Peco turnouts... insulated?

[jacon12]

I'm about to order some Peco turnouts for my HO scale dcc layout and I'm a little confused as to whether I need the insulfrog (I think that's the correct term) or the opposite. I'm pretty sure it's the insulated variety, but not dead sure.
Advise me, please!
Jarrell

 

[jacon12]

I'm about to order some Peco turnouts for my HO scale dcc layout and I'm a little confused as to whether I need the insulfrog (I think that's the correct term) or the opposite. I'm pretty sure it's the insulated variety, but not dead sure.
Advise me, please!
Jarrell

I looked back through Joes tutorial on DCC and I found this which probably answers my question..


"As to the pros and cons of live frog versus dead frog ...

LIVE FROG
Advantages:
No dead spots in the track
When entering a turnout thrown against you from the frog end, the train stops (shorts) preventing a derailment.
Disadvantages:
Need contacts to route power reliably to the frog, which is more work since using the points alone is not reliable over time.
A short on a DCC layout during “normal operations” is generally BAD.

DEAD FROG
Advantages:
Easy to do – no extra wiring
No short if the turnout is thrown against you – you just go on the ground like the prototype ( which can about 10% of the time cause a short ... so nothing's perfect).
Disadvantages:
Dead spots in the track can be bad
May have to cut gaps around the frog – which means more work.

WHAT I PREFER
I prefer dead frog turnouts. Modern all-wheel pickup diesels don't even notice them, although some older steamers without all wheel pickup may have trouble, as well as really short wheelbase locos.

You can get dead frog DCC friendly turnouts from several sources today:
Atlas code 83 Super -Switch (#4, #6, or #8)
Peco insulfrogs
MicroEngineering turnouts
Walthers/Shinohara DCC Friendly models (although in high demand so are often out of stock)
Older Shinohara/Walthers turnouts need modification to be made DCC friendly."

Thanks for putting this together, Joe.
Jarrell

 

[NZRMac]

JaRRell I have Peco insulated frogs medium turnouts, they have functioned perfectly. They can get dirt between the point rail and stock which stops the point rail from being live but otherwise are very good. I have run 6 axle diesel, PK2 2-8-8-2, BLI class J, pioneer zephyr and the Acela nothing has been a problem.

Ken.

 

[jacon12]

JaRRell I have Peco insulated frogs medium turnouts, they have functioned perfectly. They can get dirt between the point rail and stock which stops the point rail from being live but otherwise are very good. I have run 6 axle diesel, PK2 2-8-8-2, BLI class J, pioneer zephyr and the Acela nothing has been a problem.

Ken.

Thanks Ken, I thought that was what I needed, especially since I'm 'wiring' challenged. I used to think DC was short for Washington and DCC was a suburb..
Jarrell