DCC Friendly Turnouts Do You Know What It Means? (314)

Рет қаралды 16,325

Күн бұрын

You hear the term DCC Friendly a lot with model railroading these days but do you know what it means and how it originated? In this video I'll give you a little history lesson and explain why it has become such an integral part of the jargon.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:00 Component shortages
4:00 DCC Friendly history
4:55 DC vs DCC and shorts
7:30 DCC UNfriendly turnouts
12:40 Modified Shinohara
16:00 Walthers DCC Friendly
19:45 Wrapup

Пікірлер: 70

@KraigSickels Жыл бұрын

Larry , I appreciate you explaining this issue in better and simpler terms so that everyone can understand. It’s people like you that make the hobby better!! Thank you 😊

@avlisk Жыл бұрын

I've been a fan of the Peco Electrofrog turnouts for a long time. It was a "simple" matter of adding jumpers to get them wired up better. The Walthers turnouts look like a dream come true. If I ever have another layout, I will be getting the Walthers ones for sure!

@admiralseabass8993 7 ай бұрын

I agree, amazing design on these Walthers DCC ready turnouts!

@Perfusionist01 Жыл бұрын

Larry, that was a good explanation on a topic that I often find confusing. Thank you.

@maltnz Жыл бұрын

Thank you - clear explanation plus helpful hints for older points.

@aircooledhead Жыл бұрын

Thanks for making this clear. Wish you’d been my algebra teacher!😊

@raquaro1 Жыл бұрын

I always learn something from your video's. Keep up the good work! We all appreciate it!

@tomroise9426 Жыл бұрын

Excellent detail Larry. One of your best ever!!! Thank you

@jhoodfysh Жыл бұрын

Very good explanation Larry. Thank you for a great contribution to my understanding.

@scottleidenberger4401 Жыл бұрын

Great show Larry. Have a great weekend.

@elsdp-4560 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing.👍

@steveashcraft718 Жыл бұрын

Thank you. Now I won't have to wonder about buying used turn outs.

@205004gs Жыл бұрын

Thanks Larry that’s awesome 👏

@mattomon1045 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Mr. Puckett

@mikedurhan9941 Жыл бұрын

Excellent!

@georgewilkinson1068 Жыл бұрын

Thanks Larry.

@lgrfbs Жыл бұрын

Thnks for a good video.

@thomasgrassi8817 Жыл бұрын

Larry nice explanaation, I am glad I do not have these issues. All my turnouts are new and they are all are powered frogs and unifrog Atlas and Peco. My old turnouts had plastic frogs and they all are in a box now. Sometimes a Keep Alive would help but fitting a keep alive in engines is sometimes a challenge.

@thomassalerno5203 Жыл бұрын

Larry great video I re-worked my old Shinoharo Curved turnovers given to me with instructions on your video and they work great! Thank you for providing your outstanding expertise! Does this work on double crossovers ? Can you do a segment on modifying DCC Friendly Double Crossovers? Thank for your response in advance!

@derekalexander4030 Жыл бұрын

Thoroughly explained on a normal level, thank you. One more reason to go with Walthers. Have you heard if Walthers plans to do any larger curved turnouts?

@mattguey-lee4845 Жыл бұрын

Another option I've seen for a creeping loco is to add a stopping block on the diverging side of the turnout. Basically the power on one of the rails was dropped when the turnout was thrown against you. This help prevent shorts and derailments on the layout.

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

Yes, I did that in an earlier video by running the connection through one of the SPDT switches in thenTortoise.

@robstewart1655 Жыл бұрын

Larry Thank you for the understanding what about turnouts with rood bed?

@BriansModelTrains Жыл бұрын

Sad news about Digikeijs. Iron Planet Hobbies has the Digitrax EVOX Evolution Express Advanced Starter Set for a crazy low price so much so I had to buy it. I am looking forward to the DT602 throttle. I use some home made DCC stations as well but ..... I guess I have no excuse. Thanks for the great video.

@benbedothu Жыл бұрын

They probably can't continue manufacturing as they don't have the rights for some of their circuits. It is going to turn out to be a textbook-level mishap of handling intellectual property and failure to reinvest extra profits to stabilize a company.

@charleymartin9422 Жыл бұрын

I have 18 GS Interface boards on back order with TMC (15% discount) in the UK. DCC Concepts tell me that it could be next year before the boards are back in stock. I missed out on the announcement last year about these boards. 😢

@chadportenga7858 Жыл бұрын

Great video! Do you have any videos for a "poor man's frog juicer" (i.e. how to juice a frog without a tortoise switch machine)?

