Polarity

[Georgeuu]

Hello,

When connecting several re-railer/connector tracks to the same loop, do I need to worry about polarity? What would happen if the connections were crossed?

George

[Jim Banner]

Georgeuu,
Your question is quite a reasonable one.  Let me try to give you a reasonable answer.

Yes, you do need to worry about polarity with multiple connections.  The easiest way to deal with this is to connect only one re-railer/connector to start with.  Run a locomotive to check that there is no problem with your track setup.  Now plug in the second connection.  If it is the right way around, the locomotive will still run.  If not, the locomotive will stop or at least slow down considerably.  If that happens, just unplug the last connection you made, turn the plug over, and reinsert it.  Once the locomotive is running fine, proceed to the third connection, and so on, until they are all made correctly.

If you make just the first connection and the locomotive refuses to run no matter which way you insert the plug into the re-railer/connector track, you may have a short circuit in your setup.  Most likely, you have what is known as a "return loop" in your track plan.  Your best friend at this point is a small 12 volt light bulb with wires attached.  A grain of wheat bulb from your local hobby shop costs about a dollar and will do the job.  Otherwise, a small automotive dash board light with a couple of wires attached will do just as well.  If you have reached this point in your testing - your locomotive will not run, and you have a test light at hand, let us know and one of us will explain how to locate and correct the problem, whether it is a return loop problem or something else entirely.

Jim

[CNE Runner]

OR you can buy yourself a cheap multimeter and keep track of the polarity as you wire. A multimeter has numerous uses around the layout as well as the: house, RV, boat, plane, etc.

Check out this page from the Harbor Freight on-line catalog: http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=multimeter

Best of luck,
Ray

[Jim Banner]

Yes, why wouldn't you need to worry about it, track isn't magical or something. If you connect the [word missing] arbitrarily then you will have a short circuit and the loco won't run at all.u[sic]

italics mine - JB

ABC, your answer is flippant, rude, and wrong.  And beyond the first word, it does nothing to help Georgeuu with his problem.

Jim

[Georgeuu]

Thanks for your help and your support.


George

[jsmvmd]

Dear Jim,

Is one to suppose an arrogant little *** posted a snotty remark ?  Not the first time, eh ?  For the life of me, I cannot figure these guys out, unless they have no self esteem and have to attack someone from the privacy (sic) of their hole.

Glad you intercepted it !  Good for you !

Now, since I am not computer savvy, are you now a moderator, or is there a simple way to delete this kind of trash ?

As always, I look fwd to your posts, erudition, etc from our cold neighbor to the north. 

Best Wishes & Merry Christmas !

From your picture, you could double for Santy !   

[Jim Banner]

Nope.  Not a moderator.  ABC removed his message of his own accord (although it still shows up where I quoted it in full.)

I don't know anything about ABC's background but I suspect he is in his early teens and has not had much of a chance to practice the social graces.  He seems to have a broad knowledge of model railroading but is still developing his depth of understanding of the topics.  This leads me to suspect that he might be a junior member in a model railroad club and has picked up a number of key terms without fully understanding their implications.  But I believe that understand will come with time.  So, hopefully, will the social graces.  I think that he, like many young teenagers, is trying to stake out a claim to a place in the adult world and that is probably what leads to the chip-on-the-shoulder attitude.  I think that as he matures, he will realize that people who know less than he does in a particular area are not necessary dumb, and with that, will find security in the knowledge that people who know more than he does in some particular area are not necessarily any smarter than he is.  You have probably noticed as I have that ABC has a good command of the English language even though he is often in such a rush that he neglects both spell checking and previewing his posts before uploading them.  Overall, if ABC were living in Saskatoon, I would be happy to have him in my model railroad classes.  I think he would be a willing and able student.

Having said that, it became impossible for me to ignore his insulting and erroneous answer to a new person who asked what I felt was a reasonable question.  I would have preferred to contact him off line about this, but what with hidden email addresses and the question of contacting an underage youngster without contact his parents first, there was very little choice.

Jim

[TrainArts]

Not sure about the idea that this is a youngster, I know some local politicians with the same attitude 

Keep up the good work Mr. Banner, with such a great first name you must be a heckuva good guy!

Another Jim

[Pacific Northern]

He certainly is or was a prolific poster, quick to answer just about any posting with his opinions which was I found somewhat terse.

He obviously means well though. I agree with more maturity he will develop.

[Retired]

I have a very good understanding of polarity. I am new to this hobby and I was instred how to set up blocks I am instred in using the crossover in stead of two switch track. I will be using the Bachman e-z track. Can i get some help here