Wiring Help

Change the power feeds on track 3. Sounds like the polarity is different .

Agreed - some Lionel power bricks were wired backwards

I tried that and everything went weird. Power lights for the blocks got dim and didn't turn off when track power was shut down and the engine lost sound.

I would say there is a positive (middle rail) leak between track 2 and 3. Are all the middle rails completely isolated from each other?

Yes, had to power the middle rails on the switches with jump wires

 

I talked with the guys at GarGraves, they said I didn't need isolation pins, but used them because of this problem. He can'y figure out whats wrong either........

As a suggestion, since each loop has it's own power supply, I would isolate each loop from the others and see if they all function correctly, independent of each other. If not, that should narrow down the issue.

If they all run right individually, I would then start connecting them, one at a time, and test after each connection and see what happens.

I have tested individually, and they work fine. I will try this and keep you posted. won't be able to work on it till Sunday......Thank you!

If each loop works individually but connected loops 2 and 3 don't then please try the following.
( I assume all bricks are plugged into the same wall socket)

1. Switch the power brick from loop 3 to 1. If loop 2 and 3 now work then at least you know it is the power brick (and it maybe be out of phase with the other two bricks therefore adding current overloading the circuit). If you get the same results then see item 2.

2. Run a car across the switch from one loop to the other and see if any sparks fly from the wheels or rollers. Don't use any engines - you may mess up the electronic boards. If you see sparks you may have a ground and power wire switched around somewhere.

I also may have been wrong in what I said about fixing an out phase power brick. You may want to do a YouTube search and find the Lionel video on checking the phase of two transformers.

Let us know what happens on Sunday

Joe

A link to the video Joe mentioned. I highly suggest watching this even if you fix it. It serves as a good introduction/refresher to understanding AC and DC better thru sine wave on a timelined graph ( thats all an oscilloscope reading is, don't let it scare you ) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iASQfnE6pCk