DCC and wiring points

[ba14eagle]

I am trying to get my head round what wiring I need to do when using Peco Electrofrog points on the next incarnation of the HFR. I have read, in complicated DCC books, that you have to either put isolating fishplates on the rails at the "division" end or fiddle about with the wiring underneath the point, or you run the risk of getting short circuits. Please can anyone explain in simple english what this is all about I thought I'd cracked it - I would isolate with fishplates, as mentioned above and then put a separate power feed to each loop or siding. I am not planning any crossovers between "up" & "down" lines. I mentioned this to my dad whilst discussing the amount of wiring involved, but he couldnt see why it was all necessary (I sort of tend to take notice when he questions something like this - he is a wizz with electrics, but hasnt looked at dcc or what its about - at 83 he's quite happy with "cab control" for his layout ) Can anyone assist? Mick, how have you dealt with the loops in your shed for example

[mick]

I have a link to a website that explains this clearly but I need to locate it again... I thought I had it bookmarked but I will have to add it later once I find it. If someone else has a suitable link then please post it.

With electrofrog points the first thing to understand is that they can be used straight out of the box without any additional wiring. The 'point' (forgive the pun) you need to remember is that as supplied by Peco it is the point blades which switch power to the frog section and as the 2 rails of the frog are not isolated from each other (unlike insulfrog points) then according to the way the points are set, the frog can be of either polarity at any one time. The outer rails of the points are fine as they are always of one polarity but you must add isolating fishplates on the ends of the 2 rails that form the actual 'V' of the frog so that the rails are completely isolated from the next section of rail that connects to it. You don't need to add isolating fishplates on the rails opposite the frog section.

Because you should always feed power to the toe end of the points, the isolating fishplates you have used will mean that any track beyond the frog of the point will not have power to the rails leading from the frog 'V' so that's the reason you have to add a supplementary power feed.

Due to the fact that the point blades cannot always be relied upon to swith the power (but who knows, you may be lucky and never have any problems) it is recommended by the 'majority' that the points are adapted for better running. This involves bonding a wire from the outer stock rails to the point blades and cutting the links on the base of the point that connects the point blades to the frog. A microswitch, usually connected to your point motor, is then used to feed power to the frog. It needs a diagram/illustration in order to explain it better so I'll see what I can do when I have chance to get back here.

[mick]

I hope that the following page on Allan Gartners http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches_peco.htm

I used the information on the above page to gain an understanding of how Peco electrofrog points operate so take a look there first and if you require clarification on any point I'll be happy to oblige. The additional work might seem like a lot of unnecessary trouble but it is well worth it.