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well i spent this weekend repalcing my Alas swithes with Peco ones. finsished yesterday afteroon and decided to run a train to see how they worked.
I have two mainlines,a inside and outside. Well everything on the outside line was going good til i threw the switch for the cross over that i did to get on to the inside line. As soon as i threw it everything went dead. No power on either mainlines. what happened?
After discovering there was no power to either line iflipped the switch back to see if even the indise line worked when there was power to the outside and there is no power eithe ay on the inside line. How do I fix this? Could i solder wire to the inside line and run the wires back to the controllr like i have set up now only the outside line has wires soled to it right now Mind youeverything was working great when i had the Atlas switches on th layout.
Im confused and frustrated.
What kind of Peco switches did you get, Insulfogs or Electrofrogs? It sounds like Electrofrogs. You only get power to the direction the switch is lined for. There is some special wiring you have to do if you want all routes powered at the same time. Check out out
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches_peco.htm for more information.
I agree sounds like you have power routed switches... I think thats the term for them?
these are great for DC users as you can park a train on a siding close the switches and then let another train pass it.. no wireing needed for that. also spur tracks can be shut off with a engine parked in it..
Trent
I was told there Insulfrogs...i got them off of HOYARDSALE. How do I tell the difference?
They came in a box but not the factory box. I got 3 right ones and 5 left ones i use for my ladder in the yard.......
i've yet to work with Peco's, but. first i would make sure that there are no shorts when throwing switches. plug multimeter and play around, see if it buzzes. then if everything is good just use another power drop for the inner line.
The insulfrog has a plastic frog. The elecrofrog had an all metal frog so it can route power based on the point position.
Electrofrog of insulfrog, I always fit insulated(plastic) rail joiners to all four(4) rails at frog end of points(turnouts) and put separate power feeders to all sections of track including points.
A little extra work I know, but I never get voltage drop or shorts between points.
Insulated rail joiners are also a must between cross over points.
Ian
Interesting... I used insulfrogs with no special wiring and it worked fine with all wheel pick up diesel loco. Of course my trackwork is fairly simple, run around and siding - 3 switches total. One added benefit of power routing switches is that they act like block wiring so you can have dead sections, thus multiple locos on the same layout, of course still only supporting one cab though.
If you don't have a power drop on the inner track you should, even if no problems. Actually depending on the size of the layout you should have several added.
Interesting... I used insulfrogs with no special wiring and it worked fine with all wheel pick up diesel loco. Of course my trackwork is fairly simple, run around and siding - 3 switches total. One added benefit of power routing switches is that they act like block wiring so you can have dead sections, thus multiple locos on the same layout, of course still only supporting one cab though.
Sorry, I should have stated I operate with DCC (14 yrs). Dead sections are not required.
I have always used Peco points and not a big fan of electrofrogs. I fit a bridge wire from outer stock rail to solid part of blade rail on each side of insulfrog point. This is done so there is no reliance on blades to transfer current. Can not be done with electrofrog.
My layout is in 20'x10' (6mx3m) area with 60+ points.
Layout is block wired(no switches). Each block is connected to thru the rail block detection which allows train operated signals etc.
Ian
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