After a long busy summen and fall I finally dusted off the future N&W empire rr and plugged the transformer back in and installed a engine on the track cranked up the power and - nothing - no movement no lights etc…Next checked the outlet. Power there. Changed out the transformer still nothing.
How does one check to see if the juice is getting from the power pack to the rail ? is there an idiot light that I can touch to the rails or electric wire ?
Thanks in advance for your tips and thoughts
YGW
I assume from the reference to “power pack” that you are running DC, not DCC. Also, since you haven’t already used it, I’ll assume you don’t have a multimeter.
An auto taillight bulb will work. Wrap a bare wire around the base of the bulb and touch that to one rail. Touch the point on the bottom of the bulb to the other.
I use an automotive 12VDC test lamp all the time for quik checks.Simple and cheap,works with DCC too.
A simple basic multimeter is also good to have.Not expensive either.
Does the transformer hum when you plug it in? It should. It won’t be very loud, but if there’s no hum at all the transformer’s primary windings are not getting power. Carefully unplug it and inspect the line cord. You could have a broken power cord, but if that’s the case there could be live house voltage on the wire, which could be dangerous.
Does your transformer have a circuit breaker lamp to indicate a short? If so, try just touching the two output leads together. That should cause a short and cause the lamp to light. If that happens, connect the track and try the “quarter test.” Take a quarter and put it across the track. That should similarly cause a short and light the circuit breaker lamp.
A cheap multimeter from places like Harbor Freight should be on your shopping list.
There are lots of reasons for electrical gremlins. A 12 volt auto test lamp is your best tool. Start at the transformer and check each wire, each switch, each connection, and work your way out to the tracks and then to the locomotive motor.
LION has had to trouble shoot lots of gremlins, almost every week. Well, layouts of LION are complicated. LION uses nails as binding posts to solder wires to. Imagine the trouble the LION had trouble shooting an issue that was caused by two nails touching each other inside of the wood panel. It is done one wire one connection at a time, and for mystery voltages it can be complicated. LIONS have several power supplies. All of them use a common ground. That ground must be properly grounded or you will have stray voltages in your system.
Check everything and keep checking everything.
ROAR
Run out to your nearest Harbor Freight and get the multimeter for $5 or less. Set it on DC volts, crank up the power pack, and see what you get on the rails.
If your layout has been sitting unused all summer, it’s probably just very dirty track.
–Randy