having a problem with detectors constantly active (indicating occupancy) when no train is in the block.
we’re using the NMRA type of current detection circuit which is in series with one of the rails. A sufficient current creates a voltage (2 diode drops) across a bridge rectifier which is sufficent to drive a current thru an opto, that drains the charge on a capacitor. The 555 is used as a Schmitt trigger that is active when the capacitor voltage is < 1/3 Vcc and deactivates when the capacitor is allowed to recharge, > 2/3 Vcc, when the block is no longer occupied and no longer drawing current.
we’re wiring up staging loops that will eventually be hidden, covered by a 2nd set of loops. the loops are divided into 2 sets, one w/ 2 tracks and the other w/ 3 tracks. each loop is intended to store 2 trains and the storage portion has 4 blocks, a long and a short block that can be switched off to automatically stop the train.
the problem blocks are the 2 blocks with 2 turnouts each (4,5 and 2,3) connecting the violet, orange and blue tracks.
ignoring the detector problem, we completed wiring the tracks and were able to run locos thru all from main to main
we tried a different detection circuit verified to work.
we jumpered the bus to a short piece of flex track and the detector worked as expected when we put a loco on it.
with the long (7’) bus wire connecting the detector to drops from the rails disconnected from the rails, the detector would become active with me touching the exposed wire at the end.
Key is the point where you said it falsely detects with the track feeders disconnected by touching one of the bus wires. You’re getting either an inductive load (are the bus wires twisted?) or a capacitive load.
How are they run relative to the others which work fine? Near any other wiring?
“Tried a different detection circuit known to work” - so you swapped the detector on this line with another one, with the same false detection?
Maybe it’s being overly sensitive due to something with the bus/feeder wiring. You can reduce that a little with a .01uF cap across the diode bridge (between the DCC input for the detected rail and the track output for the detected rail). I’ve seen that in other schematics as an option to reduce noise sensitivity. You can go as high as .1uF if .01 doesn’t work.
Before I gave up on current detection I used a Rob Paisley circuit using a H11AA4QT optoisolator with a LM339 chip and they never falsed.
When I was testing the circuit I found out that the H11AA4QT circuit board was sensitive to stray inductive fields so I used ¼” ferrite beads on the leads to the board as a preventive thing. At the time I had SCR lighting dimmers in the house and they got into everything.
The reason I went with optical IR detection was that I didn’t want to have to put resistors on the axles of all my rolling stock. I had good luck with the Paisley detection circuit but I wanted to be able to detect anything in my hidden blocks.
Trying to figure out what would make it more sensitive. The goofy one - check the 10uF cap, make sure it’s not damaged and/or leaking. And is the pullup the 120K shown on the schematic, and not a 12K, or 1.2M?
i will check, but while capacitor and resistor size could possibly make the detector less sensitive, i don’t see how their values can make a detector more sensitive.
the detector requires a voltage across the bridge and sufficient current to turn on the opto transistor repeatedly to keep the capacitor drained. what is the source if there’s nothing across the rails?
Bad bridge rectifier, or conencted to the wrong side? Or maybe the 33 ohm resistor in the opto. Or just a failing opto, or out of spec and turning on the transistor with much less brightness. Or maybe it’s within spec and just near one side instead of being more to the center.
it could be components just on that board. three circuits seem to have the same problem while 6 others on different boards do not. will know when other circuits are wired
It could be that the bridge rectifiers are not fast enough to deal with DCC frequency. Instead of a canned bridge, you might have to use a set of fast switching diodes and make your own, although there are fast enough bridges out there.
