I installed all the bus wires & cab plates. I hooked up some feeder wires to test on a section of track. All worked fine. My n-scale 44tonner moved back & forth, no problem. But now I've laid some real track and the light's on, but no one is home. I plug my cab into the panel & the startup sequence happens on the cab screen, but the light on the panel doesn't come on, & the train doesn't move. Speed & direction show up on the cab, but no movement from the loco. I'd be less confused if the system didn't work a month ago on the test track. Any suggestions? Thanks! --Mark
Is the LED dim and flickering? Sometimes the PC makes a buzzing noise. If so, it's a short circuit. Trace your wiring through.
I have a PowerCab that recently behaved the same way as described. Typically, if there is a short circuit across the tracks, the PowerCab will keep cycling through the power up sequence. It will not get to the point of showing the loco number, speed, and direction. So this is probably not a short. My problem turned out to be a damaged RJ12 socket on the PSP panel. And it was the one needed to put power to the track (the one on the left when looking at the LED side). The thin metal blades at the top of the socket that make contact with the cable plug were bent and not making contact with the outside cable pins required for track power. Get a good flashlight and a magnifier to check it.
Actually, when I plug it into the correct jack (forgot I flipped it over to have the light on top - dang I was tired!), it blinks on & off in one-second intervals. I guess this means a short? Problem is: wiring is fine, so it might mean I didn't cut the gaps on the two facing turnouts cleanly with the dremel. Or (even better), I didn't gap the pcboard ties well enough when I built the turnouts. I'll check 'em out. Thanks! --Mark
:tb-hissyfit: I've done that before, too.... But yes, the blinking on and off means a short somewhere.
I think my frog is touching / connected to the point rails. I made them pretty snug, & dropped some solder in underneath the frog to secure it to the pc board & it might have connected with the point rails. Any way to deal with this (other than rip out turnouts & start over?) Thanks.
I cut the point rails to isolate the frog, but it seems there's still a short somewhere. Here's the setup: The Red & White are the feeders to the bus underneath. The purple circles the cuts I made to isolate the frog. I went back & made sure all the cuts in the pcb ties are clean. There might be some metal burrs still in the cuts. Am I missing something? Thanks for all yr help for a electronics-challenged dude! --Mark
Have you tried disconnecting the track power all together then turning the system on? I guess I would just double or triple check the switch isolation. I'd use an old xacto blade and make sure there are clean gaps in all the PC board ties, then trace one rail at a time to make sure it does not contact a rail of the opposite polarity.
The problem may be the crossover itself. Are the rails on the departure side of the frog, just past the isolation gaps, joined? If so, you have a short. Follow the right hand rail through the turnout (neg rail bottom turnout in image) through to the frog, you will see that it reaches the left hand rail (pos rail) of the next turnout before the frog. Otherwise, you will need to gap between the turnouts as well (essentially extend the frog rail on the crossover side).
Got it! The gap right where Gats was pointed wasn't clean enough. I cut a good groove in each, & the thing worked! Yeay! We have a section of operationable track! Wheeeee! Thanks for all yr help! --Mark
