Model Railroading > Arrgh! Peco turnouts and electrical conductivity

I have a walk-around layout with handheld controls. I decided that I didn't want to use electrical switch machines. I decided to use Peco electrofrog turnouts as then have a built-in device to hold the points to the stock rail. I wired them in front of the points and have relied on them to conduct the current to the frog with gaps beyond the frog. I have operated the layout for the past 6 months without much problem. A few turnouts have had poor electrical conductivity but the addition of a caboose hobbies ground throw solved the problem. This week I started painting and ballasting the track. I masked the points when I painted and did not ballast around the points figuring that I wound do that later. Despite these precautions, now none of the turnouts in the area where I ballasted conduct electricity!! In the past I have used contact switches to control the polarity of the frog or the contacts of the electric switch machine but that is lots of work. Caboose hobbies has a manual ground throw with contacts but it looks big and clunky to me. Any suggestions on how to fix this problem? Would Wahls clipper oil help? Any simple ways to increase conductivity of the points? Walkaround layouts shouldn't need switch machines! Thanks in advance. - Nevin

Caboose hobbies has a manual ground throw with contacts is your best bet (yes they are a pain to install) But give you %100 reliablity.specially with running small wheelbase loco's which tend to stall more .. As without the contacts iv'e Had poor reliablity. Maybe I don't know any tricks and someone else out there knows a trick or two.

merry xmas

Don't give up yet! Peco electro turnouts are good turnouts and hold up very well (our sectional, traveling layout has about 200 turnouts most of which are Peco). These turnouts have served us well with litle need for maintenance.

The secret to Peco turnouts is this:

The points (moving part of the rail) have little brass "ears" on the bottom that contact the bottom of the stock rail (the rails on the outside that don't move). When you paint and ballast, these "ears" get coated with paint and glue and don't make contact. Use a small screwdriver or #11 Xacto blade to scrape the offending paint/glue from the "ear". Make sure that the "ears" are not bent down or up as they won't contact or will jam the points.

FWIW I usually oil (WD40, Rail Zip, or any conductive oil) the points BEFORE painting and ballasting the turnout. The paint/glue wont stick to the oil therefore preventing this entire mess!

Good Luck, and Happy Holidays

Rick Bacon III
Greeley, CO

The tabs as mentioned before are the source of your problem. Clean them off and you should be ok. A hint before painting track. I center the points and place two 1 - 2" pieces of pipe cleaner between the points and stock rails before painting. This will mask off the tabs and allow you to paint the rail without worry.
---------------------- Ken McCorry

I paint all my Peco turnouts with a brush so that you do not have to worry about masking. I do not have an airbrush and paint all my track by hand before I install it but to each his own.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I have the code 75 turnouts which much to my surprise do not have any tabs on the points. The code 100's in my staging yard do have it so I know what you guys are talking about. Some improvement occured when I cleaned the rails with q-tips and solvent. Go some black gook out that clearly was inhibiting conductivity. Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated. - Nevin

I'm glad to hear somebody else is having problems besides me with Peco turnouts. I haven't even got to the ballast stage yet, but I have painted the rail. I also use Caboose Ind. ground throws on all my switches. But every once in a while I have a problem conducting current thru the Peco switches.
I've had good luck using a lubricant sold by Atlas called "Conducta Lube. I use it on the axles where they go thru the bearings and current is picked up and on the heel of the points in my Peco turnouts. It also works great on the rails by putting just a drop or 2 on top of the rail and letting my engine run thru it.
If I had to do it all over again, I would use the new Atlas Code 83 turnouts and track. it's cheaper and a lot less hassle.
gtirr