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Forgive me, but this question is so basic

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  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 5:10 PM

selector
I can't help but wonder at the 'material' used in that small section of rails. Could it be heavily oxidized but not looking the part?

I'm wondering if this is an immediate failure after track laying or a failure after ballasting and/or weathering or time (which I think would be more likely).  We've talked a lot about joiners not being a reliable for electrical transmission.  It only takes one of the two to fail.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 4:50 PM

Actually I meant using your meter probes to find where the voltage interuption is. I did that once some years ago with my Harbor Freight meter. Forgot about it until now. I had forgot to solder a feeder. At the time it was a DC layout.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 4:36 PM

I can't help but wonder at the 'material' used in that small section of rails.  Could it be heavily oxidized but not looking the part?  

Otherwise, Mike has the most sensible assumption, that being that one or both joiners is/are somehow deficient or defective.  Soldering both joiners might tidy things up.  

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 4:02 PM

You could just redo the rail joiner connection, clean it up, new joiners, and solder that in place, leaving the gap on the other end.

I have a regular little lamp, like what your supposed to put in a buiding, that I have attached 2 leads, with alligator clips.  I clip on a lamp, to the tracks, to see if there is any voltage.

Mike.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
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Posted by bearman on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 2:06 PM

Then it is time to drop a pair of feeders from that 3 inch section.

If I may explain myself, I have a degree in civil engineering and practiced for well over 30 years in water resources and sanitary engineering.  I graduated from an accredited college without any kind of honors because I almost flunked Intro to Electrical Engineering for Non-EE majors.  I got a D, and, to this day, I think the professor took pity on me giving me a D because he knew that I was doing well in my other course work.

Bear "It's all about having fun."

  • Member since
    October 2006
  • From: Western, MA
  • 8,571 posts
Posted by richg1998 on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 2:03 PM

From what I see so far, I would have to agree. Follow with a finger or probe the direction the current would flow and you would see where the current would stop flowing. There will be an obstruction. Either side.

Rich

If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Phoenix, AZ
  • 1,835 posts
Forgive me, but this question is so basic
Posted by bearman on Tuesday, March 19, 2019 1:53 PM

as to defy reality.  I pulled out my RRampmeter and measured the voltage around my layout, no more than a 0.1 V drop at the extreme ends of the two busses.  There is a 3 inch section of track with joiners on one end from where I have dropped the last set of feeders, and plastic joiners on the other end to create the two power districts, and there is no voltage in that 3 inch section.  I assume this means that there is no juice?

Bear "It's all about having fun."

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