I just ballasted my switching layout this week and tested it out tonight. I have one section that is dead. The connections look tight and I cleaned the rails and they look ok too. What am I doing wrong or need to do further? Thanks in advance.
Bruce
You might check the wires to the track from the power supply if this is a seperate block. You may also have glue in the joiners that are insulating the track causing your dead spot. Put an engine in the dead spot, apply track power and touch the connections between the hot track and the dead one with a screwdriver or alligator clips to see if it runs. It takes a little trouble shooting but you should be able to find it.
Thanks for the reply. If there is glue between the joiners how do I fix it without ripping up the track and ballasting?
Bruce
Just for clarification: did the section of track have power before you ballasted?
Don Z.
Yes it did. Its on the end of the layout in the most critical section. The rest is ok. Like I said previously I checked connections and cleaned the rails but that one section is dead. I now think it may be glue in the joiners but not sure what to do about it.
Bruce
Get some test leads with alligator clips on each end. Clip one end where you know you’re getting power anbd clip the other to the dead area. This will let you know quickly if you have multiple joiner problems or just a dropped lead.
I find that after ballasting, sometimes, there is a layer of diluted glue on the rails that insulates it. Another source of trouble can be the turnout itself. Check the area where the points on your turnout touches the stock rail. If you’re using power feeding turnouts to control the legs of your yard, the same thing can happen. A thin layer of glue could be insulating the stock rail from making good contact with the stock rail that it gets power from. A few quick passes with a small wire brush (I use a wire wheel in a Dremel) will usually take care of the problem.
I built a test car of clear pexaglass.
I put a two axle metal wheel truck on each end.
I wired a light bulb between the wheels on each side of the trucks and a light bulb between each truck on each side and last a light bulb cross wise truck to truck.
add enough weight to have the rail to rail lights light all the time on good section.
clean the wheels before and after all tests.
With the completed test car. slowly roll it down the questionable section of track.
Watch for flickering or drop out lights or light that light on the same side at a junction.
Looking throught the clear floor. you can see exactly where the open or short or miss wired spot is.
If your track is laid down and completely ballisted. solder a short piece of wire on the outside of the rail across the problem section.
Before doing the correction. Move the car further down the bad section and find out where the track is good again.
You should add a jumper there also.
Then retest to make sure you do not have a bad spot in between the orginal spots.
clean the rail heads before testing.
I also made marker flags to place where I found a problem as I continue testing.
OR you could just use your multi-meter and see if there’s power. It not solder a couple new leads.
Or if you just want it to work really quick, just forget all the testing and solder new leads.
Try placing a small screwdriver at the end of the joiners and see if they will move with very little pressure. If they slide to easily then your joiners are loose. You can solder them on the outside of the rail and then with a little touch up cover it back up. Another problem with glue is that it does leave a film on the rails as someone else mentioned. On nickle plated rail you can sometimes see brown or rust colored places where it looks like the rail is oxodized. We had to use a fine grade of emory cloth to clean the tops of the rails to remove it. A track cleaner such as an erasor does not work very well in removing glue residue. I was also going to mention installing a jumper but that was already mentioned. Either way you may have some touch up work to do after the repairs but it looks like you may have no other choice.
Thanks for the help and advice guys, I hope to work on it this evening and will let you know how I made out.
Bruce
For what it’s worth, I agree with Marlon. The ballasting could get into the rail joiners, but it’s more likely to get on the rails and interfere with the electrical connection between the point and stock rails.
If this is a dead-end siding, then just running jumper wires should cure the problem. It’s a good idea, anyway.
Using a Volt meter to find a dead spot does not always work.
You are putting different presure and at different angles and spots on the rail head than an engine or car does on the rails.
Rolling a weighted test car with multi lamps and a see through floor lets you see the track when the lamps light in a different pattern or do not light as they should.