Lionel PM-1 with MTH Z-1000

You can indeed make the cable with the connectors you linked, those will work fine.  You'll even have spare connectors.   I don't know of any "off the shelf" adapter for the task.

Great, thanks a lot! I was hoping that was the correct size. I just ordered them.

Thanks again John, simple and cheap. Using through the zcontroller and it's working great!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

You can indeed make the cable with the connectors you linked, those will work fine.  You'll even have spare connectors.   I don't know of any "off the shelf" adapter for the task.

Rick,

I thought it was not a good idea to go through two controllers, here the Z-1000 controller then the PM, where both chop the sign wave to control voltage.  If the first one (Z-1000) stays at maximum I guess that would work, but your photo shows it set less than maximum (18 volts?) meaning it is sending a chopped sign wave to the PM, which chops it again.  Also, if the Z controller is set at maximum it can produce 20 volts, that is more than TMCC likes (19 volts) although probably not a big deal since Lionel PW transformers could produce 21 volts and are used to power PMs.

I have two Z-1000 bricks for accessory power, but I have not used them for track power.  Hopefully someone will address this since I like your setup and hope it is good.

Ron is correct, just use the bricks with the PowerMaster.

Thanks for the replies fellas. I do intend to bypass the controller but that plug didn't come in the mail yet. In the mean time I cranked the power all the way on the z1000 and measure 18v at the rails.

Regarding the chopped wave. I understand the concept and have watched videos. What's the real world implications in my case? Is it safe to run or more a performance issue?

Thanks very much - Rick

It's safe to run I would imagine, the output waveform might look kinda' ugly.

10-4, thanks again!

For a final follow up. Here is the finished product and it works great. The low speed performance gains without the additional MTH controller were obvious as soon as i apllied power with a dual motor williams on the track.

Here is what I used, just cut off the male end. There are a lot out there but harder to find one with 18ga wires which matches the 18ga output on the z1k brick.

Not a big surprise, hard to imagine what the waveform looked like after two different electronic controllers got done with it!