Please use a meter to check the phase across the gaps before you start moving wires all around. This might turn out to be something simple such as you don't have the frog power wired correctly. No sense doing a bunch of unnecessary work.
This is getting weird.
I did some wire switching last night. Totally disconnected my DB200 and all the breakers then reconnected on at a time to make sure the particular item was working correctly. I managed to rule out my PS-2 breaker (1 input & 2 ouputs) which is connected to the DCS100, also managed to rule out half on my PSX-2 (2 ins & 2 outs, esentially 2 seperate single breakers with and input jumper) which was connected to the DB200. I ran power to all breakers in question form the DCS100.
When I first fired up the system with no breakers in-line and all power coming form the DCS100 the power routing to the frogs on ALMOST all of my turnouts in the inner loop was reversed. I am still struggling to figure that out. All I had to do was flip the many switches on the Hare to correct the problem but, I am having trouble explaining this because the inner loop is/was connected to the DCS100, not the DB200 which is where I have been assuming my problem was. All is running great now but still have to check the other half of my PSX-2 and the DB200 which is in tomorrows schedule.
I will report back, thanks again.
So you bypassed the breakers and hooked the booster output directly to your power bus? ANd MOST of your frog power routing was flipped? That tells me you have most of your Hares hooked up backwards as far as the bus feeds to the power routing connections. ie, the ones you had to flip. And if the ones on one side of the crossover were backwards, then it would be a dead short across the gaps.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks Randy -
Yes, I did disconnect all breakers and hooked buses directly to the DCS100. I would agree with your premise except all of my tortoise/hare combos are hooked up exactly the same way. The key here is that all the tort/hare combos on the inner loop which were connected to the DSC100 were the ones that were reversed. My guess was that there was a difference in phase between the two boosters causing tort/hare combos on each booster to react in opposite ways.
Sound right ?
I have since ruled out all the breakers, I currently have all buses running through their designated breaker and all is running great. Again, this is all currently powered from the DCS100. That is as far as i got this weekend as I had to dig out form the big snow for the last two days. More to follow.
Thanks again all,
Tom
Yes, there have been some that got through manufacturing and QC with the outputs reversed. But before you attribute the problem to a booster with backward terminals, check your Loconet cable between the DCS100 and DB150 and make sure you aren't using a crossover 'phone' cord. The key is the outer two wires, which carry the railsync signal which the booster amplifies for track power. If you hold the ends up so the wire drops down and the latches are away from you, the wires should be the same goign left to right. Or if you can lay the cable out completely flat, one end should have the latch up and the other down if it's a proper Loconet cable.
If you do have a backwards DCS< label it and just hook up the main power feeds comign from it in the opposite way, or if they sit next to one another you cna make a short phone-wired crossover Loconet cable to connect the two - LABEL this cable so you don't later accidently use it elsewhere. With a crossover cable connecting the boosters, the power outputs would go on the usual way, not backwards - with the crossover, Rail A will be Rail A on both. Do NOT configure one of the boosters for autoreversing. That option is generally for when the ONLY thing that booster powers is a reverse loop.
jbinkley60I don't see what this has to do with the issue at hand. Sure he could have a small ground loop but with the frequencies, low power and voltage we are dealing with, it will be insignificant. I have two suggestions:
I don't see what this has to do with the issue at hand. Sure he could have a small ground loop but with the frequencies, low power and voltage we are dealing with, it will be insignificant. I have two suggestions:
Actually, it has nothing to do with the OP's original question. We were 4 days into this simple to fix phasing problem and figured I'd point out another possible problem. That ground loop can become a bigger issue especially if the MF615's are plugged into different house circuits.
Sorry to add to the confusion. I'd have swapped the trail A and Rail B wires on the DB200 three days ago and been done with it. I have a phase reversing plug installed on our club equipment to quickly correct phase issues.
Martin Myers
Eureka !
Well the problem has been solved. As it turns out quite a few of you guys were right with the phasing problem. The DB200 and the DCS100 have their polarities switched, rali A port on one matches with rail B port on the other. Boy is Digitrax going to get an email from me.
Even though I had switched the two bus wires going to the DB200 at least 2 or 3 times the short between the crossover was still there, always, I just couldn't get past that. The real problem was that one of the two subdisricts from the DB200 was my turnout control bus also thus, every time I would reverse the bus wires going from the DB200 to a PSX-2 it was reversing the phase of both subdistricts. By reversing the track subdistrict I was correcting the difference in phase between the two turnouts but at the same time I was reversing the turnout subdistrict, which was controlling the frog polarity, putting the difference in phase right back into place. That is why I had all those turnouts with reversing frog polarity. It wasn't until today when I was putting the DB200 back in line and I starting hooking up subdistricts one at a time again that I noticed it. The DB200 - PSX-2 - track subdistrict connections were made and I tried flipping the wires at this point. The turnout control subdistrict was still connected to the DCS100 and all the planets aligned. It was at this point that I figured out I was and, shouldn't be, reversing the turnout control subdistrict also.
Thanks again to all who helped me with this problem and for having ppatience, I appreciate it.
They've known about it for a long time now. In fact it's even all over their "tech support depot" searchable FAQ. It also comes up about weekly on the Digitrax Yahoo group.