I have a problem, and need some HELP. I’ve trying to solve this for three weeks now,with no luck. System is a digitrax empire builder DB 150, utilizing a PM 42 to control the two reversing loops.My Atlas, Proto 2000 and Kato engines have no problem, however me BLI engines stop, hesitate for 3 to 5 seconds before entering and exiting the loops. Have tryed changing the OPSW settings for trip current and for sensitivity with no luck. Tryed digitrax tec support, and the two suggested changes they gave me did not work. Has anyone had this problem and if so how did you correct it. I’m at my WHITS end, I certainley would appreciate HELP Thanks ERNIE
Well, first let’s do some diagnostics and see where that leads us:
Does this happen with the locomotive alone, or are you pulling a train? I’m thinking that the train may be closing the gap at the other end of the loop at the same time the locomotive is hitting this end.
Put another engine in the loop further down the track, and turn on the headlight. When the BLI hits the gap, what happens to the headlight? Also, what happens to the BLI headlight? That will tell us whether the loop power is being cut, or whether it’s having trouble flipping over. Repeat with the second locomotive on the main, not controlled by the PM 42.
Where are the gaps in the track? Are they right after a turnout, particularly a Peco turnout? I’ve had problems with the narrow insulation gap on Peco frogs, where some wheels are wide enough to bridge the gap. They cause a momentary short, and behavior very much like you’ve described. The problem may be in the turnout, and not the reverse loop at all.
I assume that you have a PM 42 for each of the reverse loops, not a single one for both.
Do you have the reverse loops daisy-chained, that is, does one loop come off the other one? This can cause problems, because the two PM 42’s will both try to flip, which will put you right back into the same mismatch condition that you started with.
Mister Beasley, thank you for your response, running single engines only as a test run. Set one engine on the main with lights on as you suggested, ran the second one thr the loop. Lights blink on both engines. I can hear the PM 42 clicking then the engine proceeds thr the loop after hesitating 3 to 5 seconds.HELP
Sounds like you need to set the response time on the PM42 to a quicker setting and slow down the DB150. Assuming the wiring is correct (both rails gapped at each end of the reverse setcion, powered by one section of the PM42, main line powered by a different section of the PM42), it sound slike your booster is tripping from the reverse loop short before the PM42 - otherwise the loco sitting on the main would not blink its lights as that section of the PM42 would not drop out. Did you also power the reversing section fo the PM42 from the same section that powers the main? In that case you would need to set the section that is NOT reversing for a longer trip time thant he section that is contolling the reverse section. But that kind of defeats the purpose, since am actual short int he reverse section would then also shut down your main. If you want short protection AND auto reversing you shoudl use two different sections of the PM42, the other two sections can control power districts on the main.
–Randy
My old post had the same problem. Got Tony’s PSrev and solved the problem. The Relay trip just does not compare to soild state, That is what Randy R. told me and I dumped the digitrax AR-1 for the PSrev and the AR-42 for the PSfour and never looked back.
On topic the happy timng from the DB150 to the PS42 was never found. DUMB QUESTION these are on the some District correct. The in and out of the reverse loop MUST be the same district. This is dumb since the other engines work fine. So, we are back to the BLI is not happy. Is the power draw of the BLI that much HIGHER than the others?
Good luck guys!!
Same here I run PSrev and Power Shields here with no problems. I run BLIs, Atherarn, P2Ks, Atlas Gold/Silver and others, Katos and Genesis. No problem with any of them.
I’m going with Tonys Power Shields, what do I need to take care of two loops/? Thanks Ernie
Yes and I run the PM42s and have no problems! And I run just about every brand and type of engine and sound systems. Most of my operators bring their own motive power so from one week to the next I don’t know what may be showing up on the layout!
All mfg products work BUT the reason WHY the layout owner has problems is that the layout may not be wired properly.
This is the reason why it is recommended to have #12 stranded buss wires, the track drops located on every piece of track and the track joints are all soldered as well as having the track drops soldered to the buss wires.
It is funny why so many layouts have problems with DCC but not with the old DC.
It is that the layouts were marginal and the DC could compensate for these inadequacies but with computer chips they expect full power NO resistance as this corrupts the signal getting to the chips.
NOW how have you wired your reverse loops?
What is size is the main buss wire?
What is the wire size in the rev loop?
How close is the Reverser (PM42) to the Reverse track?
Setting the Command station/booster for the slow trip setting and the PM42 and AR1 for the fast setting will help but the wiring must be good to be able to send out the proper signal.
Do you have the PM42 ground wire tied to the command station. It is the common wire for signal reference and not actually a ground wire.
Building a fairly large home layout (2200 sq ft) and having over 2800 feet of track I did not want to take any chances or short cuts
You’ll need two of Tony’s units. Each one supports one loop. I have two of them, and they work great. No problems at all (except that I made my reversing section too short [:D].) Thanks to the guys on this forum for steering me in the right direction, too.
[:)]I would like to thank you-all for your help and guidence, I belive WE have the problem solved, All my eguipment is running thr the loops without any problems, with the exception on a steam locomotive and thats a turnout problem that I"ll work on. What a great hobby, and it’s the people that make it so. Ernie PS, If I incou nter any more problems, I’m going with Tonys reversing unit
So, you got it to work without switching to Tony’s reversers? How did you do it? (You see, next time you will be providing the answers. That’s the way it works. Don’t ya just love this place?)
Well thats a question I may not be able to answer. I unhooked all the connections from the PM42, in the process I found a wire that chould have been loose. Rewired the unit, and upgraded the wires to the reversing loops to #18 . Added two extra leads to main line near the reversing loops, before that , my nearest feeder wire was 6 feet from the entrance to the loop. Reprogramed the PM42 back to its default settings and then adjusted up from that untill the unit tripped without hesitation. I know someone was guiding my hand. I hope someday I’ll be able to help someone else, THANKS , I was at my whits end. Ernie