BigDaddy kasskaboose I power by putting a wire in the metal loop that then runs to the buss. Loop? I thought you were going to use frog juicers. The mystery here is why one of the turnouts work.
kasskaboose I power by putting a wire in the metal loop that then runs to the buss.
Loop? I thought you were going to use frog juicers.
The mystery here is why one of the turnouts work.
It will work on one path, but not the other.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
kasskabooseI power by putting a wire in the metal loop that then runs to the buss.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
kasskabooseThe frog is isolated which I power by putting a wire in the metal loop that then runs to the buss.
You can't do that..........the wire from the frog Must go to a selonoid or frog juicer, which in turn changes the polarity of the frog for direction of travel. The frog does not stay the same polarity all the time.
Sounds like You have the frog wired to the buss South rail polarity which is negative - and the top rail North+ polarity when the wheel bridges the frog gap it creates a short because it is a negative- polarity......positive and negative create a dead short. Atlas turnouts are not power routing, both routes after the frog get power all the time.......the frog is just insulated. The frog in Your case is the wrong polarity. If You switched the wire to the other buss, it will work for one direction only, meaning straight route. When You switched the points to the divergent route it will short again once the wheels bridge the gaps at the frog.....wrong polarity again. You must use a selonoid or frog juicer......there is no way around it.
I don't believe the turnouts are faulty...it's how You have it wired.
Do a continuity test with all Your wiring removed to the turnout......one probe on the frog the other on every piece of track on the turnout and You shoud get NO reading. If You do, then You can say You have a faulty turnout at the frog.
Good Luck!
Frank
If instead of wheels, do you also get the short if you trace the path of the wheels but using a current testing tool such as a light bulb with wire contacts ending in alligator clips? If so then it is a genuine wiring issue. If not, then it is likely a metal wheel which is bridging an important gap.
I am probably the last person on earth who should tackle a wiring question (and maybe this would get more attention in this Forum's DCC/wiring section) but did you violate Andy Sperandeo's famous "don't feed the frogs" rule - track feeders at the points end of these particular turnouts, with gaps at the frog end to avoid violating the rule by accident?
Larry Pucketts wiring book for Kalmbach (which is more DCC-centric than Andy's out of print wiring book, which in most other ways I prefer for pure understandability - I find Puckett to be nearly incomprehensible as a technical writer, but that's just me) has a section on wiring power routing turnouts to be DCC friendly. He makes the point that sometimes these changes are not needed but other times they are, in seemingly arbitary ways, so in that sense he anticipates your problems. His steps: isolate the frogs, power the frogs using a mechanism to switch polarity (you have done this but maybe not the way he recommends, which is to use switch throw or machine contacts, or the Frog Juicer), reinstall the points so they are powered independently, and tie the closure rails and points electrically to the stock rails using jumpers. He was writing about old Shinoharas but in some ways those metal frog Atlas turnouts are sort of a combo type.
Dave Nelson
Has anyone experienced shorts on Atlas #8 turnouts? If so, what have you done to address it?
I have four such turnouts and three create a short when a loco touches the frog on my DCC layout. The frog is isolated which I power by putting a wire in the metal loop that then runs to the buss. It's a short b/c the solid light on my NCE panel flips off and the loco stops. I flipped the points on the turnout but the short still remains. The turnout that works has this same wiring configuration and the loco goes through it flawlessly.
This issue has lasted for weeks. During that time, I have put in a screw in the frog, removed all the wires from the turnout, etc.
Thanks!