Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?! where are you, electronics guys?

[waaytoomuchintothis]

[RichD]

With self resetting breakers it is more difficult to troubleshoot if you have a problem. My track has manual reset breakers at the driver's stations, they are the sort with a white button that pops up when the breaker gets tripped. You can see at a glance if the breaker has tripped. Most of the time the breaker would be tripped because a controller was hooked up wrong, otherwise there would have to be a short someplace. It really is not a bad idea to use connectors that can't get hooked up wrong or short out, all of the 1/32nd tracks that I run on have XLR connectors. If you must use screw post connectors they should be at least 1 1/4 inch apart and the best order would be Red, Black, White so that Red could not get shorted to White.
If you have a large power supply do not count on its fuse or protective circuits to save your track, wiring or controller. I watched an expensive custom built HO track burn up when someone hooked up wrong with a car already on the track. That track did not have breakers or fuses at the driver's stations. It is always best to have a fuse or breaker for each lane.

[Wolseley Hornet]

Whisky Tango Foxtrot!

The penny has just dropped! :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Duh! :doh:


David.

[waaytoomuchintothis]

Rich-
Yep. All that has been handled long ago, in as much as it applies here. In another post, all was resolved by replacing the wiring block entirely with a brand new one, circuit breakers and all. I bought the old one used, and it was old enough to have been one of the ones from years ago that were a bad batch. In the original post about this project, there are pictures of the driver's stations, and their power indicators and circuit breakers. Of course, the posts are well apart. I've never heard of anyone putting them close together. I also have a main power switch between the power supply and the wiring block for track calls.

David-
See? Living a clean life makes it hard to communicate! BUA-HA-HA!