Layout wiring

Trainman

I don't have any experience with the SC-2, but did they respond when you programmed per instructions on page 13 of the owners manual? The SC-2's red light should have come on for 2 seconds.

Hope this helps.

Gerry

No response at all. LED power indicator light is on. No blinking or anything else.

Trainman, did you return the program switch to the run position after setting switch number. other than that all should work fine. Maybe someone with more experience than me will chime in give you some better advice . This new electronics stuff can be frustrating at times.

Gerry

trainman129 posted:

I'm finally starting the wiring on my new layout and have two questions.

1. Will it work if I connect the U terminal of my track power to the common terminal on my other power supplies? I'm running TMCC. I know that you cannot connect U to building ground or it will short out the TMCC signal. It seems that you would have to have this connection in order for any insulated track sections to work.

The layout track and accessory power can share a common bus for the layout. The transformers must all be phased. This is easiest when using modern supplies with polarized plugs, where one blade is wider. Then, using a modern 3 prong receptacle and possibly a 3 prong power strip all will remain phased. If this is not the case, then more details are needed.

If that is the case, you can connect the TMCC base track wire to the U terminal of a track transformer.

2. I have four SC-2 switch controllers. They are mounted side by side on a panel under the layout near my power supplies. They are all powered by their "wall worts." Each is supposed to control 6 switches, 1-6, 7-12 etc. Only the first one in the row works. All have power ( LED is on). No response to any commands from my controller. Any ideas about what to look for?

I would suggest programming the SC-2's again and watching for the red light to ensure they are set and receiving signal. Sit near them with the remote in hand and observe the red light as you do so. See attached.

just a quick question before doing that - did you slide the Prog/Run back to Run?

 

I use 4 SC-2s also. In order to use all 6 positions, I have cut the trace just above the Com terminal which allows me to use the #1 position.  I find that they work much better (faster) with accessory power connected to the A and COM connectors on the SC-2s. And COM on the SC-2s is connected to the track U so that it gets the TMCC signal. I have them under the layout (and there is track above) so I run a ground (the ground pin on the AC outlet) wire over the top of them for the in the air half of the TMCC signal.

cjack, thanks for the idea of running a ground wire near the SC-2s. I'll try that when I get down there later. By the way, this is the same setup I used on my last layout where it all worked well. For testing I sit under the layout, controller in hand, so I can see any blinking that takes place.

SC-2 problem solved. ( I think). I connected the top (com) terminals (aux power)  on the sc-2 controllers to the outside rail connection from the power source. This puts a nice strong tmcc signal into the controllers. Now all four controllers appear to be working fine.

Perfect. Works just like an engine. I think the manual should have stated connecting the U to the Com terminal.