QUOTE (upnick @ 12 Jun 2008, 04:41)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Peco make it easy to make some simple mods to the current electrofrog points. They are explained (sort of) in their instructions.
These are
(1) They leave a gap in the webbing under the point to make it easy to electrically bond together the stock rails and their adjacent closure rails - this bonding should be done
(2) they provide a simple cuttable wire link to join the closure rails and the part of the closure that forms the knuckle/common crossing - these links should be cut to make the whole frog area electrically separate from the rest of the point
(3) they provide a wire tail at the frog to solder a wire to. Connected via aswitch, this allows the frog polarity to be powered according to the way the point is set.
To switch the frog polarity you need wither a peco switch addded to the point motor or any other product that will carry out this function.
Making these mods is well worth doing as it will result in a far more reliable layout that will not let you down and allow stalling due to loss of contact anywhere, shorts due to differential in stock and closure rail polarity or loss of contact between point blades and stock rail.
Using peco code 55 electrofrog point i power the toe and insulate the centre rails coming out of the point picking up power on all four rails after the point would this give the same performance and reliability as bonding the stock and closure rails?
***No: The only way to get maximum electrical benefit and optimise reliability is to modify the point itself - this is equally true for both the N and 00/H0 scale pointwork. You must keep all rail live and remove dependence on rail and point blade contact completely. see the detailed description below - it applies equally to all scales and both DC and DCC layouts
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Peco code 75 turnouts are actually now made wiring them correctly easier but they still need a few minor modifications.
The objective is to divide the turnout up into 3 electrically separate areas: the two stock rails and related closure rails (which remain powered always) and the crossing Vee which is fed via a switch, the polarity of which is determined by the position of the turnout.
The first modification is to break the wire jumpers on the underside of the turnout marked with yellow lines. On the top side, there is already an insulated break in the rails.
Code 100 turnouts don't have this insulated break, therefore it's necessary to use a cutting disc to cut the rails. The next modification is to electrically bond the switch rails to the stock rails, marked by red lines. There's a gap in the sleeper webbing to help you do this. On older Peco products such as code 100, it is quite easy to cut the same gap using a knife.
The purpose of this modification is to remove the reliance on the switch blades making electrical contact with the stock rails. It also ensures that the switch rails are always at the polarity of their neighbouring stock rail and therefore stops any shorting (sparking) occuring between them due to out-of-gauge or course scale wheels.
In the picture there is a Peco switch as these are often used because they fit easily to Peco motors. Any switch will be suitable so long as it is a two-way switch. (Single Pole Double Throw type)
The wiring should be connected to the switch as shown by the red and blue lines.
Finally, insulated fishplates should be fitted to both of the crossing V rails, marked with green lines. This ensures that the entire crossing V area is a single electrically isolated unit with its own feed. This prevents the turnout causing shorts due to back-feeding.
The turnout is now ready for installation on your layout.
While its shown applied to a Peco product, the technique is exactly the same as for hand-made turnouts, no matter how they are made. The technique applies equally to all model scales, although is more difficult to implement in the smaller scales such as 'N'.
This is the ONLY correct way to wire live frog turnouts, regardless of scale, DC or DCC.
I've attached an image of a peco point and the changes needed
Regards
Richard
DCCconcepts