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

Video 261

@benbedothu Жыл бұрын

That's actually the wise man's frog juicer. A real Frog Juicer decides which signal to give the frog based on whether a given signal causes a short or not, and if it does, it captures it more quickly than the trip circuit of the booster/command station. Still a short occurs, which (depending on whose opinion you listen to) may or may not damage decoders, boosters, whatever. Some people even claim that many runaways are caused by these shorts. This is just one of those issues that everyone has some kind of opinion on. Without siding with any of the opinions, since using a Tortoise, a ground throw with contacts, or even a DPDT switch eliminates the microshorts of a Frog Juicer, using any of these is a better option. I have most of my frogs polarized and it is done by the DCC switch decoders I use. The installation is still cheap as I use extremely cheap no-brand S3003 servos.

@Mike__B 11 ай бұрын

Man this quite complicated just to make your trains run, although the solution itself is fairly easy the fact that these things exist as a problem baffles me. That said how exactly is the frog powered? It seems if you ran a wire to it you'd have it either the opposite polarity as one rail (good because your train goes) or it would be the same polarity as the rail your train is on in which case train doesn't go?

@TheDCCGuy 11 ай бұрын

Basically it requires a “electrical” switch of some kind to automatically change the polarity of the frog for you. There are various circuits that will do it as well as switch machines like the Tortoise and iP Digital that have built-in switches to change frog polarity when you throw the points. I have done a number of videos on these various devices and methods.There are over 300 videos on this channel covering a wide variety of such topics so feel free to binge watch or just knock one off every day starting at the beginning.

@Mike__B 11 ай бұрын

@@TheDCCGuy Well my wife and kid are leaving next week for a 4 day camping trip that luckily I don't have to go on, so I might just binge watch a bunch of videos :)

@jrisner1951 Жыл бұрын

What type of mp’s are in short supply? 8 bit or 16 bit? I can’t image using anything more advanced for the simple and relatively few commands need. 👍

@sergioarroyoguerrero5434 Жыл бұрын

En mi maqueta, le puse un desvio Peco izquierdo insulfrog manual sin caja código 80 #8. Lo uni con el desvio izquierdo Atlas #4. No he tenido un desvio Peco insulfrog.

@davidhughes4448 Жыл бұрын

Okay, if I understand you correctly, the term DCC-friendly was meaningful and relevant 40 years ago in our hobby, at a time when DC was still king. I think it's safe to say most of us now model in the year 2023 where DCC is the norm, and the type of unfriendly Shinohara turnout you demonstrate is pretty much a thing of the past, one which the majority of prudent model railroaders avoid purchasing at train shows and flea markets now. The hobby has come a long way, indeed prodded by the advancements of DCC. Is it truly necessary to mention in the year 2023 that a turnout is DCC-friendly? Is any manufacturer in the hobby still producing DCC-unfriendly turnouts? What we buy now are simply turnouts of the current age, a reflection and byproduct thereof. Similarly, do we really need to continue to parenthetically interject "light emitting diode" whenever "LED" appears in the hobby press in the year 2023? LEDs have been in use in consumer products in the USA since the 1960s. We don't need to tout what is now the norm.

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

It has become more of a selling point than anything else. However you would be surprised how many of those old Shinohara were made and show up at yard sales and train shows.

@davidhughes4448 Жыл бұрын

@@TheDCCGuy You're making my point exactly, Larry. The DCC-unfriendly Shinohara turnouts of yesteryear are now dinosaurs (like first generation toasters), and given the advancements of the hobby over the last 30 years the term DCC-friendly is now also a dinosaur. The term is a pointless misnomer in the year 2023. You, I, and the hobby at large should no longer promulgate it. It looks glitzy and alluring on turnout packaging (and in KZfaq videos), but it means nothing. A short circuit in DCC results the same as it does in DC. Let's spend our time coming up with some new relevant catch phrases for the state of the hobby in today's world.

@andychandler153 Жыл бұрын

Larry: I apologiize for this off topic question. I am installing DCC in Bowser steam loco. Should I have current pick up from the drivers, from tender wheels or both? Thank you Andy

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

Just how old is this loco, I didn’t think they have made steam locos in decades? I would not feel comfortable advising you on this unless I can examine the loco as those old ones were a real problem to deal with.

