Situation...I have a 4 by 18 foot walk around layout. Still open benchwork and only about 3 sets of initial feeders hooked up (roughly 80 feet of HO track). 14 gauge bus 18 gauge feeders. If you do the quarter test and it fails to kick out the dcc unit....what could be the possible set of problems. Sometimes it kicks off other times is doesn't. Does the length of the test effect the results or should it be instantly? It is a simple Bachmann 1 amp e-z command (which i know stinks...but it is what I have right now...got it new in wrapped in box for about $20 to get me started in DCC)
Thanks for any help.
It should be instantaneous everywhere. Add track feeders and/or increase bus wire size.
Martin Myers
The size of your wiring is fine - It's the lack of feeders that is your problem. My 'bus' parallels the main line(#14) and there are feeders for every piece of track(you cannot go 3 ft without a feeder). Do not trust rail joiners. Now give it the quarter test....
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
I can think of only one other possibility, and it would be very remote; your quarter is dirty, and so is the track at the location you placed the quarter, so contact was poor. We should forget that very unlikely eventuality and assume, as the others have said, that you lack at least one additional pair of feeders, and quite possibly two or three more would have your quarter tripping the shorts detection circuitry just as your expensive decoders would like it to.
-Crandell
I agree you need more feeders. In particular, my experience has been that turnouts don't always carry the current from one end to the other very well so at least use feeders on both sides of turnouts.
Enjoy
Paul
I figured that might be the case. Thanks guys for helping me out.
(I have the holes ready for more feeders and the wires cut. I just thought I would try the quarter test with two set of feeders and see if it works...NOW I KNOW)
THANKS!!!