

Recently a friend of a friend of my wife brought me a find. A controller still in red bag. I hooked it up to one of my 180w bricks and nothing......I have been reading the forum topics past and present.......I am not really good with gauges to check continuity, but I have a buddy that can over weekend. I have read so much, there was someone that said the bricks that came with GW180 were somehow different. Seems like this should be something simple? Anybody got an idea that I can try.

The controller for the GW180 is designed to work specifically with the brick that it came with. I read where there was an extra pin that may or may not have come in the original box, but mine did not have one. I checked with Lionel and they were out of stock. I didn't want to use the controller but the brick by itself with my MTH TIU and an aftermarket adaptor. I ended up using a small piece of rolled up electrical tape in the shape of a pin, and then placed it in the empty slot in the connector. And wouldn't you know it, everything worked. Don't know if this will help you out.

I don't think the brick was designed specifically for the GW180 controller (could be wrong).  I believe any brick, old style or new, will work with it.

The issue is all new PH180 bricks have that feature with the switch inside the plug.  They will work with the GW180 controller, PowerMasters, TMCC Lockon, the old ZW-C, or any Lionel product with the correct 3-pin male connector.  The aftermarket cable adapters that you would use to connect a PH to a TIU do not have that 3rd pin so they will not work with the new PH180s without your electrical tape modification.

You can also simply stick a pin in the unused position on the controller to activate the switch.

I'm a visual guy. Could someone post a photo of the pin / plug they are referencing?