MTH Commander Shorts out Z-1000 Brick

I'm a little uncertain as to how your switches etc. are connected to the Z-1000 via the accessory jack vs. the Commander to the track.  You mentioned that the Z-Controller worked o.k. with this arrangement.  I assume that you disconnected the Z-Controller in order to plug in the Commander.  The hook up of the Remote Commander system is pretty straightforward - Z-1000 to Receiver, Receiver to track.  I would try unhooking everything but the Z-1000 to Receiver to track and see if the circuit breaker still kicks out.  If it doesn't, and you get the green on the receiver, the problem is with whatever else is connected to the system.  Also, what method do you use to connect wire to the track from the Receiver?

Hi Ron, Let me see if I can explain myself better. I have one set of wires coming from the two silver screws on the end of the Z-100 brick, these wires I use for my switches, lights etc because they put out a constant voltage to make sure that the switches work right. Then, I take the z controller out of the picture, plug the barrel jack from the z into the commander. ai then place and screw down the fasteners on the commander that say out with two wires that serve as the power buss for my track only. I connect the switches to their respective controller as per mth specs in the enclosed manual, they all share a common ground that also goes to the neg terminal on the brick. Same with the lines to the track from the commander, all of the drops that were setup to be power (red) and ground (black) are connected to their buss feed of the same color. With just using the commander to control the locos and the acc power lines to the switches, when I turn the power on to the transformer, the lights on the switches go dead and the breaker on the brick pops. I do have a TVS on both the power to the track connection as well as for the acc. When I take the commander out of line and check the switches, I have 14 +/- volts ac power on the point tracks but only on one point at each switch. I hope that I explained it to make it easier to understand my problem, sometimes the grey matter doesnt fire in the proper order. Thanks, ed

I think that to try to isolate the problem,  you should make sure that there is not an issue with the Remote Commander.  Disconnect your accessory terminals from the brick and connect only the Z-1000 and Remote Commander to the track only and see if that part of your system works.  If that works, then at least you have a starting point to see what checks need to follow.  It does look like you have a good handle on your wiring, especially if the layout worked o.k. with the Z-Control in the system.

It sounds like you have the Z-1000 switched wiring syndrome. My Z-1000 did the same thing. It turns out the thing was wired wrong inside the brick. Simple solution was to cut the cable (the one with the barrel-connector on the end) and reverse the wires. Properly wired the outside of the barrel connector should be the same polarity as the "COM" accessory terminal.

By the way, because I didn't like 18V being applied to my passenger car lights I ended up connecting the 14V accessory feed directly to the track and then connected my Remote Commander in "passive" mode:

Gentlemen, I thank you both for the assistance of your knowledge of model railroading electrical issues, however, I am still at a quagmire.  I disconnected the acc AC power from my Z 1000 brick to my Real Trax switches and connected my Commander to the track buss wire and was able to rum my PS3 locos, but had to use my switches manually which is not an agreeable option to me. So I tried connecting my switches, one at a time and using the power leads to each switch separately and each time it popped the circuit breaker on either the Z brick or the commander.  At this point, I am leary to have any of my locomotives on the tracks with the power supplies blowing breakers. One thing I did notice is that on Lew's pictures of his wiring, nice job by the way, that you are using the Remote Commander for your setup. I do not have that system and was just wondering if using that setup delivers AC or DC to the tracks ? I do remember while researching for help in the archives, quotes from Barry saying the original commander was better served by using it on an HO setup.   I am going to keep trying to find an answer to my problem which may turnout to be that I run my trains on the controller that came with my Z-1000 until I can afford to move up to the wireless system. Anyway guys, I do thank you for your help and advice in helping me to get my problems straightened out. Thanks again, ed.

The DCS Comnander puts DC on the rails and is limited in current.  It's NOT compatible with any other transformer that might get bridged to it, say running over a switch to another power district.

Gunrunnerjohn, thank you very much for that! I kept thinking that the AC and DC current were not going to be compatible due to them having different qualities so to speak. One more question if I could and that is would the commander in question work with N scale? My son is just starting and if it would I would give it to him before I try to sell it. Thanks a Lot! ed

The DCS Commander is really designed for people running HO or N, so that would be a better choice.