Well, I am in the process of laying out my track, and I have a question about the DCC on board turnouts. There is a black wire that is not connected to anything, and the print on the turnout says to connect it to power the frog. I don't know yet if it will be NEEDED, but I may hook them up anyway to avoid problems later. The problem is, it doesnt say where to connect the black wire. Where? and should I bother? Thanks in advance. This group is the best!
Wow, 71 readers and no one with the answer. Well, I did get the track down, and I found the little tab directly under the frog that fits the plug on the black wire under there. As for whether or not it is needed--apparently not in my case. The switches work great and no issues with the frog. I also found out the switches are power routing for those who may be interested. I have a prodigy advance DCC system, and the switches were a snap to program with the addresses. For switching two at the same time (like two being used as a crossover) I just gave them both the same address. Sending the command switches them both.
Old Jedi, you didn't say what track you had and I am going to guess it is EZ Track. If you are talking about the small black wire that has a slip connector on the end under the swith, then the wire plugs into the bottom of the swith just in front of the swith mech box. Pick up the swith and turn it upside down. You will find a approx. 3/8 hole (never measured so not sure size). This is where the black wire plugs into and it is for powering the frog. If you have a med to large locomotive, this is not an improtant function. However, If you plan on running a small switcher such as a Roundhouse M40 Critter or a BLI Trackmobile you will need to plug this in unless you are satisfied with shoving the motive power through the switch. Hope that helps some. Stephen