need help

Discussion in 'General' started by craigh, Jun 5, 2009.

  1. craigh

    craigh Member

    ok i know this is a stupid question but im new to this so here goes please bear with me after you quit laughing ok on my layout i have an outside loop normal oval that works great i have a turn out at the north end for a shot to my yard that also works great but before that turn out i have one that goes into a straight section the length of my layout to connect to my inner loop that will go around my town and back down to the other end, the inter loop is shaped like a dog bone but i cant get it to have any power i go power to the straight section on the front part of the inner loop but it stops at the turn out that connects the south loop to go around the town all the track is connected i have changed that turn out 4 or 5 times i also had tried to use connectors with wires connected to them but if i hook the up to the transformer i get no power anywere i know im using the old fashioned transformer for now but will upgrade once i get all the track to run. any help woulg be great thanks :confused:
     
  2. bob_wintle

    bob_wintle Member Frisco.org Supporter

    I am not sure if I am following your post correctly or not but it sounds to me like you have a reverse loop. By this I mean that your inner loop is doubling back and reversing the current direction of the power pack thus shorting out your layout. If I could see your track diagram I could be of more help. Are you using track insulators or is all of your track laid with regular rail joiners?
    Bob Wintle MMR
    Parsons, Ks.
     
  3. craigh

    craigh Member

    i will try to get a picture of the layout sat the 6th and post it, im using all regular rail jointers and how can it reverse the current direction? if the engine is running the same direction on the inner as it is the outer? :confused:
     
  4. HWB

    HWB FRISCO.org Supporter

    What type of switches are you using. If it's Peco then you are probably dealing with a short created by the switch. A common way to fix that is to isolate (gap) the rail ends of the Y end of the switch

    [​IMG]
     
  5. craigh

    craigh Member

    ok i will have to look at the switches but i think they are atlas, how and where on the y end do i isolate or gap? and do i need to do this to all the switches? i tried to scan a scetch of my layout but my scanner is acting up
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 6, 2009
  6. HWB

    HWB FRISCO.org Supporter

    if you have Atlas switches this should not be a problem. Peco and Shinohara switches are the only ones I've encountered that do that and it doesn't occur with every switch. If you would like to isolate your switch and eliminate a possible problem check out this diagram

    [​IMG]
     
  7. bob_wintle

    bob_wintle Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Another thing to remember is to always power your turnouts from the point end only. This doesn't always have to be the case but it is the best way to do it. I still believe that what you have done is that your inner loop reverses back on its self. Like I said before I would like to see a track diagram to better help you.
    Bob Wintle MMR
     
  8. w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021)

    w3hodoug (Doug Hughes RIP 03/24/2021) 2008 Engineer of the Year Frisco.org Supporter

    Congratulations to our new MMR.
     

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