# Parma Controller Question...



## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

I looked everywhere here in HT nothing that i was looking for. I have a question about one of my parma controller - when i plug it in the car took off without me touching the trigger. i took it apart and oiled it and checked and still doing it.. any ideas? i am puzzled on this. 

i dont know if this is right place or not. 

Thanks
Wes


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Is it a three wire Wes?

You may have a wire crossed so that you have a full power. Engaged when the trigger is at rest on the brake band.

Just a guess


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

Bill Hall said:


> Is it a three wire Wes?
> 
> You may have a wire crossed so that you have a full power. Engaged when the trigger is at rest on the brake band.
> 
> Just a guess


i rewire it and yes there is 3 wires - i made sure that the red one is not wire crossed.. maybe its going bad? its brand new i mean i used it maybe 10 hrs then next day it happened. like i said i am puzzled..

Wes


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

mystery solved.. its weird. all i did was change the resistors and its fine now. anyone ever had that? 

Wes


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## gear buster (Dec 1, 2005)

*Resistor*

Wes,
Glad you found the problem. 

I was thinking of the same thing Bill did. On my difalco if the polarity of the track is different than the controller, When you hook it up it takes off without you.. The plugs on the controller you can change back and forth for different track. It is like hooking up backwards..
As for the resistor problem.. We had some come apart and short out making complete circuit and we had some that the wires was on backwards from what was suppose to be. Easy way to determine this is: 
If car takes off when hooked up without trigger. 
Unhook and rehook up changing red for white.If car runs with trigger wires crossed on resistor. 

By the way..I hope it wasen't a good custom on the track when it lit the tires..


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

Parma resistors of late seem to have an awful problem with crooked bands and/or burred edges on the band(s). If the forward edge of either the brake band or the (skinny) beginning resistance band is cocked or has a heavy edge, the button can hang up. A problem but this would only give you low power. I take apart all my Parmas now, slap a little fresh "real" epoxy on the back, and carefully sand/file all the pertinent edges.

Just a thought if you were getting full power. Was the car on the track first, and are you using stereo jacks (phono plugs)? There's a common mistake made when guys use these and due to the knee-jerk reaction of a car taking off on it's own it's easy to overlook.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

gear buster said:


> By the way..I hope it wasen't a good custom on the track when it lit the tires..



nahhh i always tested those ugly lifelike nascars first!! 

Wes


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

SwamperGene said:


> Parma resistors of late seem to have an awful problem with crooked bands and/or burred edges on the band(s). If the forward edge of either the brake band or the (skinny) beginning resistance band is cocked or has a heavy edge, the button can hang up. A problem but this would only give you low power. I take apart all my Parmas now, slap a little fresh "real" epoxy on the back, and carefully sand/file all the pertinent edges.
> 
> Just a thought if you were getting full power. Was the car on the track first, and are you using stereo jacks (phono plugs)? There's a common mistake made when guys use these and due to the knee-jerk reaction of a car taking off on it's own it's easy to overlook.


very simple i just put the car on track the controller was laying down and it took off on it own and happens again and again without me touching it. i am not using the phono plugs i am using the alligator clips. all i can think of is defective resistors?? all another 3 controllers are fine.. hmmm

Wes


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## Wildstar (Jan 8, 2008)

Do you have a Parma Econo or a Turbo? I had a similar problem when I first built my Turbo. Everything worked fine, except that when the controller was at rest, I got full throttle instead of full brake. Ends up the problem was one of my terminals (either white or red...I can't remember) inside the controller was touching the metal frame. With the Turbo, the black wire contacts the frame, so the short was causing all of the juice to travel through the frame, to the black wire, and eventually to the car...even when the controller was at rest. Long story short, if you've got a Turbo, make sure your white and red wires aren't touching the frame.


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

wildstar - ahhh i didnt think of that, i ll check it out. thanks 

Wes


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

I bought two Parma Pro 45 ohm controllers Both had the wire that brings power to the resistor break. I fixed it and it broke again............. and again. I bought Professor Motor and threw the Parmas in the drawer!! 
Never again. mj


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## Wildstar (Jan 8, 2008)

Citylights, if you want to get rid of those parmas, I'd be glad to take them off your hands...just send me a pm.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

Wildstar said:


> Citylights, if you want to get rid of those parmas, I'd be glad to take them off your hands...just send me a pm.


You have a PM. mj


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## Wildstar (Jan 8, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> I bought two Parma Pro 45 ohm controllers Both had the wire that brings power to the resistor break. I fixed it and it broke again............. and again. I bought Professor Motor and threw the Parmas in the drawer!!
> Never again. mj


I've always wondered about the Professor Motor controllers. I've tried them out on 1/32 scale cars and really like them, but I didn't know how they'd do for driving a wide range of HO cars. I run everything from box stock t-jets to superstock mag cars, plus I run some cars as low as 12V. I just haven't felt like dropping the $50-$120 to find out the controllers work for HO. Sounds like you're pretty happy the Professor? What model do you have, and what types of cars do you run?


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

Hey WS, I have the PS Silver Series 2053. I like it alot. Like everything controllers are a very personal choice. What sort of cars, tracks, power supply, driving style all matter. I race magnet cars on plastic home tracke with variable power supplies. I find that the PM fills my needs well. I find the the varible sensitivity works well. Even cars of the same type can have different feel or handling. I can adjust for that. I never use the brake/coast at all. The down side is it mut be opened to be cleaned regularly. But i think the price is right. After using it i tried the Parma again and put it away for good. I haven't tried alot of controllers so i don't have the broad experience of some around here. There was a controller thread here a couple of months ago look it up. It got pretty heated and was pretty funny. I'll probably get the Difalco 225-15 soon. Hope this helps. Check out th PM web-site that helped sell me. mj


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

I emailed the people at Professor Motor. I told them what cars I was running, the type of track, But when I told them that I was using 4 Tomy Power Packs one for each lane( the power packs say 22 volts output) They told me that they don't have a Controler that will work with my set up.


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

WesJY said:


> very simple i just put the car on track the controller was laying down and it took off on it own and happens again and again without me touching it. i am not using the phono plugs i am using the alligator clips. all i can think of is defective resistors?? all another 3 controllers are fine.. hmmm
> 
> Wes


This happens with my Parma metal trigger controllers if the trigger touches one of the rails.


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

41-willys said:


> They told me that they don't have a Controler that will work with my set up.


Did they say why?? I think that the PM controllers are rated and reccommended for lower voltage. I run mine at 20v no problem. mj


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

[email protected] said:


> Did they say why?? I think that the PM controllers are rated and reccommended for lower voltage. I run mine at 20v no problem. mj


I think I had to do with the 22 volts per lane. The controllers are not rated that high.


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## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

Under load your wallwarts will be lucky to be putting out 17 Volts,not the 22 that they have listed as output.They're pretty light on VA output,so to compensate the wall warts drop voltage output to make up for lack of amps


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## Wildstar (Jan 8, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> Hey WS, I have the PS Silver Series 2053. I like it alot.


Thanks Citylights...I think that answers my question. I'd been wondering if the sensitivity adjustment is really necessary for HO, or if I could get by without it. Sounds like it's worth the extra money, eh?


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