Turnouts...


goscrewyourselves

goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
Afternoon Gents,

As you know, my entire layout is currently powered using a standard Atlas Rail Terminal section wired directly to my DCS 100. I am in the process of putting in a single main wire (pos and neg) and attaching feeder wires to them.

Over the past few weeks I have noticed that most turnouts seem to be wired at both ends of the turn out. My track runs without an issue (at the moment) so I am wondering why turnouts are so "heavily" wired and if it is a necessity?

Sorry if I am asking questions that have been elsewhere.

Cheers,
 
Sure to stir up some debate, I have wondered about that, too. I think the reasoning is that you can't overdo it when it comes to wiring. But on the other hand, less like to get a short if you go with a more practical approach.

In fact, my reasoning tells me that the track is a better conductor, than say, 18 gauge wire. Since I used live frogs on my turnouts, I had no choice but to add insulated connectors and the feeder wires at every turnout location. I have heard of some putting feeder wires every 2'.

Since I have a DC layout and blocks to allow multiple trains, the sections are wired individually.

Thanks, Tony, for asking the question, and I will enjoy reading the replys tomorrow!

lasm
 
Its standard practice with DCC, that you should have feeders on all side of switches. Sure they will work without all these feeders, but you are relying on the swtich points to route the power to the track. When these switch points get dirty, they won't route power correctly.
 
wombat457 said:
My track runs without an issue (at the moment)
Click to expand...
So why are you changing it? I am a strong believer in "don't invent problems that don't exist".

so I am wondering why turnouts are so "heavily" wired
Click to expand...
Could be many reasons. What brand of turnouts are they? Those with hot frogs have to have gaps in the rails and therefore have to have feeders on the other side of those gaps. Some people do it just because they have old equipment or dirty equipment that doesn't work well so they need it to keep locos from stalling. Some people do it in anticipation of the prior situation coming to reality. Others do it just because they want to makes them feel better.

and if it is a necessity?
Click to expand...
Depends on the turnout type.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
lasm,

Glad I am not the only one who doesn't fully understand this.

Michael,

That does make sense then, thanks for the explanation.

Iron Horseman,

Why change it? Because the operative phrase is "at the moment". I am adding feeder wires to achieve a more reliable and constant power flow to the track, pure and simple. If you mean the turnouts, then I had no intention of adding power to them, until I read Michael's explanation for why it is done.

My turnouts are a combination of Atlas and Peco. The Peco turnouts I am confident with due to their structure, the Atlas turnouts on the other hand are a different matter.

Thanks for the replies guys,
 
The Atlas brand of turnout has been "DCC friendly" ever since DCC was invented. The frog is dead in those. Nothing special needs to be done to them at all.
 
logandsawman said:
In fact, my reasoning tells me that the track is a better conductor, than say, 18 gauge wire.
Click to expand...

Nickel silver is not a great conductor compared to copper, actually. Short runs of 18 gauge copper used as feeders have minimal impact, if there are plenty of them.

But the bigger issue for the OP is that he has only one feeder to all of his track (as I read it). It doesn't matter how good or poor nickel silver is as a conductor if there is no continuity.

Eventually railjoiners will loosen and more feeders will be a good idea.
 
wombat457 said:
I am wondering why turnouts are so "heavily" wired and if it is a necessity?
Click to expand...

Many of us who have built a few layouts prefer powered frogs which often calls for more gaps and feeders, depending on the construction of the turnout. We have also found that railjoiners cannot be relied upon to carry power over the long term.
 
Thanks guys,

GenSet, I am of the same thoughts as you, regarding rail joiners, hence my desire to have a number of feeds around the layout. Was thinking of a feeder every 4 sections of rail, or thereabouts.

Carey, thanks also, your input has helped me decide whether to add feeders to the turnouts or not. The decision now is simple, no.

Cheers,
 
Carey
I bought 3 ways back about 1999 2000 timeframe they were shinohara are they dcc
Compadable ??? If s o I have to beat my son to get them back lol
 
Don't mean to hijack this thread...but this is a very similar situation...

I just installed 4 switch motors on my Walthers double crossover. They work great, but I now have a problem I didn't have before. On the inside track, only when it is set up to go straight through, a loco will stall right in the middle. It never did that before. I have feeder wires on the tracks leading to the crossover, but not on the ends of the crossover itself, because I never needed them before. Is that my problem? Do I have to run feeder wires to the ends of the double crossover? A continuity check with my meter shows no continuity to the frog in the center with the track outside the frog. Do I need to run feeders to the frog? I just don't get why I have a problem now and never did before.

Jeff
 
Now I'm even more perplexed. I wired feeders and no difference. The loco briefly dies as it crosses one of the frogs. I even ran feeders to the isolated sections of track on either side of that frog and no difference. But it didn't do it before! And it doesn't do it on the other side, which is identical!! What the heck is going on? You can't run power to the frog, it will short when crossing over. Help, I'm lost!

Jeff
 
DC, AC, DCC, XYZ, if you have power routing turnouts you must put in insulating gaps on the frog rails. Whether the frog is powered or not is independent of power routing. To power a frog you can wire it to the points or better to an electrical switch fed by track power and controlled by whatever controls the points.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.



Back
Top