Peco Code 100 Turnouts Information Needed

[wcu boy]

I understand that Peco is moving to eliminate the insulfrog and the electrofrog. This is evident in the creation of the unifrog in the Code 83 line that Peco makes. My question is this. Is Peco going to also stop producing insulfrog and electrofrog in their Code 100 line and create a unifrog only in Code 100. I like Peco turnouts and I am starting a new layout and I  want to make good purchases. Experts, on this forum, please clarify this information as to its accuracy. This change to the unifrog has been confusing to me.

[doctorwayne]

I can't comment on Peco insulfrogs or electrofrogs, but when I saw your thread, the thing that caught my eye was ".... Code 100 Turnouts Information Needed".  I completely missed Peco, mainly because I was in my layout room looking at some code 100 turnouts, and wondering who might need them.

I have two right-hand curved turnouts, and one left-hand one, along with a #6 turnout and one that appears to be either a #8 or maybe #10.  All are from Shinohara and in pretty good shape, other than for a couple of partial rail joiners soldered to a couple rails.

I'll shut-up now, and let somebody else, (who, hopefully, can help you with those Peco turnouts), chime in.

Wayne

 

[riogrande5761]

wcu boy

I understand that Peco is moving to eliminate the insulfrog and the electrofrog. This is evident in the creation of the unifrog in the Code 83 line that Peco makes. My question is this. Is Peco going to also stop producing insulfrog and electrofrog in their Code 100 line and create a unifrog only in Code 100. I like Peco turnouts and I am starting a new layout and I  want to make good purchases. Experts, on this forum, please clarify this information as to its accuracy. This change to the unifrog has been confusing to me.

 

It is my understanding that Peco plans to change over all of their remaining Insulfrog and Electrofrog lines into a single Unifrog line of turnouts, including the code 100 line.  Apparently it is an effort to simplify their turnout lines and reduce costs and sell only a slngle line of Unifrog rather than two lines of Insul and Electrofrog.

 

A few people have reported issues with the Insulfrog turnouts shorting where wide wheel treads touched two rails of opposing polarity close to the plastic frog.  The reported fix is to paint the rails with fingernail polish to insulate them near the frog.  Peco's code 83 Unifrog #6 turnouts had a very similar design and issue of shorting when they first came out.  Peco acknowledge this issue and have since revised the #6 code 83 turnouts to fix that issue.

 

Back to the discontinuance of the two lines (insul and electro frog).   Reportedly Peco is changing over bit by bit as the tooling for certain turnouts wear out.  In the HO code 83, they started with the #6 cross over and #6 double slip in a few years ago.  Then late summer 2020, I got word that Peco had discontinued the code 83 #6 insul and electro frog turnouts.  But since I preferred the Electrofrog, I went on a hunt to purchase as many as I could find before all the old stock was sold out.  Probably a good thing as Peco turnouts have jumped by about $10 in price since then.  

[betamax]

Yes, Peco plans to eliminate the Insulfrog and Electrofrog products as the tooling wears out.

These designs pre-date DCC, so an updated turnout which offers the features of both frog types simplifies their catalog.

The problem with Insulfrogs (aside from all the mythology that surrounds them) is the user doesn't read the instruction sheet. They are power routing, so properly installed with insulated rail joiners in the right place they don't cause a problem with DCC.

Unifrog information 

Insulfrog and DCC

[riogrande5761]

It's not a myth btw.  Peco as acknowledge the issue as genuine.  Here is an email I received from a rep at Peco when I bought up the Unifrog issue that was similar to the Insulfrog issue:

"Thank you for your email raising concerns about short circuits on the Unifrog #6 turnouts. It is standard railway engineering practice to put a 3° taper on wheels, which normally means they only contact the rail they are sat upon and the overhanging outer edge of the wheel should pass over the top of the opposing frog rail without contact. This is what we are used to, and it works that was on our OO and N scale products. However, NMRA RP-25 only recommends a taper, and having spoken to a former colleague who is deeply into American HO scale we now realise there are ready to run models being produced without the taper on the wheels, which would of course cause the short circuiting problems as you describe and what you saw in the YouTube video.

 

We are now looking at how we can modify the tooling to provide a longer Unifrog tip and greater gap between the frog rails. This will also be implemented on the code 70 #6 turnouts and all future HO scale Unifrog products.

 

Thank you for bringing it to our attention."

 

The above email was prior to the mods made to the turnout.  Since then Peco has modified the Unifrog #6.