Lots of MTH TIU z100 brick and other problems

[iron horse mccloude]

    HI : My name is Ron and I have owned my mth steam locomotive for 3 years now I have only ran as many   times as you can count on one hand. But had also spent that and more in 100 dolor bills on repairs on fried electronics..First I fried the locomotive after it derailed I set it on the track before shuting of the power. I thought this was just a simple mastake. I had it fixed a the cost of about $250.00 and also decided to try the DCS system..as luck would have it I waited over 1 year to try the DCS with my TIU and hand held controller. every thing was working fine for about 1/2 hour. then suddenly I lost all control of my 2 locomotives and had 2 runaways on my hands!!! I had to grab them up off the tracks!!!....I talked in person to my MTH machinic and he said "yep the TIU has a problem send it to me." I had to go the the MTH train store agin which is over 100 miles away just so he could tell me to get another TIU....At home with the new TIU I got it up and running good rite away just so I was covered if a problem came out of nowhere  which it did when I forgot I had the Z1000 brick pluged in and pluged in into the TIU. When I did this rather small mastake I saw the track power lite burn out and I thought OH NO!!! and I was correct the TIU burned out and had lost comuication with the hand held agin!!!! I called the MTH machinic and once more there was no saving the TIU with reseting. I called MTH and plan to send them the TIU and z1000 brick also a I think eather the brick is bad or there TIUs are simply JUNK!! .. I went back to the train store to bower a z1000 brick, came home with it and Its JUNK TOO!!! I had to use MY brick I an going to send MTH to trubbe shoot just to run my locomotive!!! Is this stuff this bad or What!!!! Each time I tried out my train I held my breath and I also tried different houses and different outlets. I fed up with running 200 miles round trip and now my speaker in my locomotive sounds raspy!!!! has any one else had such problems??? 

[Andrew Falconer]

I made an attempt to power a TIU with a Lionel 135 watt PowerHouse, now the PowerHouse no longer operates. The TIU worked when I took it to the Train Barn for a test in another location.

 

Andrew

[gunrunnerjohn]

I've powered one of my Rev. L MTH TIU's with a Z1000 brick, both the 135W and 180W PowerHouse bricks, and a ZW PW transformer.  It's never been a problem in any of those environments.  If you guys are cooking TIU's, you're doing something else wrong with the wiring.

[phillyreading]

Like John said, have you followed the MTH manual? I have an MTH TIU for over four years and had no problem other then not knowing how to add engines correctly. The TIU is powered by an MTH Z-750 transformer and I have two tracks running off the TIU and I can access variable voltage when needed on both tracks. Also hooked up an AIU for switches, have to power the switches with a power source, as the AIU is only a switch box that is compatible with the TIU(best way to describe it).

[phillyreading]

Ron, Sorry to hear that you are having that many problems with the DCS units. You may want to go the library and check out a book on basic electrical wiring that deals with low voltage(24 volt A.C.) remote control. Another option is to buy the MTH banana plug cables and use the color coded wires from the transformer to the TIU and then to track power.

[Andrew Falconer]

My TIU is unscathed. Wiring the PowerHouse to the TIU resulted in a non-functioning POWERHOUSE Transformer.

Andrew

[gunrunnerjohn]

Well, I've wired both PH180 and PH135 units to my TIU, never a problem.  I can't imagine how the TIU could possibly kill the PowerHouse, I suspect there was simply something going wrong with the PowerHouse and it just happened at that time.