Hi folks,
I am having a brain lock. I started changing a few things around on the layout last spring. Things set for a while and now I am back working. I have the train running fine but when I try to connect the constant voltage to the 4 switches on the layout the train starts running. I unhooked all the switches and the same thing happens.
I am using a KW transformer and it is freshly rebuilt. I am connect the constant voltage to the 20 V terminal and using the A and U connections for power. 022 switches and O guage track.
HELP.
mgbbob Hi folks, I have the train running fine but when I try to connect the constant voltage to the 4 switches on the layout the train starts running. I unhooked all the switches and the same thing happens. HELP.
I have the train running fine but when I try to connect the constant voltage to the 4 switches on the layout the train starts running. I unhooked all the switches and the same thing happens.
Do you mean unhooked from the rest of the layout? Please clarify.
The fixed-voltage connector on the turnouts is designed so that the plug disconnects the turnout's voltage supply from the center rail and reconnects it to the plug.
Are you using the proper plug? If you are simply making contact with the center terminal in the socket, the disconnection does not happen and you are powering both turnout and track from your fixed voltage.
Another possibility is that your plug is worn or not inserted far enough.
Or some previous owner may have modified the turnouts to bypass the disconnection feature as a way of curing an unreliable connection.
Bob Nelson
Down to just a few hairs but I made progress. I found a cross connection that I think was the problem. I can now leave the throttle closed and energize the fixed voltage connection and the trains do not run.
In the mean time I had move the insulated pins for the switches to the side opposite the normal grounded rail. Now the switches don't work. Do I need to move the insulated pins back?
Tlime for a cold beer! I moved the insulated pins to the Y part of the switch and reconnected. Everything seems to work. That arrangement is not how the switch instructions seems to show the connection but I found a reference for the new switches on the internet and tried it. Bingo.
Now I need to screw everything back in place. I have no idea how the wire got cross connected. What a pain.
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