Model Railroading > Control master 20 adding phone jacks need help please

I tried this a couple years ago,and now I remember why it never happend,Ive been out in the man cave attemping to do this again,no luck,Ive got the phone jacks wired like they are supposed to be,I tried both the 4 and 6 strip inserts backwards and forwards,No matter what I do, When I put a loco on the track it has full power with the hand held throtle in the 0 position,the instructions
are of no use they just say hook up as many phone jacks as you like.Well im trying and id like to but there seems to be an issue. Theres a nudge switch on the power plant ive tried both on and off makes no difference,Are any of you familiar with doing this adding a phone jack thing, Can you shed some lite or give me some direction besides telling me to switch to DCC thanks.

I have a control master 20 hooked up to 3 ten foot phone cords (I believe IAW the indtructions the jacks should not exceed 30 feet).
The control master 20 is attached to a 110 ft 10 guage bus that runs around the layout.
Suitcase connectors connect the 10 gauge bus to #18 feeders to the track.
One jack goes into the control master 20 followed by two more 10 ft telephone extension cords all in a sheathing which is supported around the layout on large cup hooks.
Having 30 ft of cord allows me to follow the train around the layout.
I don't understand what you mean by no. 4 or no. 6 strip inserts.
You may also call MRC for tech support and I have always found them helpful.

Hal

This is what I use and I have a couple of lengths end to end in several locations. I think the 4 or 6 referred to are the number of contact strips in the connectors and wires in the cable. I use the 6. Almosts sounds like you have the track wired to the 16v output connections instead of the "track" connections. Did you test the power supply outlet with a meter and know the problem is in the cord or handheld device? Do some process of elemination tricks. Also if the remote has been dropped it might also be the problem. I have two packs and two remotes so its easy to switch around for troubleshooting.
Roger Beckett

I have the same set up. I have 3 female jack outlets around my layout and if the male throttle jack doesn't fit just right into the female layout jack it can have symptoms just as what you described. Look inside the female jacks and make sure that the tiny copper wires aren't crossed. This is the most common problem that I have. Just take tweezers or small pliers and place the copper wires back in their assigned spaces.
Also I have sometimes have problems when removing the throttle jack from the female jacks. All of a sudden the train will take off or switch direction. I must very slowly and carefully remove the throttle jack as to not jump the wires inside the female jacks.

I've have this setup for roughly 10 years now and these are the two problems that keep popping up from time to time. I changed out the phone lines and jacks and still I have this problem. Its just something with this set up. So I just live with it.

James

Just to give you some more info,The hand held throtle that came with the power pack is fine it operates as it should,What im trying to do is put another phone jack mounted in the facier.This will let me unplug from the power pack and replug into another phone jack ive put in my facier about 15 feet from the power pack.Im using standard phone cable (4 wire) and a regular phone jack.When I hook the end of the new extra phone jack into the power pack I have full power even when the hand held is in the zero power to the rail position,Reversing the wiring and trying different hook ups makes no difference still full power.Im sure the problem is in the new jack im trying to wire but as i said no matter how I wire it up the outcome is still the same, Full power.Pluging the stock hand held into the power pack again no problem works fine.What im looking for is what to do to get the new jack wired and working. What is the correct wiring method for hooking up a extra jack.hope this explains a little clearer as to what im trying to do.And yes when im saying the 4 and 6 prong connectors that is the number of the copper colored tabs on the snap connector that gose into the phone jack,the power pack hand held has a 4 prong ive tried the same and the outcome is still full power.Thanks again for your reply and tips