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Trouble Shooting
Nothing seems to be working …
Check the power. The TrackSide LED should be ON. You should measure between 7 and 25 volts DC at
the power input terminals. If the LED is OFF, your voltage is less than 7VDC or the polarity is backwards.
Check the fuse. If it is blowing during normal operation (not due to a short during derailment), you may in-
crease the size from 5A to 7.5A, or 10A.
Pressing any button on the transmitter should cause the TrackSide LED to blink off. If not, check the trans-
mitter batteries. Replace with AAAA alkaline batteries (Available on our website, if needed).
The transmitter doesn't work at all.
Did the receiver successfully “Learn” the transmitter?
Open the transmitter case and make sure the batteries and green module are both fully seated.
Replace the batteries with a AAAA alkaline cells, available on our website.
The transmitter sometimes vibrates, and I don’t have it programmed for that. Your batteries are low!
Erratic throttle behavior? Reset throttle to default full range values using throttle programming procedure
(See Throttle Programming).
The loco doesn’t start moving until I hold the Faster button for a long time.
The voltage is ramping from 0 volts to that required to move the loco. You can eliminate this dead time by
programming the Min Speed setting to a higher value. (See Throttle Programming). However, this setting
may be different for each loco.
The loco starts moving as soon as I turn it on.
Program the Min Speed setting to a lower value.
The locos runs in reverse at power up.
Reverse the wires at the track output.
The loco won’t run as fast as I like even though I keep trying to increase the speed setting …
Maximum speed is determined by your power supply voltage or the Max Speed setting. You need more
power supply voltage or you may need to restore the default throttle programming settings.
I can’t change direction with the loco stopped.
While the loco may be stopped, the track voltage still isn’t close enough to zero volts to allow the direction
change. Get into the habit of always pressing the Stop button to insure voltage goes to zero.
If the lights in your loco are acting funny, not working well, or perhaps flickering, it may be due to the PWM
(Pulse Width Modulation) output of the track throttle. It won’t cause any harm to your loco, but it can be cor-
rected, if desired, by using a PWM to Linear Converter available from us. This will provide a pure DC output
to the track and loco.
Notes:
1) Many low cost train “Power Packs” do not have regulated DC outputs. Their outputs contain a high content of
AC voltage that will damage the Trackside R/C unit. It may overheat and burn up the driver stage. If in doubt,
please call us. The DC output of your power pack should measure less than 1 volt AC (measured on the AC
scale of your meter).
2) Locomotives containing DCC decoders that also allow operation on regular DC voltage may not operate
properly with the Trackside R/C. Our PWM output signal makes the DCC board think it is in DCC mode. Re-
moving the DCC board and making direct connections between the track pickups and the locomotives motor
(s) will solve this problem.
