My friend Larry has just purchased a Digitrax system for his HO layout. He previously had Easy DCC, and before that, Dyna-trol. He has all Peco turnouts controlled by Tortoise machines. The layout is divided into 4 blocks, 1 controlled by the main power supply and the other three by boosters. There is an ongoing problem in where anytime a locomotive crosses the boundary from one booster controlled block to the main power supply controlled block, there is a momentary small short detected at the main power supply (and you can hear it in the decoders) which shuts off power, then resets and the locomotive continues. When going from the main power supplied block to the booster block, the same occurs, but not as noticeable. There are two tracks at this location, and the problem occurs on both tracks with any locomotive. This is the only location where this problem occurs. We have tried just about everything we can think of, disconnecting feeders, swapping wires on the power supply and boosters, swapping boosters, as examples. One of the other regular operators feels that there may be a bad Peco turnout somewhere in the main power block. This problem has been present with every system, and we have lived with it up to this point. Larry would like to resolve the problem before resuming regular operations. The only other thing we can think of to do at this point is isolate each turnout electrically until we have checked them all, but that will involve a lot of gap cutting and filling. We were hoping maybe someone would have a suggestion of other things to try before going that route. Any help gang?
As a follow-up, Jerry Albers, the electrical guru behind Allen McClelland's V&O, came over to my friend Larry's layout Thursday evening. He was able to determine that the main power station was putting out 15 volts, and the power boosters were all putting out 16 volts. When engines crossed between the main power fed block and the booster fed block, the system was reading the voltage difference as a short. Jerry was able to match up the voltage outputs of the main power and power booster units so the problem has gone away. If any of you have a similar problem crossing power district boundaries, here is one thing to look for. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions.
