So far I cannot figure out why I have a dead area of track all of a sudden. It messures not much more than 8 inches. Some times the train will go by but more times than not it will stop dead. It happens just after a double gap and about 12 inches from the next wired rails. I at first thought it was shorting because of an area I was landscaping was still wet. Not wet now. Has anyone had this happen or have some suggestions on posible causes. Train runs fine after moved the 8 inches. Thanks John.
Sounds like a intermittent feeder or track splice. Get your voltmeter out and troubleshoot.
If the DCC controller did not trip, you have a loss of power because of open circuit, not a short.
Rich
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It could be the result of a loose rail joiner or other track connection. The easy way to fix it is to run another set of feeders to it.
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Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
When I see "wet landscaping" and "dead track" together, I immediately suspect that you got glue into the rail joiners, so they are no longer making a good connection. Mobilman is right. Just run a pair of feeders and be done with it.
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You will usually need a load on the section of track for proper troubleshooting. A loco or a car light bulb. Some use an 1156 light bulb as a load.
Sometimes you will see the proper voltage with no load and as soon as you connect a load, the voltage drops.
Thanks for the help. I did the simplist thing and ran more wire to the dead area. Problem solved.
It always takes TWO gaps to stop a train. Yes a jumper or soldering a rail joiner will fix it, but one of those gaps could have been caused by a switch point. I'd check that very carefully even though it is working now.
ROAR
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