shorts

[Anonymous]

[8] Need some help
I have been working on my layout for some time without to many problems ,Most of the problems i worked out my self .But now i need help.I decided to replace two turnouts (atlas) with new pico switches .and thats seems to be my problem .Some where it shorts out and nothing will run .I thought it might be the dcc cab ; but it will work when i disconect the cab from the layout and hook it up to a seperate track the loco will work with no problem so i can eliminate the cab . can some onr tell me what the trouble is and how to correct my mistakes
thanks for reading this .fuzzypa@ptd .net

[dehusman]

Since it happened after you installed atwo switches,the problem is 99% in the switches. Without telling us where the switches are or how they are connected electricaly, you probably installed an "electro-frog" type switch and need an insulated joiner in one or both legs beyond the frog. That's just a guess.

Dave H.

[jecorbett]

You might have the same problem with your Pecos that I discovered with the Walthers turnouts. Most of my layout uses Atlas but I needed #8s and at the time, Atlas only went up to #6s. I too found they shorted out. The problem is that Atlas has insulated frogs and the Walthers doesn't. That means the inside and outside rails are electrically connected which can create a short. What I had to do is make sure it was wired so the electrical current came from one track end of the turnout instead of the two track end. When I did that, the design of the turnout would only route power to the track that the switch points alligned to. You then need to insulated the two track end of the turnout with insulated rail joiners so no power is received from the two track end. Depending on how your layout is wired, it might mean you have to add power wires to one or both of the tracks beyond the insulated joiners. I'm just making an educated guess here that this could be the problem with your Peco turnouts. I've never used one so I can't say for sure if they are engineered the same way the Walthers were but it would be the first thing I looked at.

[nfmisso]

See: http://www.loystoys.com/peco/about-electrofrog.html

[cacole]

I always place insulated rail joiners on the two short rails that diverge away from the frog, and then solder feeder wires to the track beyond the turnout for electrical continuity. Peco turnout frogs and the rails that diverge from them change polarity according to which point rail is touching, and this creates a short circuit. Insulated rail joiners easily solve this problem. Walthers (Shinohara) turnouts also have a live frog that must be insulated from the diverging tracks.