Hello, It has been a few years since I last built a layout and I forgot how to wire a Shinohara turnout, I know I insulate all rails so do I put feeder wire on all 3 sections? I just tried to wire up one of my turnouts and the engine will run straight through it but when I flip the turnout it starts to go through and stops!!! I will try to run extra feeders along the other sections and see if this helps. My turnouts are all metal frogs. Thank you in advance...
zartan74...the engine will run straight through it but when I flip the turnout it starts to go through and stops!!!
I'm assuming from your description these are Shinohara branded (as opposed to Walthers), and they are the "power routing" types with live frogs? Wiring is different with the "DCC friendly" code 83 turnouts manufactured by Shinohara but sold under the Walthers name.
Do you have a ground throw or switch machine to hold the points against the stock rail? A loco traveling through either route will stall if there isn't something to maintain positive contact between the stock rail and the points. If you push and hold the points, does it cure the problem until you let go? If so, adding a ground throw should solve things. If not, you could have a loose connection between the points and closure rails.
If the turnout is power routing, make sure not to run any feeders to the points, closure rails, or rails leading out of the frog unless the power to those feeders changes polarity when the points throw.
While your situation sounds like an open as opposed to a short, make sure you don't have any power feeding back into any rail that leads out of a frog. Those rails change polarity with the points, so you need gaps between the frog and any feeders beyond. Without gaps you'll get a short whenever a turnout throws.
Rob Spangler
PERFECT!!! I put a Caboose Industries ground throw on it and it works perfect BOTH WAYS. I am glade I didn't have to add more feeder wires to it, or replace the turnout itself. You where right the problem was at the point itself not making full contact.
For my Shinohara turnouts, all that I currently own is the ones I bought several years ago so none of them are the DCC friendly kind, however my last layout I made was DCC and they worked great on them. I will have to eventually buy more turnouts so then I will get the DCC friendly kind (I don't know the difference between yet).
I am working on the biggest layout I will make right now 3 decks 26 feet X 44 feet. BUT I am not going to be stupid and try to build all of it at once! I am doing "sections" at a time and when I am totally done I will move to the next and so on. I am starting on the "hub" of the layout a prettty large yard with steam fesilaties 22 feet long.
Thank you for your advice, Tom...
The primary difference between the DCC Friendly ones and the ones you have is, with the ones you have, both point rails have the same polarity of whichever stock rail they are pushed against. That means if the back of a wheel going through the open side happens to brush against the open point rail, you get a short. In DC this is just momentary and the power pack doesn;t even have time to react, so you never even notice it. With DCC, the circuit protection operates MUCH faster, and the loco will stall or stutter through the turnout. With the DCC friendly versions, the throwpar is insulated, and each point rail is fixed to the polarity of it's nearest stock rail, so such contact is no longer a short. In most cases, the point rail power also comes throught he hinge end, so tight contact from the switch motor or ground throw isn't strictly required for electrical flow (of course if the point isn't reasonably tight, the train will pick it and derail, reagrdless of electrical power). That is the primary difference between DCC friendly and not. The nice thing, thought not always exploited, with DCC friendly is that the gap in the open point rail can be much smaller and closer to protoype - if you look at a prototype turnout, you'll see the gap on the open point rail is quite small compared to typical model turnouts.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
If you want to see diagrams of the DCC friendly new types, here's a webpage. (There is also a page for the older types on the same site).
http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=modelrailroading;id=13;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ewiringfordcc%2Ecom%2Fswitches_walthers%2Ehtm
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent