Smoke from power outlet

[johnny1707821342]

Hey guys I made this test track and when I put the wires on the right side into my hornby select and turned the power on smoke started coming out from the power outlet so I immediately turned it off and haven’t used it since I was using the power supply on the right when this happened and after this I tested the controller without the wires inserted and just with the power supply plugged into the controller and I discovered the power supply was fried I do have another power supply that I believe is the same and I would like to try get my test track to work so I was wondering if you guys had any idea why this happened and how I could fix it cheers Jonathan

Mod Edit: Your images have been removed as they contain a phone number. Unfortunately it was not possible to remove a single image. It is against forum rules to post personal details. R-

[96RAF]

You have to determine where the fault lies.

Was it a faulty PSU that simply died.

Is there a fault at the wall socket that killed the PSU. You can check by using another socket, but if the socket was faulty it should have tripped the house circuit breaker,

Was there a short upstream of the PSU that caused the PSU to fail, although the PSU if it is a Hornby one should self protect not make smoke.

Check your spare PSU output with a meter, and if OK plug it into the Select without connecting the track and see if that boots OK.

You say ‘connected to the right’. Can you explain that better, Connect right where.

Put the meter across the test track rails to see if there is a short.

[johnny1707821342]

[johnny1707821342]

Hiya sorry the photos got removed have cropped them and sent them again they are just waiting approval breaker in the house wasn’t tripped PSU was the Hornby one (in the photos) hopefully once the photos are approved it’ll make more sense

[96RAF]

The alternative PSU will be fine.

It looks as if you have connected to the left hand power track and the Select has booted OK, so there is no need to connect the right hand wires as well, but if you did you have to match phasing (DCC version of polarity) by ensuring you are connecting the back rail wires at both ends and the front rail wires at both ends. I suspect you cross connected them, which is a dead short. The PSU self protects by dropping voltage rather than cutting out, so in the end it cooked.

[johnny1707821342]

I ended up taking the power track from the layout however I’d rather just use the green wires pictured on the right and yes the select did boot up all right with the power track also on the select where I put the track wires it says A and B does it matter which wires from the track go into A and B or do I have to put it an exact order eg the outer rail always into A and the inner rail always into B

[Fishmanoz]

Either way is fine. Just remember if you use more than one connection they must be the same way or you cause a short.

[Daedalus]

No they don't.

[johnny1707821342]

So they don’t matter ?

[P-Henny]

So they don’t matter ?

 

 

Just to provide some clarity.

In an ideal world you would only make one single connection from the controller to the track. The track connector is marked A & B, but it doesn't matter which way round the A & B is connected to the controller. BUT if you do make a second connection you MUST make sure that with the second connection, the wires connect to the same rails as the first connection.

Now if the plug-in track connectors are placed on the SAME side of the track, then yes, A connects to A and B connects to B. BUT if the two track connectors are placed one on each opposite side of the track, then they are wired A to B and B to A.

To a certain degree the A & B labelling is immaterial, it is the rail wiring that is critical. When using multiple feeds, all inner rail connections must connect together and all outer rails must connect together. Get one rail wire crossed between inner & outer rails and you get a short circuit.

In your photo where your track is only a few feet long, there is absolutely no need that I can see in the photo that warrants adding a second connection.

however I’d rather just use the green wires pictured on the right

 

 

Then just use those green wires on the right that can be either way round as long as you remove the wires from the power track on the left. Thereby relegating the power track to just being a physical track piece.

[96RAF]

So they don’t matter ?

 

 

As I have now highlighted in my previous post and as clarified by Paul if you must use multiple connections each one must connect to the same rail. Which rail youconnect to A or B doesn’t matter as long as they are all the same.

[johnny1707821342]

Oh yep when the smoke started coming out from the power outlet I was just using the green wires and the power track wasn’t on the test track however after this incident I got a bit scared and thought the green wires were the problem and so added the power track but didn’t remove the green wires and just used the power track as my connection to the track which worked fine however as mentioned I need this power track on the layout and want to use the green wires however I don’t want smoke coming from the power outlet again so I was wondering what I could do to fix this and make the test track work with just the green wires

[96RAF]

Disconnect the power track and / or wires and put a meter across the green wires to see if there is a short across the rails they are attached to.

Post a clear picture of how the green wires are connected to the rails.

I see you have a buffer stop at that end. Could that be creating a short across the rails.

[johnny1707821342]

[johnny1707821342]

Photos are of both ends of the green wires the buffer stop looks to be made of plastic so don’t think it could short it out but will test with a metre with the buffer and without the buffer using the green wires to see if there is a short

[96RAF]

Just snip those free ends off to about 1cm so there is no chance of a short when they are plugged into the Select Track A-B terminals.

[johnny1707821342]

But don't I need the ends stripped to insert it into the A and B terminals

[96RAF]

But don't I need the ends stripped to insert it into the A and B terminals

 

 

Yes of course you do but not that much, just enough about 1 cm to go into the terminals but not too far into the Select innards or to be able to touch each other outside the terminals.

[johnny1707821342]

Oh yep and would this be a possible cause as to why it shorted out

[P-Henny]

Rather than bare wires, you can crimp Hornby X8011 terminals on the wires and plug the terminals into the power track connector. This is what the Hornby X8011 terminal is made for. Search ebay for "Hornby X8011" as currently 'out of stock' in the Hornby shop. Using the X8011 terminals can limit the chance of generating a short circuit within the connector.

Hornby X8011 for sale | eBay

[Brew Man]

Expo Drills and Tools also make those crimp terminals which are an exact match.

Expo's product code is A23001

[johnny1707821342]

How do I use these ?

[P-Henny]

Look at the photograph of them via the clickable link in my reply and compare that to my text that says about crimping them on the end of the wires and pushing them into the track power connector. It is self explanatory.

The X8011 terminals turn the flexible ends of the bared wires into stiff rigid metal round pins. They can be crimped with any fairly standard electrical crimping tool such as those used for spade connectors OR a pair of pliers if no crimping tool to hand.