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Hi everybody, 

I have an MTH Z1000 power brick that I  want to use to power my layout. I have a Lionel cab1L for command control,  and I  know this probably been discussed before, but I need to know how do you determine which wire is hot and which is common.

There is a 14 volt terminal that is marked but the 18 volt is just the wire ending in a plug in jack.

Thanks in advance

Bill

 

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Just throwing this out there to spoil the fun, My Z1k came wired backwards from what everyone on this forum said it was supposed to be.  Might be worth taking a moment to check.  

If you have a multi-meter it is easy enough, but can be done with a light bulb as well.  With a meter, set to ohms, and the transformer unplugged, connect one side of the meter to the terminal marked as common, and then check both the inside and outside of the barrel jack with the other side of the meter.  whichever reads 0 ( or close to it) is the common.  

Without a meter, connect one side of a light bulb to the common terminal and see which part of the barrel jack makes it light up.  whichever does not light is common.

My z1000 came from the factory wired in such a way that this test would not work, as the hots were connected together inside so if your's is like mine, the test will be backwards.

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