Having finished my mainline recently, which has 5 turnouts (2 Peco's and 3 Walthers-Shinohara curved), I have been testing several of my engines. HO scale, code 83 track, electrofrogs. All engines WERE running fine until today. Now my 4-6-2 is stalling and shorting out in the Walthers curved turnouts. All 3 of them. They were working fine. The engine shorts out when the middle drive wheel (that would be the middle wheel of the "6") hits that little gap in the frog.
My test meter shows continuity throught the turnout. The polarity at the frog shows continuity.
Also my 4-axel switcher will shot out now at the same point if it is running slow enough.
How and why and where could the short be happening if I'm seening continuity?
Help and thanks
If the Shinohara turnouts have one piece live frogs, you need to have plastic joiners on the two exiting rails from the frog.
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
Do you know if the Walthers/Shinohara turnouts are the old style, or the "DCC Friendly" version?
A picture of the frog would be helpful.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Peco turnouts have a known problem. The rail sections that come together at the frog are a bit too close, and when a wide wheel, particularly a steam engine drive wheel, crosses the frog, it will span the gap between the two opposite polarities and cause a short.
It's an easy fix. Get some clear nail polish (or black of you have a Goth girlfriend) and just paint a bit of the frog, thus insulating the gap a bit more. Let the nail polish dry and you're good to go. It typically lasts a long time.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.