Today I have faced an short circuit on my small dc/dcc layout.
I have several trains (locos) which I'm running one or two in the same time and never have any
problem with my layout.
Today I have converted a BRAWA DMU to dcc and during the test run in a sertain point
my NCE power cab performed a shut down and restarted again after several seconds.
This problem ocured several times with the same train in the same place and not with other trains.
can any one explain me wthat is the proplem I've faced?
Thenk you
Zeev
It would help if we knew at what point it is occurring. Is it on a switch, or a diamond?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
It occurs on one from sveral turn out switches the train is passing
Run it very slowly over the switch until it shorts then look to see if the back of one of the wheels is hitting the opposing point or in the frog.
If one of your wheel sets or the switch is out of guage that can happen.
If it's happening only at turnouts watch when the train crosses the frog. Keep an eye where the tracks converge. A flange might be hitting. If this is happening a small file or dremel can be used to widen the gap just a bit to fix the problem. It's pretty common, especially if the loco has a wheelset out of gauge.
The spot you are looking for is in this pic:
Springfield PA
If your turnouts have insulated frogs, check the other end of the frog (from the picture above), where the two stock rail come together to see if the wheel is touching the opposite rail. If this is the case, try painting some nail polish a 1/2' or 10mm back from the frog and try running the train again. Some of the European wheels have rather wide treads. A permanent solution would be to cut a new insulating gap.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
Thanks to every one for the helpful advice.
The problem is that this specific turnout is located in a place on the layout that it is difficult
to see if the whell is touching the opposite rail because the train is a low profile.
but I'll do my best to try to solve this problem according your advice
Hi,
I may have missed it but I didn't read what kind of turnouts you are using. I had a similar problem last year when testing out my first DCC layout. To make a long story short (no pun intended), I had 4 generations of Atlas turnouts in use. The older ones have little separation at the frog point where the two inside rails come close together. Some steam locos drive wheels were briefly touching both of them, and a short resulted. On DC, it was never a problem. Anyway, the only sure cure was to replace them, and all is well.
Mobilman44
ENJOY !
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
zg27 Thanks to every one for the helpful advice. The problem is that this specific turnout is located in a place on the layout that it is difficult to see if the whell is touching the opposite rail because the train is a low profile. but I'll do my best to try to solve this problem according your advice Zeev
A real handy thing to have in your tool box is a dental mirror. Sometimes you can make do with a small mirror like women use in a makeup compact.
Once again you do not have to replace a turnout that is acting up. I haven't seen one yet that couldn't be adjusted or modified to work correctly.