# Track polarity



## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Hey all.....

Haven't posted much,but I stll read this board every day.I didn't do a whole lot with my track the last few months as I was taking advantage of the nice hot summer we had here in SE NY state.

I'm getting back to doing some work on the track again in the next week or so and will pick up where I left off,which was with putting together some driver stations.

I'm thinking about some of those electronic Parma controllers that everyone has been talking about on the HO DL for the last week or so.But I see that when using these,track polarity is an issue.

At the moment,I am using 3 wall warts chained together for every two lanes.The question is,how do I go about determining the + side from the - side???

Mike


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

If you have a volt meter(you can pick up cheap ones at Radio Shack and I think Sears has them, too......I bought a really nice one on sale there last year.) just set the meter to DC volts and touch one wire to each of the meter's leads. If you get a "normal" volt reading then the red probe is on the positive wire; if you get a "negative" reading then the black probe is on the postive wire.

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
A and H Hobbies
W-S/Clemmons, NC


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

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## hartracerman (Jan 9, 2005)

What does the chained wallworts do for you?


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Something important to remember with using electronic controllers and home tracks:

The controller must always have the correct polarity coming into it. If you have lane reversing switches in your track, they must be AFTER the power to the guns. There were some great wiring schematics by a guy named "Fergy" for reversing switches and brakes but I lost the bookmarks to his stuff.


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Thanks for the tips guys.I needed to get a multi meter anyways.

Slot V:I think I know which article you are referring to.Thanks for the reminder.

Mike


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