i use dcc control.my question: if i wire all the track on my layout with the same polerity, will throwing
the switch change the polearity,and cause a short. i have read about insulated or non insulated turnouts
i dont know the difference. how do i tell the difference
If the wires are kept to the same rails, and you have a switch to throw in a gapped section of rails, and all of the rails are powered via a DCC system, you will have no problems. The decoders don’t care about polarity, just shorts.
The trick is to make sure your switch is wired correctly to an electrically isolated section of rails, and that no metal wheels are bridging either of the gaps that isolate the section you wish to reverse when throwing the switch.
If you have no gapped tracks, then you don’t really need the switch.
What are you going to do with the reversing switch?
Are you meaning a railroad switch…to turn trains onto another track, or do you mean an electrical switch? We use the term “turnout” for the device that routes trains onto another track.
-Crandell
Best two links on the WWW.
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches.htm
http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/nswmn2/DCC.htm
Read and enjoy.
Pete