Yesterday I was pretty happy, after a 3 week wait the DZ 1010 I ordered from ZStuff arrived undamaged. Before installing it I decided to bench test it. One of the dwarf signals is either red and green or red. The gate unit with the sound went down once and stayed that way.
Does anyone think these are repairable or should I accept the challenge of contacting ZStuff customer service?
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DANR, Never had one so I do not know if they are repairable. I would contact ZStuff. They are great to deal with. .....Paul
Dan:
Call or email Dennis. I’m certain he’ll be able to help you troubleshoot the problem. I have found with either the gates or the crossing signals, that they work far more reliably off of insulated track sections than using the dwarf signals though.
I ended up pairing the dwarfs with my Zstuff PRR position light signals to provide advance indications.
Curt
Thanks, guys. I’ll contact ZStuff tomorrow.
I’ve always had good response when dealing with Dennis.
Dan,
I have a set of the gates, and they have been working flawlessly (well, almost*) for seven years now (wow!). I have them connected to be actuated by two DZ-1011 Block Signals, plus one DZ-1050 3-color Trackside Signal; when a train is in front of anyone of these, they gates are triggered. Also, the gate sensors work as well.
(*) Initially, I had problems as you described, and I kept checking the wiring, redoing the connections, eliminating one sensor at a time, etc. Several times one or both of the gates would stay down, and I would have to take them apart (remove the cover) and manually 'wind' them up. I called Dennis once, and although he could not identify a problem with my setup, he explained how the gates and sensors worked, in detail. I again checked everything, and for some reason the gates started working without a hitch. Now, the only problem I have had, which is really not a problem, is when one of my guests takes a picture with a flash, and the gates are triggered.
There are things that interfere with the sensors. As I mentioned, a camera flash may trigger them. I also found that if I run the Lionel Road Maintenance Crew in close proximity to the gate sensors, the gates don't work either. I suspect that there are other electronic/electrical devices that may interfere with the gate sensors signaling.
I hope you can resolve the issue and get the gates working reliably.
Alex
I spoke with Dennis at Z-Stuff today. It turns out that one of the dip switches on the gate was set incorrectly. The IR dwarf signal is defective so he is sending me a replacement.
As you guys said, Dennis was very nice and very helpful.
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