Frog Juicer?

[Ruston]

I guess these things have been around for a while but I have only recently become aware of them so have a few questions.

 

I'm led to understand that one unit can operate up to 6 points - is that so?

 

All I need to do is to put power from both feeds of the DCC bus into it and the output is a single wire to each frog and that's it?

 

It changes the polarity of the frog as the engine's wheels come into contact with the frog and so I don't have to operate anything and microswitches to change the polarity are redundant?

[Nigelcliffe]

One unit for six turnouts?    Sort of, if you buy a device which has six of them on a single circuit board.   If you have six crossings in the immediate area, this can be worthwhile, but if you have to run lots of wires around a layout, its a false economy and you're better off with single units located where they are needed. 

 

Yes, to the wiring.     Yes, to how they operate.     

There is an open question as to whether something which works on a fault (short circuit) is a good idea, and whether there may be small scale pitting of wheels from the regular short circuits.  

 

You also need to be certain that your frog juicers will operate faster than your chosen DCC system's short-circuit cut-out (mostly this is OK), and that their cut-over current is lower than the demands of a single locomotive (unlikely to be an issue with 4mm scale, some using really power-hungry motors in 7mm and larger might have issues). 

 

 

 

- Nigel

 

 

 

[Ruston]

Thanks, Nigel. It's only a 4ft long OO layout, so wires from one unit won't be a problem. All the engines are small 0-4-0 types. I'll phone the shop where I intend to buy from and ask them if it will work with my DCC system.

[ITG]

Depending on if you already have your point motors, Instead of the ‘frog juicer’ type, you could consider such as MTB MP1 point motors which have the frog switching built in. Other makes are available.

or DCC Concepts ADS 2sx units which are combined decoders and frog switches. The 2 signifies it will drive 2 point motors, larger units driving 4 or 8 are available.

[RFS]

A single unit which supports 6 independent frogs costs £65, or about £11 per frog. A solenoid motor (eg Peco PL-10) will add another £7. An MTB MP1, as mentioned above, costs £16 and has all the switching built in. 

[Ruston]

Thanks but I won't be using point motors. The board is only 4ft, long so the points are all within easy reach and will be operated by rods under the baseboard with knobs on the facia. I've used this method several times before and it is simple and reliable. The unreliable part of this system are the microswitches that the ends of the rods bear on and which change the polarity of the frog. I like the idea of the juicer as it removes this extra moving part, minimises wiring, and requires no adjustment.

 

 

[Crosland]

16 hours ago, Nigelcliffe said:

You also need to be certain that your frog juicers will operate faster than your chosen DCC system's short-circuit cut-out (mostly this is OK),

 

They operate faster than a SPROG, which is very fast.