i had atlas termainal tracks, so i got rid of those and got wire joiners. i am wiring dcc for and atlas dcc commander and i keep getting shorts. the power cuts off when there is a short. i only have one joiner wired and there is a short i guess, don't know how. track looks good i weathered it. could it be dirty rails?
wiring problem
- Thread starter Scottew7
- Start date
. Hope you find it.
thaddeusthudpucker
That Guy
Sometimes a Locomotive going through a turnout will short the system. But like mike said, look for screwdrivers etc lying across the track. DCC systems are WAY more sensitive to shorts than DC systems are.
amdaley
Member
Hello.
Tell us more about your layout.
How are you wiring the layout ?
Are you using wire droppers from the rails connected to your power bus ?
Have you always had a short ?
Did the layout ever run properly without a short?
If the layout was running fine what were you doing just before the short started ?
Dirty track will not cause a short.A short is caused when the polarity of the inside rail comes into contact with the polarity of the outer rail. Result short.
If you tell us more i'm sure someone will solve the problem for you.
Regards.
Tony.
Selector
Well-Known Member
Clearly it is something that escapes the OP's notice. I have been there, and it can be a bear.
Almost always is is an axle that is sufficiently askew or side-slipped because of debris or out-of-gauge turnout guard rails. Thin plastic shims glued or epoxied against the flange face of the guard is sometimes what will reduce those shorts to nil.
Sometimes it is that the really to-wide tire surfaces on our HO rolling stock, particularly the metal ones, actually make momentary contact between two rails of opposite polarity, and that will almost always take place at the frog point diversion after the small black plastic spacer. Peco and some Walthers/Shinohara turnouts are infamous for this not-so-handy feature.
If this is what you are dealing with, you must take clear urethane, or nail polish, and paint those two divering frog rails for about another 3/16" along their diversion. This provides a bit more separation distance travel before the metal tires reach non-coated rail once more.
If you don't want to have to wait for the shorts to happen again when the polish wears away, take a disk cut-off tool and carefully cut a gap in one rail at least two ties further out (so that the plastic spikes will retain the section you sever). A far nicer method leaving a hair-thin cut is to use a jeweler's file, but they can be costly.
-Crandell
Almost always is is an axle that is sufficiently askew or side-slipped because of debris or out-of-gauge turnout guard rails. Thin plastic shims glued or epoxied against the flange face of the guard is sometimes what will reduce those shorts to nil.
Sometimes it is that the really to-wide tire surfaces on our HO rolling stock, particularly the metal ones, actually make momentary contact between two rails of opposite polarity, and that will almost always take place at the frog point diversion after the small black plastic spacer. Peco and some Walthers/Shinohara turnouts are infamous for this not-so-handy feature.
If this is what you are dealing with, you must take clear urethane, or nail polish, and paint those two divering frog rails for about another 3/16" along their diversion. This provides a bit more separation distance travel before the metal tires reach non-coated rail once more.
If you don't want to have to wait for the shorts to happen again when the polish wears away, take a disk cut-off tool and carefully cut a gap in one rail at least two ties further out (so that the plastic spikes will retain the section you sever). A far nicer method leaving a hair-thin cut is to use a jeweler's file, but they can be costly.
-Crandell
