Medium oval layout

[Daistickman]

Hi there.

I've built the medium oval track layout. Also using the Hornby Select controller.

The trains we have are DC.

Trouble is there's only power going through the one loop. Once I change the point so the train can change loop etc I get electrical overload on the Select controller.

I've tried using R8201 to connect one loop to the other but that is also causing an error.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Paul and Finley.

[96RAF]

First thing you need to do is fit decoders to all your locos. You should not even stand a DC loco on a DCC track as you risk burning the motor out.

You likely have the link wires crossed so you are creating a short circuit.

It is suggested that you download and study the getting started guide from the sticky post at the top of the General Discussion section, which will help you understand how to set up a basic layout of more than one loop and sidings.

[Rog RJ]

Could be a faulty point. There have been quite a few problems with faulty points recently.

[Chrissaf]

Just to remind you that you were previously advised about not placing DC locos on your DCC powered track in your other "Teething trouble" thread, else you risk burning out the motors.

Not even if using the Select zero address analogue feature. Even Hornby documentation advises against it which is why the latest Select has the feature factory disabled. A burnt out motor could manifest as a 'short circuit' and be the cause of your Select tripping.

The R8201 is a product designed for DC Analogue layouts and should not be used unless modified for use on a DCC layout, else it will distort the DCC signal. The Analogue capacitors in the R8201 will shunt the DCC alternating voltage signal and can potentially be the reason for it tripping the Select power supply, particularly if you are also using R8206 or R602 Hornby track power connector products as well, as these also have Analogue capacitors in them. The correct track power connector products for DCC are R8241 and R8242 that do not have capacitors fitted inside them.

As Rog(RJ) says, one or more of your points may have what is turning out to be a very common factory 'short circuit' manufacturing fault.

From your observation descriptions, it sounds as if you have not installed any R8232 DCC point clips.

As Rob [96RAF] suggested. You would benefit from downloading and reading my 'Getting Started' tutorial PDF from the sticky thread at the top of the General Discussion forum. Chapter 6 details how to power a DCC layout.

[Daistickman]

Thanks guys. Pdf was very interesting. Seems to make a little more sense now.

[Chrissaf]

Should your issue situation be due to a faulty point or points as Rog(RJ) has suggested in his reply. I have just this evening released to the forum a new FAQ relating to this common Hornby point fault. To review this FAQ, go to the 'General Discussion FAQ Index' sticky thread at the top of the 'General Discussion' forum and follow the link for FAQ number 4.

Edit: Having read your original post again in detail I strongly suspect that the loop cross over point that is nearest to the Select controller has the documented short circuit fault. This statement assumes that these points do not have the R8232 DCC point clips fitted.

[Daistickman]

Thank you. I've bought some r8232's and a little dcc shunter. Once they arrive I'll try everything again.

[Daistickman]

It seems I have at least 4 faulty points.

[Chrissaf]

That really doesn't suprise me. A recent poster had 7 faulty points out of an 11 total.

[Daistickman]

I'm happy that I've now resolved the problem but slightly annoyed by it.

[Stephen in Kerry]

@Daistickman What was it that annoyed you? Just curious because I've also made some basic, and very costly, errors in my attempts to set up my first layout - and I still haven't got my baseboard set up. It's all part of the learning curve.

[Chrissaf]

I suspect that he is annoyed at buying brand new points and finding that four of them are faulty and now has to spend additional time faffing around to get fault free replacements.