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Mystery short solved Journals/Blogs
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MRH Founder 17,486 posts joef MRH Founder 17,486 posts
joef

In my last blog entry, I posted a cancellation of my September Op session because of a mystery short.

So now that Issue 4 is out the door, I'm back to working on the layout again - and I've solved the mystery short.

I first had to 0-5-0 remove all the trains from staging so I could look for things on the track, make sure I could find all the feeders, etc. Did that - and found several lose parts from railcars laying around (ladders and brakewheels) but nothing that would cause a short since they were all plastic.

My feeders all go through screw-terminal strips to make debugging easy. Each section of track has its own feeders to each rail, so all I have to do is remove all the feeders from one side of the track for all of staging, which I did.

Then I reconnected the feeders one staging track at a time and watched for a short. For each staging track reconnected, I ran a loco up and down the track to make sure the track was fully operational again.

Reconnected track 1 - no problem.

Reconnected track 2 - no problem.

Reconnected track 3 - no problem.

Reconnected track 4 - short!

Upon closer examination, I found a broken metal wheel wedged between the closure rails on the Medford end of staging (that's the west end on my layout). The metal wheel bridged the two closure rails together, causing a short. I recall a car recently having an axle break (very rare) and I thought I had removed all the broken parts, but it appears I missed one wheel since it was wedged down between the two closure rails near the frog. My staging area is near 80" off the floor and you access it using a raised floor. Even when on the raised floor, your eye is just a few inches above the track height, so it's difficult to see in between the rails.

I use a hand mirror to help me "get up and over" the staging tracks to see things. Sure enough, there was the metal wheel wedged in between the closure rails!

The mystery short is solved - and am I ever glad I use scew terminals to connect my bus wires to the feeders. All you need to debug a mystery short is a screw driver. The 1156 bulbs in the track bus feed light up brightly whenever there's a short, so with the power turned on, the screw driver is all you need. If something gets connected up wrong, the light bulb tells you right away!

With the short mystery solved, it's now on to rebuilding my Eugene ladder turnouts ... more about that in a future blog post.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Dave K skiloff Prolific poster 4,031 posts
Dave K skiloff

Very good

Good that you found the short without too much hassle. I'm just assembling all the parts I need to start wiring my chainsaw, including terminal strips and 1156 bulbs. I was wavering on using the 1156 bulbs and terminal strips on the chainsaw, but you just convinced me to use them.

Dave
Playing around in HO and N scale since 1976
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dfandrews Prolific poster 1,038 posts
dfandrews

I heard a sigh of relief

and a cheer.  It sounded far away, like the distance from here in SoCal to NW Oregon, and I believe it emanated from a series of households that hold near and dear that spot of the Siskiyou Lines Calendar that says "op session".

And, let's see, wasn't there a mention of "check as you go" during construction?    T'is a good reminder for us all.

Don - CEO, MOW super.

Rincon Pacific Railroad, 1960.  - Admin.offices in Ventura County

HO scale std. gauge - interchanges with SP; serves the regional agriculture and oil industries

DCC-NCE, Rasp PI 3 connected to CMRI, JMRI -  ABS searchlight signals
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Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,307 posts
Rio Grande Dan

Great News Joe. I picture You

Great News Joe. I picture You as the old Peanuts character Snoopy, Charlies Browns dog doing his dance of Happiness when you finally discovered the wheel and just after dislodging it as the 1156 bulb just going dark. It's amazing how such little things can cause such big problems.

Dan

Rio Grande Dan
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marcoperforar Regular poster 351 posts
marcoperforar

Sounds like it was a big hassle...

Sounds to me it was a big hassle, but thank to Joe's precautions in contruction, it was approached systematically with initial focus on the problem.  Thanks for teaching us a lesson, Joe.

Mark Pierce
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BlueHillsCPR
BlueHillsCPR

Great story.

Quote:

Sounds to me it was a big hassle, but thank to Joe's precautions in contruction, it was approached systematically with initial focus on the problem.  Thanks for teaching us a lesson, Joe.

Mark Pierce

Indeed!

I appreciate the sharing of the story, it gives an insight into how to properly troubleshoot an electrical fault and proves without a doubt that Joe's wiring method is well worth using!  Not only do the 1156 bulbs offer short protection, they become a short indicator on those rare occasions when you have to troubleshoot a short.

Very nice.
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jeffshultz MRH Staff 7,982 posts
jeffshultz

Next op session?

Joe,

Any chance of an op session next weekend then or is it likely going to take too long to rebuild the ladder?

 

orange70.jpg
Jeff Shultz - MRH Technical Assistant
DCC Features Matrix/My blog index
Modeling a fictional GWI shortline combining three separate areas into one freelance-ish railroad.
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joef MRH Founder 17,486 posts
joef

Oct 31

Planning to do an op session Oct 31st.

Next is to work on the new ladder turnouts - surprise surprise, the "ripped up" turnouts are actually in quite good shape - they actually still appear useable with some minor repairs of the short issue. The plastic ties are shot, but the rails and PC board ties held together like an armored truck with no warpage or mis-alignment that I can see.

I've got these turnouts at the workbench and will be taking the NMRA gage to them to check that everything's still in gauge and adjust anything with the soldering iron if needed.

This is a great testimony to the bullet-proof nature of PC-board-based turnout construction.

The loss of the plastic ties are not a big deal since these are staging turnouts - and the ties are just for looks anyhow.

Been a learning experience I'll never forget - so yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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Rio Grande Dan Prolific poster 2,307 posts
Rio Grande Dan

Op session on All Hallows

Op session on All Hallows Eve? Well just keep an eye out for the Headless Breakman throwing switches just after the the engine goes through them and derailing the trains

Have fun Buwahahahaha. trick or treat

RGD

 

Rio Grande Dan
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feldman718 Prolific poster 1,358 posts
feldman718

Operations on Halloween

I know someone was going to bring that up. Here in NYC, we don't see much of that other than the kids coming around for candy bu they usually do it while it's still daytime and with their parents in tow.

Irv
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bear creek MRH Editor emeritus 2,337 posts
bear creek

Submitted by Rio Grande Dan

Quote:
Submitted by Rio Grande Dan on Mon, 10/19/2009 - 16:04.

Op session on All Hallows Eve? Well just keep an eye out for the Headless Breakman throwing switches just after the the engine goes through them and derailing the trains

Have fun Buwahahahaha. trick or treat

RGD

that's Trick or Train!

Charlie

Superintendent of nearly everything  ayco_hdr.jpg 
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jeffshultz MRH Staff 7,982 posts
jeffshultz

Few Trick or Treaters...

We don't seem to have many trick or treaters where we live, and we normally help out at the church "harvest party" instead. They're not short of help though... I won't be missed. Much.

 

 

orange70.jpg
Jeff Shultz - MRH Technical Assistant
DCC Features Matrix/My blog index
Modeling a fictional GWI shortline combining three separate areas into one freelance-ish railroad.
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Michael Neale New member 1 post
Michael Neale

October's op session

Hey Joe.

So did the planned Oct 31st operating session go ahead?

And if so, any photos or stories to come from it?
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joef MRH Founder 17,486 posts
joef

Nope, no op sessions until spring

Nope, didn't to the Oct op session because of other commitments that came up unexpectedly.

Our move to bi-monthly with MRH has thrown a temporary kink into my plans. Until we get into a routine with our new bi-monthly schedule, I really can't do weekend op sessions. Once we have this thing down to a routine, then I'll be able to plan my weekends better - and I'll start having op sessions again.

I'm expecting by April or May ...

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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