I am primarily an n scale modeler but have to decided to add z scale to the fold. I am trying to decide which controller to go with. I would like a hard wired control and do not want to go with a 9 volt battery powered control. I have a MRC 1300, Tech II Locomotion 2500 and a Tech II Duel Power 2800. Are these suitable for z scale. I will eventually need 2 controllers but the second one can wait. MRC's website says that the MRC 1300 iw compadible with z and it has an output of 7 volts. I am about to buy an AZL Mikado and don't want to risk frying it.
The MRC 1300 with the Yellow label only. The Standard 1300 is not labeled due to higher output. The other is Rokuhan controller, they are both just for Z with a max output of 10V. Any controller listed with a higher output than 10V needs a voltage reducer.
jargonlet, All Z scale will be happy under 10V. There are diodes circuits you can build or buy that will get your throttles down to Z scale voltage. But your other consideration is the current. It doesn't take a great deal of power to damage Z. I have stayed away from units such as you mention because of the power. If you use them, I'd encourage you to have some sort of current limit, like a car tail light bulb, or fast break circuit breaker, limited to 1A or less, between the throttle and layout. I like my battery controllers mainly because they can't generate enough power to do too much damage. Hope this helps, Mark
Do you mean the yellow label on the box like in this one? http://www.ebay.com/itm/MRC-1300-Po...185372?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item19d787d39c
The yellow label is on the controller. MRC has put a stop inside the controller to keep it from putting out more than 10 volts. You might want to check the output of your 2800 as some of those have also been modified. Marklin also makes controllers exclusively for Z scale, although, they don't give very good slow-speed control. I've used all of the analog controllers for Z scale and they all work well. You just need to find the one that works best for your layout. Stay away from controllers with "pulse", "brake", and "momentum" switches on them.
look folks, from an electronics engineer. Any power supply will work. Your locomotives wont mysterious burn up or spontaneously blow up above 9, 10 or whatever volts ! Period. When you run any of these near those voltages, it is pretty obvious you are way above scale speed, unless you like that rat-race Lionel speed. Just don't turn it up was high as you ran with N scale ! (just because your audio amplifier has a knob, do you turn it up all the way ?)
