I was doing scenery at the time, so let me clean the track.
Until you post a diagram of the track, we cannot check it for reversing sections or switch locations that conflict with your wiring.
If you are unable or unwilling to do that, I suggest that you disconnect all your wiring, then hook the wires up one at a time, testing as you go until the problem occurs.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Got it to work again. What should I do to prevent it from happening again?
davidmbedardWe have NO idea what you are doing......
Until we have a diagram of your track plan that shows what connections go where we are just shooting in the dark at a problem we can't see.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
It never seems to amaze me how mystifying wiring for DCC seems to be.
It's the same as wiring for DC. Short circuits are short circuits, They happen in axactly the same spots with DC They go unoticed because the reaction time on most Dc power packs is slower than DCC boosters. Electrons move from the power source through the wires to the rails and on to the motor in the engine. That makes it go. With DCC, the electrons take the same path except that they go through the decoder on the way to the motor. Good wiring practices work for any type of power source... AC, DC, DCC.
Dirt, film on the track, resistance in the wires and rails will slow or block the flow of electrons to the motor so it has to be cleaned especially after scenicking. All that crap is being ground into the engine's gears, BTW.
The only trains that don't require good wiring are BRIO but it looks better if it's cleaned up from time to time.
Martin Myers
The best way to prevent problems from coming back is to do things in small steps and test between them. If you make big changes without testing don't be surprised when something doesn't work. You also tend to over react some. If somethign goes wrong just step back, drink a beer or coffee and review what changed. Sometimes just stepping away for a few minutes makes a world of difference.
Learned that one the hard way :)
Springfield PA
For everyone who wanted a track plan:
Note that the red dots are the positive feeders and the black ones are the negitive feeders.
OK, I see that you have three feeder locations. That's the bare minimum for the trackage you have. If it was mine I'd double the number of feeder locations.
I did that to cut down on the amount of holes I had to make through the scenic base.
Once you get the ballast and scenery in you'll never know the holes are there.
MRCProdigyrailroader For everyone who wanted a track plan: Note that the red dots are the positive feeders and the black ones are the negitive feeders.
Many switches cannot pass power through the switch from the leg end if the switch is thrown to the opposite leg. Power should always be applied to the switch from the single end.
Therefore the bottom feeder should be fine except for the track 4th from the bottom. The middle feeder should be moved to the left past the switch. The top feeder should be moved right past the switch. The second track from the top needs two feeders, one between the two left switches and one right of the other switch.
The way it is wired now, the top track will be powered when the switch is thrown but not when the switch is closed.
Phoebe Vet ... The way it is wired now, the top track will be powered when the switch is thrown but not when the switch is closed.
...
And so I suggested waaaaaaaaaay back on Page 1 of this puzzle. Maybe our OP will now consider investigating our suggestion.
You do not understand. Those turnouts are pass through, not power routing.
If they're not power routing then your power problem has to do with faulty connections and probably some bad joiners. Never depend on rail joiners to deliver power.
Run a jumper wire from one track section to the next and you will not have to go underneath the layout. Solder a wire from the rail previous to the one with the dead spot on both rails. It should cure your dead spot problem.
Chuck
Modeling the Motor City
selector Phoebe Vet ... The way it is wired now, the top track will be powered when the switch is thrown but not when the switch is closed. And so I suggested waaaaaaaaaay back on Page 1 of this puzzle. Maybe our OP will now consider investigating our suggestion.
He said back in the first post he's using Atlas turnouts. They are all live, all the time......
Unless one of the jumpers underneath is broken or not making good contact - this is probably why there are problems in certain spots.
They should all be wired around - each and every one. That long track at the top should have feeders on both sides of the turnout.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
MRCProdigyrailroader You do not understand. Those turnouts are pass through, not power routing.
I missed that in my first read-through...my apologies. The turnouts, as Randy suggests above, may have faulty sliding contacts below their structure.
Very frustrating, I'm sure.
Here's a simole diagram showing how an electrically defective turnout can be wired around.
rrinker They should all be wired around - each and every one. That long track at the top should have feeders on both sides of the turnout.
I agree with Randy completely.
On my layout, I am soldering power feeders before and after each turn-out (i.e.: within 3" of all 3 legs of each turn-out). This should help ensure that the turn-out is fully powered. I am also soldering power feeders at least once for every 2 sections of flextrack so that each piece of flextrack is soldered either to another piece of flex track or to a pair of power feeders. I am trying to keep power feeders to no more than 36-42" apart. I know means a lot of wiring and soldering; but I figure investing the time now means I won't have to do so later.
As others have said before, it is not wise to rely on the turn-outs to carry power. Turn-outs, being the only portions of track with moving parts, are prone to damage. The electrical connections in the turn-out itself are quite small and fragile. So while the visible rail parts (points, frog, stock rails, etc.) of the turn-out may work perfectly, the less-visible electrical connections may be broken.
So, my suggestion to our frustrated friend is to solder power feeders to every section of track, even the short ones between turn-outs; and to solder all track joints.
This might sound like overkill; but from all that I have learned (on these forums and elsewhere), it seems to be the only way to minimise electrical problems.
I wouldn't even bother running wires under the layout yet. Just run some extra feeders and clamp them on to the rails with aligator clips until you get it running smoothly. After everything is good then run permanent wires.