Electrical issue-makes no sense
#1
After I had laid all my track,(Atlas code 100 flex and Peco small radius turnouts)I installed the bus and feeder wires.I then tested the layout and everything ran real good.Now that the ballasting is done I deceided to test the layout again and to my suprise I have 3-4 dead tracks.
I checked everything out and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong.Anyone have any idea as to what might be happening? Does it matter how the bus wires are connected to the power pack? In my opinion this only effects which way forward and reverse are.It shouldn't effect power to the track.
Thanks for any help.
Bob
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#2
You say this happened after ballasting..?? Only thing I can think of is that some of the glue mixture got into the rail joiners and is acting like an insulator. Do you have feeders at every track section..?? If you have a voltmeter, you can check for continuity at every rail joint....Hope this helps...
Gus (LC&P).
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#3
Two questions:

Are your rail joints soldered?
Do you have feeder wires to each section of track?

If not, perhaps glue got into some of your rail joints - insulating them.
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Kevin
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#4
Kevin,Steamtrain-the rail joiners are not all soldered .The only ones I soldered are where the feeders are.
If I remember correctly there are feeders for all rail sections,they are soldered at the tail end of the switches allowing for power routing. If glue got into some of the joiners how would I fix this? I hope it doesn't involve tearing anything out. However,all things being equal,I applied glue the same throughout the entire layout so shouldn't everything be dead?
Bob
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#5
I had something similar happen and it was indeed the glue that insulated the rails. I cut a little piece of electrical wire and exposed both ends, touched the ends to the dead tracks to complete a circuit from rail to rail and found that when current flowed this way the rails were "live" again. i soldered mini-feeders across the rail joints and solved the problem.

Hope that helps!

Ralph
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#6
Thanks Ralph-That does help.So if I touch the wire from live rail to dead rail and the engine runs then all I have to do is clean the side of the track and solder small pieces of wire to the two tracks. Correct? But what if as suggested in one of the replies that there could be glue in the rail joiner,will this work?
Bob
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#7
Soldering wire around the rail joiner should fix a joint full of glue. But did you say you've already soldered feeders to every rail section?
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
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#8
foulrift Wrote:Thanks Ralph-That does help.So if I touch the wire from live rail to dead rail and the engine runs then all I have to do is clean the side of the track and solder small pieces of wire to the two tracks. Correct? But what if as suggested in one of the replies that there could be glue in the rail joiner,will this work?
Bob


It should since the jumper wire bypasses the glue that is insulating the two rails from each other.
Ralph
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#9
nachoman Wrote:Two questions:

Are your rail joints soldered?
Do you have feeder wires to each section of track?

If not, perhaps glue got into some of your rail joints - insulating them.

The same thing happened to me with my larger layout, and it really baffled me at first too! AFAIK, the best way to resolve this is to solder the rail joints in the sections where the locos stall. The glue / water mix almost certainly got into the rail joiners.

Rob
Rob
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#10
Thanks guys.I appreciate all the replies.I was messing with it last night and found that on one track if I pushed against one or the moveable part of the switch,I got power to the dead section.I know this sounds weird. I'm also going to recheck the feeders for those dead tracks and make sure I didn't damage them while removing excess ballast.
Bob
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#11
Never had that problem before. Makes sense though, but you'd think even with joiner that electrical contact would of still be made.
As far as feeders, I use the ones Atlas sells that are already attatched to the joiner. For a couple of bucks a piece, it saves in a lot of soldering...And if you'd seen my soldering........
Torrington, Ct.
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#12
foulrift Wrote:Thanks guys.I appreciate all the replies.I was messing with it last night and found that on one track if I pushed against one or the moveable part of the switch,I got power to the dead section.I know this sounds weird. I'm also going to recheck the feeders for those dead tracks and make sure I didn't damage them while removing excess ballast.
Bob

I am not sure how Peco turnouts are constructed, but almost all commercial turnouts are similar. The point rails have some kind of pivot between the point end and the frog. On atlas turnouts, there is a flange on the side of the point rail, and it is riveted to the ties. The rail pivots about the rivet. I have seen some shinohara turnouts that use a modified rail joiner as a pivot. No matter what the design, the pont rail depends upon contact with the stock rail, or contact through te pivoted end in order to get electricity. If glue or dirt has caused either of thsoe contact point so be poor, your point rails will be dead and your train stalls. I have even had to solder short jumper wires between the pont rails and the frog rails in order to solve this problem.
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#13
This issue is really frustrating,given the fact that only 2 tracks are effected and as I stated earlier,everything worked fine before ballasting. I ran my engine over the entire layout after soldering on the feeders and there were no problems and now this. Go figure.
Bob
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#14
It's the problem solving that makes this hobby so.....(fill in the blank)... Goldth
Gus (LC&P).
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#15
Gus-if I filled in the blank.I'd probably get banned from the forum. Icon_lol
Anyway, I found one problem.The stock rail on one of the turnouts is ever so slightly out of alignment.If I push the moveable rail into the stock rail-bingo power.I hope that is the case with the other rail. Wallbang
Bob
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