Wiring turn outs. HELP!!

Ok....... Got the turnouts wired and switching is fine. But I am losing power at each of the turn outs when the train hits that section. Any solutions??

Who made the turnouts?

 

Mth

Hi:

When you say you are losing power at each turn out when a train arrives, exactly what do you mean? Is the locomotive stopping and turning off but the track stays powered? If so does it turn off when it enters the turnout? Or are you losing total track power - tripping a breaker on the transformer?

If the locomotive stops on the turnout then there may be an issue with pick up roller spacing or one the rollers is not working. If you are losing total track power then maybe the turnout wiring scheme you used is wrong and the locomotive is causing a short circuit when its wheels and rollers hit the turnout.

I use Atlas O turnouts but I would think the wiring is the same as MTH since the Atlas O is a three wire connection also. The way I connected both turnouts to one switch was to place a terminal board between the turnouts and the switch. Pair up the colored wires (red/red, green/green etc) from each turnout and connect to the terminal board - two wires to one position. Then connect one wire from each of the three positions of the terminal board to the appropriate position on the switch. This scheme will cause the turnouts to switch the same direction at one time. If you need them to switch opposite each other simply pair up the different colored wires (red/green , red/green)

Joe

Joe, as soon as the engine hits either of the turnouts I loose power to the front section of my outer line. The breaker doesn't trip. And if I manually push the train to the next turnout as soon as its past the power is back on to the engine. I called MTH and they suggested I pinch the middle connector on the turnouts so there is no connection. I will try it when I get home from work. Aghhh. I love model trains but this shouldn't be that hard of a layout under my tree!

Try this - disconnect the three wires to both turnouts (ie make the turnouts manual) and see if the train runs through the turnouts. If it does then there is an issue with the switch machine wiring scheme you used. If it does not then there is a problem with the turnouts.

If the train runs ok with the wires disconnected then reattach the ground wire to the turnouts and make sure the train is running. I'm not sure if you are powering the turnouts with the transformer you are using for the track. If you are then the ground wire will be no issue. If the train runs fine without ground connected it must also run fine with the transformer ground connected to the switch machine. If not then the issue may be the turnout. If you are using a different power source for the switch machines and the train stops then there may be an issue with the ground connection. I am not sure if the MTH switch machine ground is independent of or tied into track ground (it is not for my Atlas O). If the train stops then the ground from that power source is not phased into the ground from the transformer. Tie the ground from the switch machine power source into the transformer ground and see what happens.

If the train is running fine with the ground wire connected then start connecting the red and green wires one at a time and see what happens. Reconnect only one turnout at a time to make sure everything is ok.

The train will not run over the turnout with no wires to them. But get this. If I replace one of the turnouts ( doesn't matter, either one) and put a piece of straight in. The train runs fine. It's when I put both turnouts in is when I have the issue.

Sounds to me like you have some insulating pins inthere that are causing track power to be disconnected from the running rails. Check and make sure that if there are insulating pins that they are in the right places. (usually in the two rails closest together at the branching end of the switch.)

Trainman has a good point - insulating pins where they should not be.

Some more questions - 

When you say you put a straight piece in the train runs fine - does this include running through the remaining turnout?

Are you connecting the two turnouts together? If so how?

Once again so that I am clear - with both turnouts connected when the train stops does it stop in the turnout or on straight track past the turnouts?

Do you have a volt meter? This will help a great deal. You can probe voltage before,  in the turnout and after. 

Is there a way you can post a schematic or picture of the layout showing the area around the turnouts?

Thanks

Joe

You have 5 connectors on each turnout

1) are you using track, or external power?

2) can you describe what is attached at each connector 1 through 5 starting at the end of the connector bank closest to the common track ( the base of the y, if u will)

3) does your indicator switch light brightly in both directions

4)BIG CLUE! you are under the tree!. take a sheet of paneling, thin plywood, I have used dry erase board (its white like my (sheet/snow) and support the turnouts. If they dip into the carpet, bad connection things happen.

 

I'm no genius and MTH made the turnouts, but I don't like the idea of eliminating connection points. They are there for a reason.

 

On an aside, I'm on year 5 of a carpet layout with MTH turnouts. Every year has a challenge, but I think I whipped them all this year

 

Hi Deputy55:

Any luck figuring out what went wrong?

I did some research - as Marty says there are 5 connections for the turnout. Three are the normal turnout connections while the other two allow you to connect the switch to an aux power source which implies you can disconnect the turnout from track power. This may mean that you might have no power at all to the turnout. The easiest way to find out is (assuming you did not connect the two posts to aux power) to turn on track power and use a volt meter to see if there is power to the turnout rails.

Joe