Careless mistake

Sounds like a familiar problem. I had just completed laying out all of my track for the layout I am building.  I'm using tubular track, some old, some new.  the new track is from Menards.  It is their O gauge 30" straight sections.   Before I finalized everything by soldering jumpers etc., I tried turning the power on to the track.....SHORT !!!  Rats!!!   So I started disconnecting each section of track to find the culprit.  It turned out to be one of the 30" straight sections which is brand new out of the box.  

After I reassembled the track, I put a continuity tester of the piece of track that caused the short.  Looked carefully at the center rail insulators.  All seemed kosher.  I bent the ties down slightly figuring that one of the insulators wasn't keeping the tie from touching the center rail.  Still a short.  Finally, I removed one of the ties near the end of the track.  Bingo !!!

It seems that the center rail insulators on Menards track are not as thick as the old Lionel version.  Possibly when this particular piece of track was made, the crimping process damaged the insulator.  Even after I removed the tie, I could not see any damage to the insulator.  

Probably a sharp edge or metal sliver.

Dan Padova posted:

Sounds like a familiar problem. I had just completed laying out all of my track for the layout I am building.  I'm using tubular track, some old, some new.  the new track is from Menards.  It is their O gauge 30" straight sections.   Before I finalized everything by soldering jumpers etc., I tried turning the power on to the track.....SHORT !!!  Rats!!!   So I started disconnecting each section of track to find the culprit.  It turned out to be one of the 30" straight sections which is brand new out of the box.  

After I reassembled the track, I put a continuity tester of the piece of track that caused the short.  Looked carefully at the center rail insulators.  All seemed kosher.  I bent the ties down slightly figuring that one of the insulators wasn't keeping the tie from touching the center rail.  Still a short.  Finally, I removed one of the ties near the end of the track.  Bingo !!!

It seems that the center rail insulators on Menards track are not as thick as the old Lionel version.  Possibly when this particular piece of track was made, the crimping process damaged the insulator.  Even after I removed the tie, I could not see any damage to the insulator.  

I had the exact same thing happen on a 10" piece of Menards straight track.  It had been working fine for about a week, then out of nowhere came a short.  An hour or so later I isolated it to that one piece, although the problem only manifested itself when the track was under a certain amount of torque.  Disassembling that piece of track back on the workbench led me to the same conclusion: an insulator that had been partially pierced during rail/tie crimping.

For me, I decided at that point to not buy any further Menards track for the time being - I had only installed 8 pieces of straight as a test, and 8 more unused curved sections went back to the store.

I've had the same problem with newer Lionel tubular track myself a few years ago

BReece posted:

The installation of VTS's and the "mini clips"    on 2 loops is complete, problem; one of the loops keeps shorting out.  Took the loop apart to see if by chance, a screw was stuck on a piece of track, happened one time, found zero items that did not belong.

Next step, install one section at the time to see if the power was flowing, about half way around the loop the power stopped, I could see nothing wrong but wait, what is that "mini clip" doing on a 060 curved track and not on the end section, the "clip" handle was laying on the metal (U Shaped) strip connecting the outside rails. 

Yep, but they work great if you install them in the right place!   As long as you keep them in the center, the handles don't contact anything that will short.

I use them, they have worked quite well to keep the curves from walking apart.  Nice clear picture, I recognize it.   The one in the picture is slightly over 1/2" wide and just fits flush under the track.  It also just makes it around the track, but keeps good tension on it.

Hi

I purchased the Mini clip and I could not be happier. Before the Mini clip my Fastrack loved to walk apart on my carpet layout. I was seriously considering selling all of the Fastrack and going with another track system.  Now with the Mini clip installed I am one happy camper.  You just have to be careful where the Mini clip is installed. I use black electrical tape to prevent the shorts.

As long as you install them as the above picture, there's no shorts, unless you're running on a metal floor.   If you use the smaller ones, they fit pretty flush and won't lift the track.

Breece,

   Just keep the clip handles off the metal Tabs on the FasTrack and you will be fine.  The electrical tape is not a bad idea either!  The small clips work best.

PCRR/Dave

An easier solution is to remove the clip handles once the clip is in place. Just squeeze the two legs of the handle together and they will pop out of the clip.

There's a good reason (or two) I don't remove the clip handles. 

1. Properly connected, there is no issue of shorts
2. These are temporary setups, so I can reuse the clips

Folks, I was making fun of my carelessness, the clips are all over my layout.

Don't think I will make the SAME mistake again!

Have fun

Brent

We just expanded the discussion Brent.