Two Planks Become One

I see now Kevin no point motors just purely switches for the frogs. I cant really recommend any hopefully someone will know of some that will suit your needs.

Learning to use that nice multimeter you have may well assist you in finding if there is a fault with the switch you already own.

Brian

Thank you again Brian. Of course you are correct, but I suspected it was either one of the points or DPDT switches early on.  But if I knuckle down to it , seriously, I am certain that I can get my head around it.   Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Kevin,

Expect to pay around £4-£6 each for decent heavy duty slider DPDT switches. At some point it looks like you will be moving the controls to the edge of your scenic boards anyway, so perhaps time to think about a dedicated WIT with the switches underneath and the knobs on top or the sides. On

Nigel

Hi Nigel.   Thank you again.    I don’t know if the position of the DPDT Slide switches are clear enough, but next time I will try to get close ups of them. The wire passes through the baseboard leaving the top side clear. As long as the switches don’t develop any more faults, they will do whilst I look for suitable replacements.  Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Nigel, Ron, Brian, Petermac, and all interested parties.   Having “ Sorted Out “ ? the short circuits on the fiddleyard baseboard, using its own “power control panel “ as opposed to “jumpers from the Inglenook” . And it did have a fault,I have connected both baseboards together using the jumpers. Expecting to have a running session. .Strewth! the blessed short circuit is back.
Surely if I was to run a continuous bus, as far as necessary, it would work,. So why by connecting Red to Red, and 
Black to Black with plugs and sockets , it is just the same as continuous???  Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Kevib,

Yes, lurking between the tracks. Not ideal once you start adding buildings, trees, sheds. Easier to access and troubleshoot at the edge.

Nigel

Kevin if the short does not occur on both baseboards when they are separate ? If when you connect them together the short occurs immediately are your sure on the baseboard connections there is not a wire that is reversed somewhere on the connectors that is creating the short? 

I dont know if this is easy for you to do or not but would it be possible for you to take a photo of the baseboard connectors so we can perhaps see what wire is going to what
 
Brian

Brian's right Kevin.  If both "planks" work individually when disconnected, the short can only be in the connectors.

Are you sure both "planks" do work everywhere, over every bit of track when separated ?  Presumably you are testing each of the separated planks the same way and not having one "reversed"…………………. ?

 Check for a stray track pin or other "conductor" - easily missed.  Somehow, you must have + connecting to - when you join the boards ……………………….as Brian said, a wayward wire could be enough or a blob of solder etc. etc.

[user=1632]BCDR[/user] wrote:

Hi Kevib,

Yes, lurking between the tracks. Not ideal once you start adding buildings, trees, sheds. Easier to access and troubleshoot at the edge.

Nigel

Hi Nigel. Thank you for your reply. Absolutely, but, I don’t intend to go down that road, until that is, I have debugged it 100%.    Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Brian.   Thank you. That is the reason why I added a separate feed via a CPC , and once I identified the cause of the short, everything worked. The connectors are “Banana Plugs and Sockets “ wired direct via cables to the bus.Best wishes Kevin 

So is everything now working as it should Kevin?  No shorts


Brian

Kevin if possible try leaving the jumper cables connected to board a (the one that has power going direct to it) but switch the jumpers around on the second board so jumper A goes to jumper B on the second board and jumper B goes to jumper A then see if you still have a fault ?  Even if you need to make up a couple of wires so that you can connect power across with the boards separated 
Cheers

Matt

Hi Petermac Thank you for your reply. Yes, all tracks are alive and well connected, the trains run like clockwork.I don’t think that there can be any conductive elements, or no running. Best wishes Kevin 

If the trains are clockwork, you wont have much trouble with shorts other than the running time. :pedal
I'll get my coat, sorry :Red Card

Well done with your original problem, :pathead :Happy

I'm killing time waiting for some glue to dry on the new trestles.

Kind regards, 

BrianT.

[user=1801]Passed Driver[/user] wrote:

Hi Petermac Thank you for your reply. Yes, all tracks are alive and well connected, the trains run like clockwork.I don’t think that there can be any conductive elements, or no running. Best wishes Kevin 

I'm confused Kevin - have you solved the short ?

Hi Petermac.  Thank you. It would seem that there was two shorts? But when I tried the baseboards separately, because they each had an independent supply the fiddleyard didn’t show up. It is them gremlins again. Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Matt.  Thank you for your reply. After a frustrating day looking for “ shorts  â€œ. I had enough. Then I thought of that,  but it seems so illogical ( Sherlock Holmes quote) when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth? I have just been watching a1941 film with Arthur Askey, the Ghost Train.I will try again tomorrow.  Best wishes Kevin 

Kevin like Peter in am totally confused have you now sorted the shorts or not?

A simple yes i have or no i have not will suffice


Brian

Hi Brian T .   Trestles? Funny thing is that I am thinking of buying trestles. Did you make your own?I have been considering trestles from ikea . Just to make the room look tidier? Famous last words? Originally I built four baseboards but they are almost redundant, except for a load of junk and tools. Best wishes Kevin 

Hi Brian.   When one has one short, which I had , it could hide another short, which it did? And when I fitted the fiddleyard with its own Powercab panel I could sort out the short. Then when I clamped them together I found the current short, no pun intended?  Confused? Well I am.   Best wishes Kevin