I am using insulated Peco Turnouts and have a question about wiring them for DCC. Do I need a set of feeder wires on each leg past the frog and a set before the points, for a total of three sets of feeders per turnout?
You don't need the extra feeders but they won't hurt. Insulfrogs have jumper wires underneath so a pair of feeders to the outside stock rails would suffice. The points are the biggest cause for concern because they rely on those little rail joiners and contact with the stock rails to get power. A little dirt at the contact points and they go dead until cleaned. I solder small jumper wires accross the rail joiner hinges. Pieces of leftover decoder wire work well.
When it comes to feeders I always say the more the merrier. You can never have too many but you can have too few and when problems arise then you will wish there were more. All my modules have Pecos. There are feeders to every rail next to the Pecos and not on them. I did that in case I had the need to replace one. Never had to and then at one show a few years later had contact problems on one stock rail. I thought about soldering the joiners but they are painted and glued. Now there are feeders on every stock rail but not the points. Seven years of weather and banging around and still no problems.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
thank you both for your replies
Hi from Belgium,
In the past I have used Nscale code Peco Electrofrog code 55 turnouts for my Maclau River RR.
I have always solder the point of the turnout. No wire on the small hinged join.
Place two piece of wood(ties are good) to maintain the two wing rail in the middle of the running rails.
Turn the turnout upside down and apply a little solder on the small hinge of the points.
Turn the turnout again and take of the two remaining ties, the points stay nearly in the middle.
You have now a turnout with solid points like Fastrack ones ( I use them now) www.handlaidtrack.com
I control my turnouts with Switchmaster or Tortoise motors and run them since code 55 appears on the market whithout any trouble and breakdown solder join.
Many friends and modelers have say I will have troubles using this way and have ruined the turnout definitively, but in more than 25 years no problems and they have a full continuty of electricity flow by this way.
Marc