transferman

OK guys, thanks for your many and varied comments and advice. You have convinced me that there is no way around the problem and will revert to plan A and give up!! Many thanks, Chris

Interesting! Please enlighten me. Chris

I have been trying for several years now to build an OO gauge layout. I am now stuck on points and control thereof. There will be 27 points on the layout so that means an awful lot of control devices. I was told that ESP equipment would cut down on wiring but after conversations with DCC Concept it seems that it doesn't really! Using Electrofrog point I need to switch frog polarity and that means 3 control wires and 3 for the point motor X 27, you can see the problem. I have just become aware of Unifrog points and wondered if they would eliminate the need for frog polarity changes, and hence do away with the need for control gear. Any help would be much appreciated. Cheers, Chris

Hiya, I am trying to get a points control panel built from laser cut ply. Does anyone know of a reliable company that can do such a thing. I have tried 2 people already and bot have failed to produce the goods. Cheers, Chris

I asked a question framed as best I could. But there is always someone willing to pounce or take the piss.

I don't find your response very helpful!

Hiya, Not sure if this is the right place so sorry if it isn't! The points on my layout will be manually controlled by 'Rails Connect' controllers. I do not intend to use a mimic panel as yet so have decided to install LED's between the tracks to get a good visual indication of how the road is set. I intended to use Bi Colour LED's wired from the 'Rails' controller LED terminals. Most of the points are 2 track so I would require 2 X LED's connected together to indicate both. I am told that it is not advisable to wire LED's in parallel so how can I make this idea work? Lets hope that the wealth of knowledge out there can offer me a solution. Cheers, Chris

Does anyone have a wiring diagram showing the wires and connections for a Peco SL-E99 3 way turnout. This will be connected to 2 Rails Connect solenoid motors mounted directly to the underside of the points & controlled by 2 Rails Connect Controllers. The entire set up will be initiated by 2 momentary toggle switches. I can find nothing that is helpful to me on thinternet and Rails aren't being very helpful either. Can anyone help me please? Chris

No! not sorted, still happens, although infrequently. Chris

Hi Folks, I must firstly thanks all of you who contributed in helping me solve the mysterious problem I was experiencing. I carried out a lot of the suggested testing & checking and finally replaced one of the SS point motors which seemed suspect to me. Magic......all went well, perfect running over all track joints etc. This all stayed good for 3 days, then yesterday started up and all the problem were back!!!! Stalling at every joint. I also noticed that following a stall and the unit resetting, the loco drove off on its own until it reached the next stall point and then it moved off again when the unit reset. Then suddenly all the problem disappeared again and we ran without trouble for another hour. I am really getting to the end of my tether. Chris

Keep 'em coming. With all this wealth of knowledge flying in we are bound to find the solution. Tomorrow I will start working my way thro' the suggestions and see what I come up with. Many thanks. Chris

The points were NOT disconnected when running the locos, only at the time the photo was taken.!

At the time the photo was taken, the points were disconnected. Chris

The point being used are Peco Electrofrog. In this photo I have tried to include all the relevant facts and info. I must add that the locos will stall when first run, but very seldom after that. If anyone could help it would be much appreciated. Chris Crossover Problems.pdf

Hiya, This is concerning my 6 year old 00 gauge upon which I have just laid the first bit of track, a crossover about 600 mm long. I have been disusing the problem I had with some DC Concepts SS point motors and controller. Following guidance from DCC on a step by step basis it seems there was nothing wrong except for a missing track connection. Trouble is that the locos stop intermittently and cause a short at certain places on the crossover. DCC says this is probably incorrect back to back measurements casing the short. I have tried 3 different locos and they all act in the same way. How does one prove that incorrect gauge is causing the problem. I have a Prodigy Advance and this has started acting up as well. It doesn't control speed correctly and wouldn't stop even on the emergency button. Although this controller is some years old now it has hardly been used. It would be good to year if anyone has experience similar problem or has any idea how I should proceed. Cheers, Chris

Hmmmm!! Looks like it will probably be next year before any become available! Is there a reliable more generally available alternative available? Chris

Getting to the stage of track laying and wiring but I find it impossible to obtain the equipment I require. I opted to go for DCC Concepts Cobalt controls & point motors but cannot find any in the World! There are 24 points on my layout, all of which need to be surface mounted and I cannot get anything. Unless of course anyone knows of a secret stash of such items and I would consider other makes. Playing for your help. Chris

I am using an old Gaugemaster Series E controller which is poking out 18v. AC

The points move quite freely by hand and I have tried many different allignments.

Hi all, I have just purchased on of the above point motor to try it out.........it doesn't do the job!!! Whilst not mechanically connected to anything the point motor operates perfectly. As soon as a load is put on it, i.e. connected to the points then it seems not to have enough umph to do the job. I am trying it on a double slip. Has anyone else experienced such problems? Chris

No takers for this then. I'm sure someone out there has got the answer. Chris

What a great response! Thank you all for the comments and suggestions. It would seem, as some of you spotted, that I was talking the wrong language. Now then, the 2nd part to this problem is, 'Can the modified SL-90 be controlled by a DDC Concepts Cobalt SS turnout controller'. I'll leave it with you. Chris

Hiya, here I am again a few years later, no further advanced and bogged down!! I've planned my 00 gauge layout, constructed the baseboards, purchased a Prodigy Advance System, stocked up on code 100 track, points etc. My railway has 4 running lines joined by double slip crossovers. In my infinite wisdom I purchased some Peco SL-90 double slips. I was having great difficulty in working out how to connect these. As I understand it, all points & crossovers need to be electrofrog, but the SL-90 is insulfrog. I was assured that these could be converted to electrofrog but am now told by both Peco & DCC Concepts that this is not possible!! All of my track is code 100 to accommodate some elderly running stock but I cannot find a code 100 double slip in electrofrog. My question in simple terms, ' is it possible to use an SL-90 and have it work correctly on a DCC layout without breaks and shorts occuring'?? I would appreciate all the help I can get or this lot will be scrapped. Chris

Many thanks to Nick for the splendid replies. Of course the instructions were with the point motors. Problem is I thought they were just part of the packaging!!! Thoroughly read and now understood. Thanks again. Transferman

Hi Guys, well, my gast is ever so flabbered!!! What a response, 39 replies and all on topic and some really good advice. I thank you one & all for the varied suggestions and ideas. I have been weighing up all the info and have come to the conclusion that what I want for point control is :- The points to be switched individually from a panel and not operated by the DCC thingy. I can't believe that entering a code into the thingy each time you want to change a point is gonna be easy nor fast enough! Thing is, I wanted DCC control for the locos and straight away I am backing off it. As I am prone to doing I purchased a couple of DCC Concepts Cobalt SS point motors before I had a clue what I was doing. I chose these because I wanted the point motors above the baseboard as the old bones won't take all that bending now. Thing is they have got a large controller to operate the point motor. Now that it gonna look silly above the board. Forgive but I still don't understand how this mode of operation works. The conventional means of point control using DCC would be to hook up a DCC point motor, connect it to the bus, enter the point code in the thingy and away it goes. Now I've got the point motor, I've got a controller that goes with it and I want to insert switches in line to actually move the points. Where does the power for the point motor now come from and what happens with the controller that comes with the point motor. THE CLOSER I GET TO A SOLUTION THE MORE BAFFLED I BECOME! Just in case there are any friendly neighbourhood clubs in the vicinity I live in Midsomer Norton. Where's that I hear them cry, near say's I. Sorry to be such a pain but it's my age you know. Transferman