I have a short on one of my power subdistricts. I recently added an hon30 line to my HO layout and I used peco electro frog switches. Will these switches cause a short? I am retracing all my wiring so as to rule out that. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
With the power routing of an electrofrog, that could be where you encountered an issue. Do you have a sketch showing how the track is laid out? It could be as simple as needing an insulator in one place.
Would. Picture be better? I wired it as follows. No insulated gaps. Outside rail is white, inside is red. I kept it the same all The way through. The only difference from the main layout to this is electro dog switches. All the rest on the main layout are insulfrog, walthers DCC friendly, and micro engineering switches. No problems until now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
If that switch makes both rails the same polarity in the route not chosen, you will always have a short with those feeders there unless you put insulating gaps at the frog end of the switch. Doug
To understand correctly the wiring may be wrong. If I add insulator and gaps at the frog end, then I should have run feeders to the point end? The insulated switches I wired only from the frog end, so I did the same with these. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
If the switch is as I described, you need to have feeders at all three places, at the point end and at both branches with the insulated gaps at the frog end of the switch. That way, the gaps stop any short from happening and the feeders provide current to all tracks. Doug
Ok makes sense. I will add the insulated gaps and add another set of feeders to them. Now a second question that I have always wondered about. On these switches there is a small thin wire coming from the frog. Do I need to do something with this? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
If the wire runs directly to the frog, it is meant to be able to power the frog and you use some kind of switching mechanism to change the polarity of the frog depending on which way a loco is traveling through it. If you are going to use a switch machine to throw the switch, get one with contacts on it that you can use to change the polarity as the switch is thrown. If it is to be hand-thrown, you need to provide a switch to perform the polarity change function. Doug
I wasn't planning on using the wire for anything. I will add the feeders and gaps and go from there. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Been a lot of decades since I thought about powered frogs (neither of my railroads needs them). If I recall, the electrotoad keeps it live to the points...whichever point is contacting the stock rail feeds power to the frog, which is why without gaps you have a short. Look carefully at that wire. It may be what keeps the frog alive, and you cut it out, you may have an issue. That's just old, old memory.
I've left the wire attached. I will see how this thing works. I am only used to the insulated frogs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
These are Peco electro frog for HOn30. I have never seen it either until these. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
Yeah, I knew that didn't look like an N scale switch so Peco must have decided to go the Atlas route (so to speak) and make powering the frog optional. It's kind of funny they did that but obviously have the exit rails connected. I meant to include it isn't absolutely necessary to power the frog. If you have no problems with short wheelbase locos stalling on it, no need to. I always like to power them, however, just in case. I use Atlas 2065 machines with built-in contacts on code 55 switches and they work fine. Actually, looking at the photo closely, it doesn't look like the frog is isolated so the wire must be to power the whole point rail/frog assembly so as not to depend on point rail/stock rail contact. Or it could just be isolated at the point end. I can't really tell from the photos. Doug