@andychandler153 Жыл бұрын

@@TheDCCGuy Larry: thanks for your kind reply. I have been following you for as long as you have been on you tube. I have consulted Bowser, Digitrax and DCC Installs and Sales about this project, as well as a few other modelers. The motor draws less than 1 amp and is isolaed from the frame. Thus, this becomes just like any other DCC steam locomotive. Except that i have to figure out the wiring paths myself. As the decoder is in the tender, I will need to decide where to pick up track power for the decoder.. This prompted my question. Many thanks, Andy

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

You’ll need a volt meter to trace the correct pathway and make sure there are not multiple pathways through the frame. If it runs in DC already then the wires to the motor already are connected correctly, just make sure there are no sneak paths though the frame to the motor housing through a screw or other direct contact. I’d definitely use a 1.5 amp decoder just in case. Good luck.

@andychandler153 Жыл бұрын

@@TheDCCGuy Yes sir have said meter and did what you suggest. I know my project is an anomoly but I have always pushed my skills beyond accepted norms. many thanks

@europacifictradersltd3717 Жыл бұрын

hi. i believe digikijs have internal issues with designer of the product who now is producing the new yamorc.

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

Yes, and I have heard their primary designer is located in Ukraine and unavailable but the only thing I could reasonably confirm was that due to component shortages they cannot make enough products to avoid bankruptcy so that’s as far as I went.

@geac9100 Жыл бұрын

AT 14:52 you say switching polarity with a switch machine, I'm not using any switch machines on switches. I'm missing the solution, any ideas?

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

See video 261

@chuckmaddison2924 5 ай бұрын

Hi newbie here . All I want at the moment is just combine Peco st 100 and 101 and run 2 trains together. So, in a nut shell, I want everything powered. Coming from an electrical background, it seems bonkers they sell something you can't just fit together and go yee haw.

@TheDCCGuy 5 ай бұрын

According to their website these are sets of pre-shaped set track. So I am not sure what your problem is. Can you be specific?

@chuckmaddison2924 5 ай бұрын

@TheDCCGuy I was thinking if I combine both sets of track, the switcher won't allow power to both tracks..

@TheDCCGuy 5 ай бұрын

So do you mean you want to have two separate, independent loops? What are you using for power and what do you mean by the “switcher”?

@chuckmaddison2924 5 ай бұрын

@TheDCCGuy yeah, I want 2 loops joined by the switch rail / crossover. And keep both loops live . I've heard power only goes in direction of crossover. I have considered 2 controllers, so as train changes track it then is on the other control.

@TheDCCGuy 5 ай бұрын

OK, it sounds as though you want to have 2 separate DC controllers, one for each loop and you want to be able to move trains from one loop to the other across a crossover track. To do that the loops must be totally electrically isolated or you’ll get shorts. Consequently your crossover track needs plastic insulating rail joiners at each to do the isolating. Also you need a way to select which controller will be powering the isolated crossover track. There have been a number or articles in Model Railroader magazine showing how to do this and I covered it in my wiring book. Head down to your local library and see if they have any books on wiring a DC layout.

@geoffreybslater1146 Жыл бұрын

I have a question. I have set up a DCC track. I use Roco track and have several DCC ROCO locomotives, as well as USA based DCC locomotives. I have noticed that on certain turnouts the USA based DCC engines derail when they are set to go through a switch straight through. It seems the engine somehow partially moves the points to the "turn" position and derails. The ROCO DCC engines do not have this problem. Can you help me understand why this is happening?

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

First how are your points controlled and held in place? If they are firmly held by a spring type motor driven switch machine they should not move. Also check to make sure your wheels are properly gauged and also that your turnouts are correctly gauged. The NMRA sells a track and wheel gauge just for this.

@geoffreybslater1146 Жыл бұрын

@Model Railroading They don't have motor control yet, so the switch manually. By Guage you mean code 100 vs 83? Sorry I am a real novice

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

Gauge is either the distance between the rails or the distance between the wheels. If the wheels are too far apart or too close together they can catch going through turnouts. And if the rails are too close together the wheels can derail. I think DCC Concepts offers wheel gauges and as I said the NMRA track and wheel gauge is almost a necessity.

@geoffreybslater1146 Жыл бұрын

@Model Railroading OK, bit I thought HO was HO?

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

It is, but different manufacturers seem to have their own interpretations of the “standards”. Most of my Hornby locos will not go through my US HO frogs as the wheels are too close together so I have to regage them. Also some turnouts have guard rails that are not to specs and flangeways that are too shallow or out of gage. That is why I have 2 NMRA gauges.

@SFCRambo60 Жыл бұрын

You are making model Railroad into a nightmare. I hope my N Scale is not going to be all this trouble.

@TheDCCGuy Жыл бұрын

No it’s people who don’t bother to read and follow instructions and ignore warnings like these that make it difficult for themselves. I am only the messenger, and like they say, don’t shoot (or blame) the messenger.