Need Help With Wiring Again - track now dead.


Laird Knapp

New Member
I'm a novice here. Running a HO gauge single line on a "U' shaped layout in my attic (two 4 X 8 plywood connected my a 3 X 3 plywood sheet). I had previously been able to run an engine completely around the train layout but with stoppages that required my giving the engine a nudge to get going again and continue the circuit. I was running off a original train set power pack at that time that hadn't been used for about 20 years or more. I ran a 16 gauge/AW tin plated copper stranded wire around the layout as a bus line and dropped feeder lines (20 gauge solid copper) at nine locations about about 4 to 6 feet apart, connecting them to the bus wires with suitcase connectors. Because I'm new to the game and not very proficient at soldering, connected the feeders at 3 locations to track segments with wire attachment clips ( you know, the section that comes with train sets to attach power pack to and get car wheels aligned to the track) at hard to reach locations. I replace the old power pack with a new Railpower 1370, but when I tried to run an engine around the track, I got nothing. I can't even get the track to turn on tester light to show its getting power,. The bus line should be connected directly to the power pack, correct? Any advise or recommendations as to what I should do? or what I did wrong? Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.
 
Did you cross wires where you have one rail connected to both feeders? The easiest way to avoid this is to color code your wires and feeders and only connect one rail To one bus with one color wire. Go around and check each feeder to make sure it is connected to the proper rail and proper bus. another hint is to test the track after you connect EACH feeder. That way you can find the shorts immediately.
 
the bus lines should connect to the outlets on the powerpack marked variable dc out, not ac accessory, if that matters ..
 
If the train runs again after you nudge it, the track is not shorting out.
You described your electrical connections as contact only, no solder.
Consider this. All your appliances are solder joints or hard spring loaded connections.
You would do well to learn how to solder and put an end to a lot of your electrical problems.
Soldering isn't that hard at all and it's inexpensive.
 
If you used to get something but had to nudge occasionally, then you have dirty track or wheels. If you didn't mess with the original feeder/buss combination, then with a new power pack, you most likely didn't connect to the proper terminals.
 
Thanks for the feed back so far. Again I'm a novice to all of this so bear with me. First, I will check out the feeder connection to make sure they are all connected to the correct rails. If I find wires that are crossed, I left enough lead on the feeders that I can clip and reinstall to the correct bus line if that's acceptable. If I leave a suitcase connector on a bus line with a clipped feeder wire will that create an additional problem? I don't want to string a new bus line. Second option would be to break the solder connection to the rail and switch the wires around, though some of the placements are hard to get to (poor planning on my part) and I will botch the plastic ties up. If the feeders wires are connected to spring clips I can solder them in place too.

Bigger question. How do I tell if the suitcase connector is the problem? There were one or two where the metal clip didn't press down into the connector cleanly. How do I check these to make sure there is a good connection. If I find it is a problem with the connector, can I just clip the feeder wire and move it to a new connector? If not how do I replace a bad connector without running a new bus wire?

If I'm checking to see if there is a current getting to the track will I be able to check rail from the power pack to the first connector, and move forward like that to each section between connectors, or if the problem is a crossed wire somewhere on the layout make the whole track dead? In which case, do I need to clip all the feeders to get power back to the rails and then reconnect feeders one by one testing as I go forward?

As to cleaning the track, which for most part has been sitting in a box in my attic for over 25 years, I will get busy on that too. It will be a little embarrassing if that was the problem all along and running feeding lines at intervals wasn't needed. It will be a good lesson learned though, if I find out my problem all along was just dirty rails and wheels. Setting up feeder lines and bus line and soldering will be a good experience for later though, so guess it would be a win win.

Still welcoming any advice people have. More possible solutions the greater the menu I have to choose from.
 
If I may butt in...
Try a couple alligator clip test leads right from the power pack terminals to a single stand alone piece of track and run a loco. Does it run? Great! If not then start from there with another loco or power pack. If no results consider model airplanes.

Okay now take those clips and try a piece of track on the layout preferably isolated from the rest. Remove feeders if necessary and again run that loco.
Nothing? Military modelling looks kind of interesting.

If it runs, fantastic! Two slightly weathered thumbs up!
If still no results, wow, WTF? (where’s the ferroequinologist?)

The beginning is usually the best place to start, been there done that as they say.
Please keep us posted!
 
As I posted earlier, if it worked once, the problem is most likely not the buss and feeders. Right now concentrate on the connections to the power pack, maybe reconnect the old one first. Intermittent running is always dirty track or wheels. No sense in redoing everything when you cannot identify the orgin of the problem. It's the old look to see if the power pack is plugged in first scenario.
 
Now you mention the track has been sitting in your attic for 25 years.
Yes, clean your track. Don't use abrasives, i.e. sand paper. That will create very fine scratches in the rail surface which will collect more dirt and crud.
Do not use Acetone, regardless of what anybody tells you. It will warp the plastic ties and change the gauge of your track. If you aren't sure who to believe, test it on a scrap piece of track then hang that on the wall in your train room so you remember it forever.
A Bright Boy is the most aggressive thing you should use on the track, and that would be carefully because it's abrasive and scratches the rail head.
A rag with paint thinner is sufficient for the rails and for the loco wheels. A paper towel with a splash of paint thinner then laid across the track then run your loco over it and let the wheels spin in the wet part of the paper towel to wipe off the wheels will strip the crud off the wheel surfaces.
 
If a suitcase connector didn't seat the worst that will happen is the that feeder won't work, but it won't shut down the whole thing.

The thing to establish is whether you have a short or an open circuit. A short means the power wires are connected to each other, open means the power isn't getting to the feeders.

Disconnect the power pack from the track. Don't know whether you have a multimeter or just a continuity checker. Check the power pack to see if its working. Is it putting out power? Connect it to a single piece of track, not connected to the layout. Can you run an engine on that? If so we will assume the power pack is OK. Check across the bus wires. Is there continuity or minimal resistance between the bus wires? If so that means a short.

If it is a short, you have two places it can be. It can be in the bus and feeders or it can be in the track. But since the two are connected, you won't be able to tell which is which. First is a visual view of the track, remove all the equipment. Test. Throw each switch, one at a a time. Test after each switch. Then check out the bus and feeders.

If you can't find anything visually, then you might have to disconnect some wires. With the power pack disconnected, go halfway around the layout and cut the bus and remove the rail joiners/disconnect the rails. Test either side of the break. If you have a short, that should isolate it into which half. Then break the offending section in half. Test each quarter. That should narrow it down again. Eventually you can get to a small enough piece to find the problem. The key is to remember to break both the bus and the rails.
 
Ack! I totally forgot a couple things.
Willie is absolutely right about clean track and even cleaner wheels, “muy importante!”
Use the method Ken mentioned too to keep from going bad to worse.
The other thing I'm wondering about, unless I missed it, is if anything was added to the layout since it ran like maybe a turnout or reverse loop?
I once left a pair of pliers on the rails behind some scenery, took a bit to figure that one out!
A friend had a passenger car with the wheels reversed in the truck that caused a mystery short. That took some detective work to uncover.

Just remember to take long deep breathes and put that hammer down.
 



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