Autobus Prime wrote: TZ:Your mention of brake lights reminds me of a Dodge Diplomat I once had. If you shut off the engine, but placed the wipers in ON, the turn signal lever in either direction, and turned on the 4-way flashers, current would take a weird path back through the turn signals and the wipers would jerk across the windshield in time with the flashers.
TZ:
Your mention of brake lights reminds me of a Dodge Diplomat I once had. If you shut off the engine, but placed the wipers in ON, the turn signal lever in either direction, and turned on the 4-way flashers, current would take a weird path back through the turn signals and the wipers would jerk across the windshield in time with the flashers.
And it was the exact same tempo as "Only You" by The Platters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEe4zMBQlaQ
Dave Nelson
Hah! Congratulations. I didn't think of that one, even though I have had the experience with tail lights, brake lights, and turn signals on old cars.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Your mention of brake lights reminds me of a Dodge Diplomat I once had. If you shut off the engine, but placed the wipers in ON, the turn signal lever in either direction, and turned on the 4-way flashers, current would take a weird path back through the turn signals and the wipers would jerk across the windshield in time with the flashers. It was amusing, and it wasn't just my Diplomat - another one I had did the same thing.
outdoorsfellar wrote:Tada !! I found the short today... if it was indeed a short. ... I found that the negative rail was acting up in the rail joiner right where the other 1/2 of the layout was ok. All I had to do was souder that joiner & life is good again.
Tada !! I found the short today... if it was indeed a short. My layout is a point to point, & the way things were acting was driving me nuts. Why a certain toggle that had nothing to do with where the problem was,& can have an effect on things we'll never know I suppose, but as I was running engines ( & trying to figure out why they were running in the manner that they were ) I found that the negative rail was acting up in the rail joiner right where the other 1/2 of the layout was ok. All I had to do was solder that joiner & life is good again. There's a lesson to be learned here when 1st laying track. The thought of having to mess with all those toggles really scared me...lol.
IT almost sounds like you have a short circuit where BOTH controllers are trying to power the same sections of track at the same time. If the directions don't match, the train will run slowly or not at all. The voltage "drop" will be high somewhere and may overheat the controller.
If you have an ammeter check the current draw. Otherwise, disconnect blocks (remove wire) and use clip leads to test one block at a time with a single pack. Check that disconnected blocks do NOT have power too. This may be tricky to troubleshoot.
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
If you have power-routing turnouts, you must have insulating gaps. Part of my layout had gaps cut in the rails. The temperature dropped in my basement and some of the gaps closed up to the point where the rail ends touched and shorted. I spread the rails and inserted some styrene to keep them apart.
Jim
Man o man..... I hope it's not in the toggles themselves...lol. I don't understand how I can get 'em to go in different directions on the same current, though they're quite sluggish when it happens.
I would look first for a short in the track between one block and another by inspecting all the insulated joints. Look for contact or contamination between the rail ends.
Next I would look for a short in the switch that controls which cab provides power to the block. Also the cables leading to it, if you have bundled the cables together from both cabs.
Try completely disconnecting the low voltage output of one cab at the cab. If the block operates OK, then that would support the idea of a short in the above-mentioned switch. Re-connect that cab and try it with the other cab disconnected.
Disconnect the block from the above-mentioned switch, disconnect the low voltage output of a cab completely, and connect that cab directly to the block. If the block operates OK with this direct connection, then the problem is likely in the wiring or the switch. If not, then there is probably a problem somewhere in the track.
Good luck. Let us know how it comes out.
Hmmm interesting problem. Usually problems are due to bad electrical joints -- bad soldering -- coming undone. that can be very difficult to detect without redoing all soldered joints!
One possibility is that a toggle switch has gone bad. Another is that a minute piece of metal is bridging a gap between sections? Such as a freight car truck with metal wheels? remove every piece of equipment from the layout.
If the building is heated, is it sometimes not heated - that is, have there been recent temperature changes that might have pulled a connection apart or pushed a gap together?