Yesterday I hooked up one of my Fast Tracks #6 turnouts that I made and when the loco came to the frog it stopped dead, and I found it was shorting out the tracks and would trip the circut breaker in the power pack. I tried several different locos and each one did the same thing, any clues as to what might be wrong? Thanks, Mike
Have you checked that you have cut the copper on all PC-tiles as described?
Mike, did you cut the gaps in the rails before and after the frog??
Also did you cut gaps in the foil on the pc board ties???.
If you are not sure of what I am talking about, go to the FT web site and watch the instructional videos.
Hope this helps, adios Wyatt
Thanks, that was fast. I did cut the gaps before and after the frog and I cut the copper on the ties like the instructions said to do, (unless I missed one). The loco runs fine until the front wheels reach the frog, I can move it forward to get the wheels off the frog and it will move forward until the rear set of wheels reach the frog and it shorts out again.I have another turnout that I have built and ready, I might try it today and see what it does. I would like to make sure these work OK before I make any more to find my mistakes. Mike
You need a multimeter Mike. it sound like you didnt properly isolate the frog. Make sure there is no shorting between the frog/wing rails and the stock/gaurd rails. It seems to me that this is the case.
David B
If he hadn’t cut the tie foil it would short out without the loco. Since it doesn’t short until the engine gets there, the engine is bridging the gap.
I’d guess that his live frog or the rails leaving the frog are improperly wired.
I checked the frog yesterday with a multi-meter and it is insulated from the rails. I am thinking that the wheels are touching the frog and the wing rails but am not sure if that is the problem and what to do about it. I know in must be something I did wromg sence so many othere use them with no problems. As for the wiring, I simply soldered some track to the straight thru rails on the turnout and hooked up a power supply to see if it was good before I put it on the layout. Mike
If the frog is live, it has to be able to change the rail to which it is wired. If the engine wheel is shorting it, then the frog is rail A and the departing rail is rail B, or vice versa.
Clip your multimeter to one outside rail. Measure the voltage from that rail to each of the inside rails. One should show voltage, the other should not. Then measure from the frog to each inside rail while opening and closing the switch. If the switch is thrown and you show voltage from the frog to the thrown side inside rail, it is miswired. The frog should be electrically the same rail as the departing inside rail. If it’s not, then the loco wheel will cause a short when it bridges the gap.
The Frog and wing rails are always the same polarity (or dead for an unpowered frog).
Double check your work, make sure both stock rails are shorting out. Make sure your closure rails are not touching eachother and that you have cut the closure rails between the 2 pc board ties and not closer to the frog.
You must have overlooked something…Ive built 20 of these turnouts with narry a problem.
David B
It is one of three things…only three. You missed filing/incompletely filed a gap in the copper cladding somewhere around the frog, including at the frog point, or you missed a gap to isolate the frog from the rest of the adjacent rails. Think also of using a strong light and good magnifier to find a teensie sliver of copper or shavings of any metal that might be bridging the two polarities anywhere near the frog.
When I washed my Fast Tracks turnouts, I used a wire brush to do a few gentle swipes for the purpose of dislodging any metal shards that could cause me grief.
Yes, watch the Fast Tracks how-to video again and when Tim shows testing the turnout for shorts, make sure you do every single test he shows. Something will not pass, and you will have found your short.
Since the short doesn’t happen until you hit the frog, the flaw much be in isolation of the frog. Does it happen no matter which route you are taking? Does it matter which direction you are going through the turnout? Are you powering the frog? Turn yht power off, and ohm it out. You missed something, there isn’t any way around it.
I have to confess, though, that I only ever tested my first turnout. After that, I figured I had it down cold (except for skill, not method), and went on to build another eight, including two custom scratchbuilds that I didn’t bother testing.
Lucky me, they all worked. Whew!
I’m thinking that you might have wired the outside rails to the closure rails. A lot of books teach this wiring method especially with the hand laid type turnouts and it doesn’t work. If you did solder a wire from the outside rails to the closure rails then cut the wire out and make sure the point rails are making contact with the closure rails instead. I learned this the hard way when wiring select control turnouts. Had a hard short every time I wired the outside rails to the closure rails between the point rails and the frog’s gap.