Hi all, got a question regarding peco points.I have never laid track of any description before so its all abit new to me so bare with me.I was wondering is it possible for me too lay my points ready for dcc and then add point motors at a later date if so should i still remove the two wires underneath the point that peco reccomends doing for dcc and should i pre wire them now for later use.The reason i ask is that peco clearly states that no alterations are needed for these points to be used for dcc so why do i need to cut wires underneath?
I only use the 'insulfrog' type, meaning "DCC-friendly"...already from the factory. They have the routing jumpers near the frogs. You would not want to cut those. So, I'm assuming you are talking about the 'electrofrog' variety? If you want them to be generally DCC-friendly, I believe, not absolutely sure, that Peco and other users would recommend isolating the frog so that it is either dead always, or it is powered using a device or toggle switch that can energize it with the appropriate polarity or phase.
Which is it?
Cutting the wires and adding the repalcements as shown in the instructions make them more reliable. It's not strictly required, but long term reliability will be better if you make the changes. if you DO make the changes, you absolutely need to power the frog somehow, as cutting the jumpers completely isolates the frog.
You can always install point motors later, although the Peco ones would require you to remove the turnout because the cutout for the motor is done from the top. For other types like a Tortoise you can add those later, you justhave to be careful drilling up for the actuating rod - a depth stop on the drill bit is almost a must.
If you make the jumper changes but do not install point motors, setting the frog polarity may get a bit tricky. One way to do this with manually operated turnouts on DCC is to use Tam Valley Frog Juicers to power the frogs, they are electronic devices that automatically set the frog polarity. The instructions say you can use them successfully without modifying the jumpers, however I think making the jumper modifications is still the most reliable approach.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
It depends on the type of Peco switch...
Insulfrog, Electrofrog, or the new Unifrog which replaces the previous two.
See https://www.dccwiki.com/DCC_Friendly_Turnout for info.
I have Peco ElectroFrog on my DCC layout. All I do is isolate the diverging rails from the track that they are going to. No wire cutting, no frog wiring, no juicers, The switches are used as they came out of the box. My Shinohara code 100 switches from 20+ years ago are installed the same way. I didn't change a thing when I went from DC to DCC.
I have 4 Shinohara code 100 double crossovers on my layout too. To use them with DCC, all I had to do is throw all 4 switches at the same time. Simple.
Why make it more complicated than it has to be.
Im using electrofrog peco code 83
rrinker Cutting the wires and adding the repalcements as shown in the instructions make them more reliable. It's not strictly required, but long term reliability will be better if you make the changes. if you DO make the changes, you absolutely need to power the frog somehow, as cutting the jumpers completely isolates the frog.
Rich
Alton Junction
The way they are jumpered stock puts both point rails at the same polarity. Thus the open point rail and the adjacent stock rail will be at opposite polarities, risking the same back of wheel short you can get with the old Walthers/Shinohara turnouts that did the same thing (ecept they did it by using a conductive throwbar - at least with Peco the throwbar is plastic, so cutting the jumpers fixes it). Keep the whole part of my reply - you can;t just cut the jumpers, you have to cut the factory jumpers AND install the suggested alternate ones, unless you think point to stock contact is sufficient to power the points and closure rails. And cutting the stock jumpers, plus the required gaps beyond the frog, now completely isolated the frog, a rather large section of track to have dead, so power to the frog is also required.