The "X"s indicate where I isolated track from the mainline. When the loco enters the islolated section from either direction, the AR1 relay clicks but that section goes dead. If I leave track power on and manually push the loco out of the section, I can hear the AR1 relay click when the loco leaves the isolated section and that loco will resume running . I tried the AR1 on the other reversing loop and it works fine. I can run another loco on a different portion of the layout and when the reversing loop in question shuts off, the other loco continues to run so the entire layou is not being shutdown. I havn’t broken the layout into power districts yet, so as of now, the Zephyr is powering the layout as one large power district. Any ideas, anyone?
The track is in fact isolated on both ends and I and using a DCC loco, several different ones… Could my track be isolate at the wrong locations? The AR1 is wired just like the other one that’s working fine…
If the other AR1 is working okay, swap them out and see what happens. If the good AR1 functions properly in the other location, then you have a faulty AR1 if you’re absolutely sure you have both wired properly. Double and triple check to make sure the “bad” AR1 is properly connected, and check the input side terminals with a VOM to make sure the input side is wired right.
Problems like this are why I always use terminal blocks and crimp-on terminals for all of my wiring. If you have soldered the AR1 in place, it’s very difficult to change it.
The autoreverser should only trip at one end of the section or the other. I’m thinking both rails in the reverse section are hooked to the same output or the reverser, or one of them isn’t hooked to the reverser at all. A volmeter, and tripping the reverser by just shorting the rails would tell a lot.
If you shut down the system and put the loco entirely on the reversing section, and then power up, does the loco run?
Is this a simplified diagram, or are there other tracks connected to the crossover section? If so, do any of those tracks have feeders you might have overlooked? You need to be sure that all feeders to the crossover section are connected through the AR1.
Just to make sure I understand it correctly. Both rails at both ends should be gapped, if I use an “AR” unit I have to completely isolate the reversing section. So I should have four isolation gaps in the reversing section? Two at one end and two more at the other end?
Your diagram suggests you have it all figured out. If the rails are truly gapped on each end of the reversing section, and the feeders are mechanically sound as they contact the rails, then you have a faulty connection at the AR, probably at the output since it seems to get the go-ahead to reverse polarity…you can hear it click, the LED blinks…it’s wired okay input-wise. So, maybe an internal defect at the outputs? Or, the wire is simply not contacting the metal in one of the terminals properly?
