Model Railroading > walthers 3 way turnout short DCC.

Dear TOs,  Any suggestions to alleviate the short i keep getting from my old walthers 948-8808 three way short?

This will probably involve insulated rail joiners on outbound rails so you can isolate the frogs. Then you power route the frogs with wires from switch machine terminals. I am sure there a posted solutions on the internet at places like drdcc.

Is this the same beast? The insulated gaps near the frogs can be seen in the photo, the previous version would not have the insulated gaps near the frog. That would make a big difference in troubleshooting. Note that Brass Trains has this one for sale on their website for $50.

I've had pretty good luck with the older version simply putting cuts in the same place. The version shown also has jumper wires hidden on the back of the ties which can be accomplished with old fashioned wires soldered to the rail. Many folks insist on powering the frog with another soldered on jumper wire, making cuts in the old version in the right place can give a little bit of room to solder a wire to the side of a rail. But that doesn't solve the OP's shorting problem.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/19 13:01 by TCnR.

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drdcc... ill try that link  thanks

no i got the old one and the one on  Brass Trains is not there anymore..thanks

robert162 Wrote:
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> no i got the old one ...

That means you can use the locations in the photo to recognize where the short is occuring, the switch needs to have gaps accounted for otherwise it will short right out of the box. You can also put insulated rail joints at the end of the rail segment, where the next piece of rail would be attached, or make a cut on the track switch just like the newer design.

Another source of electrical shorts is when the back of the locomotive wheel hits the switch points as it passes, that one's tough to fix. Sometimes painting the hidden side of the points where the short happens will fix it, but don't paint the tip of the points since that's where the electrical contact is for that rail. That happens when the throw bar is metal and simply electrically connects both rails, I'll have to go find an older switch to check it out.

thanks i enlarged the photo to see the gaps, havent wired up yet.

Surfing around I found some basic info, I'm curious as well:

https://dccwiki.com/DCC_Friendly_Turnout

http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches.htm