My search for the perfect controller continues. I have two Rokuhan controllers and two hand held Snail Speed controllers. I do not have any Marklin controllers due to their relatively high cost. I have decided that the Rokuhan controllers, while being very nice to handle, do not work at all well with the newer Marklin locos with new generation bell shaped armature motors. The Rokuhan constant lighting system means that these super efficient locos can only stop and start abruptly or run at fairly high speeds. I like the Snail Speed controllers in operation but they are small and finicky to handle, better suited to mounting on a board, a different design than the ones I purchased. So I am considering trying the Marklin controller. It appears to have a nice big throttle and no switches to flip or buttons to push. I now have Marklin 5 pole and new generation locos, a Rokuhan loco, and a pair of AZL locos. Can someone tell me if the Marklin controller works well with all of these?
The Marklin controllers will give you abrupt starts and stops. I use the modified MRC 1300 controllers. They give a wide enough power range that I can make the locos crawl. They won't make them crawl quite as well as the snail speed controllers but they're close. Be sure to get the modified MRC controllers.
Have you considered the Medvend controllers sold by Ztrack? They work like the Snail but mount into a surface. It's just a circuit board that can be put anywhere. You have to drill a few holes to allow the knob and rocker switch through. Here you can see the Medvend throttle mounted on the side of my layout(sorry for blurry photo).
... Or make the jump into dcc with a NCE power cab. Just install a decoder in your locomotive and you have the best control you can get. /Frank Verstuurd vanaf mijn ANE-LX1 met Tapatalk
My old Marklin steam locos are dear to me and they will probably never be DCC. But I will eventually have an NCE power cab for my AZL loco's. I am disappointed to hear that the Marklin controllers are not that good! If what you all say is true then the panel mounted Medvend may be the way to go. Too bad Radio Shack is gone, they had nice hobby boxes for electronics. I hadn't thought of MRC. I'll take a look at them.
If you still can get one of the brown with orange control knob from Märklin, these work pretty well. Only the old 3 poler 0-3-0 locomotives and rail busses remain bad runners. /Frank Verstuurd vanaf mijn ANE-LX1 met Tapatalk
The Medvend and Snail are IDENTICAL design. Lajos Thek of ZoCal had his cousin/brother in Hungary make this PWM design controller, then into the Snail in the US. The boards only could then be purchased from Medvend then all came together under Ztrack. PWM is the best and only way to have *any* kind of low speed or smooth starting. PERIOD. (Note: same principle as DCC, without the decoder)
Yes, I thought they were the same also. I first tried the Snail at a train show when SJ Z-man loaned me his. I think they might be great mounted on a board or larger electronic hobby box, perhaps with a larger diameter knob. The small Snail one is great if you need something compact though. For any of you that haven’t tried one the nicest feature is a button which automatically starts and stops the loco at a programmed rate. I’m going to mount mine on a board (something heavy) and use them for a while to see how I like them better now. I had previously decided I liked the Rokuhan’s better and put the Snails away but since getting the new Marklin locos I’m not so sure.