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How To Power A Layout
William asks readers:
“I used to have three layouts, 2 ‘OO’ gauge and ‘N’ gauge, all analog, that was 5 years ago. I have since moved, and I want to start up again. This time in DCC. I have laid every thing out, connected the track, laid on Scenic Railway foam track. I have the Hornby Elite system, but I can not make the track live. Every time I connect the power, an error comes up. Has anybody got an idea of the reason why?”
6 Responses to How To Power A Layout
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Does the error indicate a short circuit?
Step One: You must have an open circuit, infinite resistance between the rails with nothing connected, no trains or anything else on the track. I suspect this in your problem.
Step One: You must have an open circuit, infinite resistance between the rails with nothing connected. I suspect this in your problem.
It will help us to diagnose the problem if you can add a circuit diagram so that we can clearly see your circuit.
Does the loco itself work normally on a single piece of track connected to the controller ?
Do you have a test meter ? Even a car 12V bulb circuit tester will be very useful here.
(Or you can make a track tester by soldering two wires with croc clips on a small 12V bulb.
Disconnect the sections of the layout, then add them back one section at a time to see which is causing the problem.
(Are you aware that a balloon loop or three-point reversing track needs special wiring to prevent short circuits ?)
Hi I have a Hornby Elite and the error comes up if I short circuit the layout . Switch of your controller then switch it back on and listen for a very faint hiss just before the error message appears. If you hear that there’s a short somewhere mine kept doing that until I found it was a set of points causing the problem. Don’t worry about the short causing damage to your controller as they have an in built safety mechanism to avoid any damage occurring it took me quite a while to find my problem but just start with the power track and keep adding sections till the error message comes up Good Luck Graeme
William, On DCC before you do too much with the engines on the track if it does not show a short when you put power on then drop a quarter across the track it should short and pop the breaker. That is your safety net. Then you are protected.
If it is shorting when you put power on then you have some wires crossed and possibly if you have a reverse loop then the rails will short unless you have insulated them. A reverse loop will need a auto reverse unit attached to it if that is the case and both ends of the loop and both rails will need insulators.
Set up a piece of straight test track and power it and it should work. So if that is the case then disconnect any reverse loops and or any crossed wires. Color.code the wires so you are always connecting to the right rail . If you have a second track and you are running the wires opposite on the second track and you have a cross over from the other track that will cause a short if not insulated. These are some ideas while not knowing your layout to try. Start out by isolating some sections and start small and expand out to find the location of the short. from Newman