I just installed one of these crossovers and having problems with shorts when certain locomotives cross over it. Does anyone have advise on what i can do to make set it up for prefect operation using DCC ?
rc guy,
You said you have shorting problems when certain locomotives go through it. Always the same locomotives? Do these locomotives always short out at the double corssover? Do most of your locomotives go through without problems or do most exhibit the problem?
If only a few of your locomotives have the problem, I would focus my efforts on the locos, not the double cross over. Check for clean wheels, wheel gauge, wheel flange depth, freely swiveling trucks, no loose wires hanging down somethere, etc.
If they still short out, then turn down the lights (so you can see sparks, if any) and run the problem locos through the double crossover very slowly trying to find exactly where the problem(s) is (are). Some folks have had success putting a little clear nail polish on guard rail if there is a tight fit.
Problems like this can be the devil to find. Good luck!
Did you power the frogs?
Are the two main lines in the same power district, and are they polarized the same way?
Have you checked the wheel gauge of the offending locomotives with your NMRA gauge?
Is there an auto-reverser involved?
Oh, and welcome aboard!
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Shorts or pauses?
Where on the double crossover?
Run a loco as slowly as you can through it to see where on the double crossover the problem occurs.
Using a loco that exhibits the problem, how about in reverse over the double crossover? Same problem? Same location?
What happens when you run the locomotive through the double crossover from the other direction? How about in reverse from that other direction? Same problem? Same location?
Does the problem occur on the straight through route or the divergent route?
All routes, some routes, one route? There are 8 routes a loco can take across that double crossover.
Try to pin down the problem as best you can and then report back to us.
Rich
Alton Junction
My club has two Shinohara CD100 double crossovers and we are having many problems with shorts occuring while locos traverse the diverging routes over the frogs on them. This has been an ongoing problem ever since we went to DCC nine years ago. It seems that the locos wheels span rails of opposite polarity where they are close together and it is at several points on the diverging route that the wheels short out the DCC on one or both of the power districts involved with the crossover. Yes they are causing shorts, not stalls. It happens in both directions. The straight routes are fine. Our solution has been to slather on Black Laquer nail polish on the rails to extend the insulation between the Rails. It worked until someone decided to do some more trouble shooting and removed the nail polish. We're going to slather some more on soon. We've also been throwing all four ends at the same time which seems to help. We have some of the new code 83 DCC friendly doubles that have the same geometry of the code 100's but the areas where the shorts occur have wider spaces with insulation so the wheels do not touch rails of opposite polarity on the frogs. Our club member doing the troubleshooting wants to beat the snot out of the old code 100 switches some more before we install the Code 83's. The CD 100's are ballasted in and there are two of them that span three tracks.
Thank you all for your replies, I checked the wheels with the gauge and their all fine. I only run one district at this time, doing research on what are the best circuit breakers to purchase for each district. I have a new Prodigy Elite so i have enough power for my layout so not going with any boosters. It seems the trains run fine when i dont cross the mains and when I do I have to switch all four swithes to avoid a short circuit. Its not clued down and ballasted in yet so i will look into the Black Laquer Nail polish. Thanks All
Older large flange Rivarossi articulateds do not like Shinohara double crossovers!!
Mel
The 669-111 double cross over is a code 100 item. If I recall correctly it is not DCC friendly, thus requiring some gaps be cut. I suggest you go to this link: http://www.webring.org/l/rd?ring=modelrailroading;id=13;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wiringfordcc.com%2Fswitches_walthers_old.htm
It is part of Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC web site specifically dealing with this particular product. I have not studied it myself but I believe the answer to your problems may lie there.
Unfortunately, this may be one of those threads where we don't find out what the problem actually is and how, or whether, it has been resolved.
I will keep everyone up to date just in case someone else ever runs into this problem. It is a combinataion of some trains causing this problem because of the make up of this particular switch and running DCC
rc guyI the instructions on how to make this double crossover DCC friendly. I understand making making the gaps but I'm not sure about making the circuit board throw bars. They seem to be very difficult for my skill level in the hobby. Is there any other way around that procedure? How do you attach the point rails to the circuit board so it is in the right spot when you operate the turnout ?
Hex Frog juicer. Tam Valley.
Look it up.
It'll help.
WP Lives
I did read about them and from what I read it seems they are very difficult to cut, after you get them cut I don't see a good explantion on how to attach the point rails.