Enndee Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 All of my points have suddenly stopped working!! The CDU output is fine, I tried another one just to be absolutely sure. 5 of the points are electro frog using Seep point motors and Gaugemaster Autofrog polarity switching and 3 are Insulfrog using Peco surface mount motors. Locos operate normally on all parts of the layout, switching the points manually. I was laying some ballast, tapping the track with a spoon to bed the ballast down, without realising that power was switched on. Could the short circuit have damaged all the point motors???? If not then I have no clue where the problem is. All the points are operated by toggle switches, could all the switches have burnt out? The layout is DCC using Gaugemaster Prodigy Express DCC01 control. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 How do you know tha CDU output is fine? Its pretty obviously a power problem but surely your CDU does not have any connection to the rails where your short was. Get yourself a multimeter and use it to trace the power supply from the Power supply unit (PSU), through the CDU, the switches then the point motors. there must be a fault in the common part of the circuit, PSU or CDU or the feed wire to the switches or a common return connection from the point motors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ITG Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2023 It’s not unheard of for a short to cause the turnout decoders to forget their addresses. Ian 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dagworth Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2023 It's more likely you have a short somewhere on the point motor circuit which is preventing the CDU from recharging. Disconnect the CDU and measure resistance between the connections that were connected to its output. Andi Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 Your points are being operated via a CDU and momentary non locking toggle switches (On)-Off-(On) type. No DCC accessory decoder is being used. Initially, I would check that all point operating toggle switches have returned to their centre Off position. Work each switch in turn to check they are all in their Off position. If the CDU has a LED charge light is that illuminated? If no light then you really need a multimeter to test with. A cheap meter can cost less than £15and do all things you will need it for. You test for power arriving at the CDU (Usually 16volts AC) and it is able to provide a DC output often around 19 to 24 volts DC. If that all test correct connect one meter lead to the common return from the motors and the other to check CDU output positive is arriving on the middle tabs of all switches. Report back as to what has been found. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 13, 2023 8 minutes ago, ITG said: It’s not unheard of for a short to cause the turnout decoders to forget their addresses. Ian The question is confusing, because it's in the non-DCC section, yet appears to be DCC related, as in the trains are DCC controlled. However, a CDU is definitely not DCC related. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 13, 2023 100% agree that a multimeter is required. Personally, I don't really see how people can wire a layout and attempt to fix problems without one. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enndee Posted October 13, 2023 Author Share Posted October 13, 2023 30 minutes ago, kevinlms said: The question is confusing, because it's in the non-DCC section, yet appears to be DCC related, as in the trains are DCC controlled. However, a CDU is definitely not DCC related. Sorry, I may have muddied the waters by giving too much (irrelevant) information. None of the points operate via DCC. I have a multimeter so will check for a fault as suggested. Thank you everyone. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Siberian Snooper Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 13, 2023 Have you glued the ballat down? Water based glue can cause shorts, regardless of it being dc or dcc operated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 The track is fine, the OP says all his trains run. The ballast won't affect all the point motors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold ikcdab Posted October 13, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 13, 2023 (edited) With anything like this, you just have to work through it systematically. Do the point motors work if you apply power directly to them? If so, then does the CDU actually operate correctly? If so any wiring breaks between the CDU and the point motors? Etc You just have to eliminate variables and logically track down the point of failure. Edited October 13, 2023 by ikcdab Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCB Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 I would remove the PSU and feed the points direct from 12 volts and see if they flinch at all when the switch is moved. It does sound most odd. It could be one switch has failed short circuit so the CDU is constantly discharging through one coil of one point motor. I use an "Energise" push button to fire my CDU so the direction switch contacts are not switching a load when moved. Avoids arcing etc. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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