Extra Hornby DCC Power Track

[Out Of Puff1707822593]

Hi,

I have two a two-oval setup with quite a lot of sidings coming off the inner loop. It's powered by one Hornby DCC Power Track on the outer loop and I have a Hornby Track Link Wire connecting the circuits.

Sometimes I get a bit of shuddering from locos, especially the shorter units.

My question is - would using two DCC Power Tracks - one for each loop, work better than my current setup?

I'm not keen to go down the soldering / bus route although I know that is optimal.

And also - what's the best number of link wires to have generally?

Thanks so much

[Brew Man]

Well you answered your own question by saying the bus route is optimal. To be honest you are always going to get connectivity problems relying on a single, double or several power points. Go for a DCC bus and connect each section of track to it. You'll be glad you did.

[96RAF]

A power track connection is better than the slide in power clips used by the link cables. You can use as many power tracks as you like in lieu of slide-ins, even for link cables.

Have you made sure your power track and link cable clips do not have a capacitor installed as this can make for lumpy DCC running. Flip open the clips or flip off the cover between the rails and if there is a capacitor in there snip it out.

If you have to rely on limited power feeds rather than install a full power bus then tight fishplates are essential to reliable running. check for any rail joints that are warm (loose therefore high resistance) and nip them up tight either with a flat bladed screwdriver or pliers.

You may also wish to read the 'Getting Started with Sets and Track Extensions' Guide downloadable from the sticky post in the General Discussion section which tells of connecting multiple loops, etc.

[RDS]

I have got 4 loops with 19 sidings in the middle, all powered by the Hornby Elite 4 Amp power supply, without problems.

Having said that I have installed a Bus System and each loop and siding has multiple connections back to the power supply.

[Out Of Puff1707822593]

Thanks everyone, and I'm definitely going to check my fishplates next. I know some are quite loose. Are needle-nose pliers the best tool to both tighten and loosen them (I'm worried about over-tightening and then not being able to get them off again)? Also, I've noticed that the Hornby DCC Power Track doesn't come with any wires. I'm going to connect to a Hornby Select controller which already has Track A+Track B wires running from it. Does it matter what type of wire I use to connect a further Power Track?

@96RAF - yes I will have a look at the Getting Started stuff again, thanks.

[96RAF]

Just use similar sized wire, twin bell cable or speaker cable from a DIY store is OK. If you already have link cables the ferrules crimped on the ends will fit. You can daisy chain your feeds using a choc-block connector rather than struggle and fail to get pairs of wires in the track or Select terminals.

Your pliers will be OK to nip up the fishplates. Once they are on they can stay on. If the track is already laid then press them tight from the top using the slim pliers end on either side of the rail or with a flat bladed screwdriver.

[Out Of Puff1707822593]

Thanks so much.

[Fishmanoz]

When using power tracks/link cables rather than a bus, the usual advice is to also install DCC Point Clips on Hornby points. This is not necessary if you have a power feed going to all 3 tracks connected to those points from somewhere on the layout. An exception is pairs of crossover points where you have power feed to the loops incorporating each of them (the parts of the points connecting between the loops will be dead when the points are straight ahead but this does not matter. They will be live when you switch the points to crossover).

That leaves your sidings which will be dead when the point is switched to the main layout. No matter if the siding is only used to run locos (including just sounds) when the point is switched to the siding. But if you want to run anything in the sidings when the point is switched to the main layout, you will need either a power feed in the siding or use the Point Clips.

If using Clips, check them from time to time for tightness and no tarnish. If not tight and tarnish free, you can get a high resistance connection which will get hot and may cause damage. Just touching them with your finger will tell you soon enough.