hand made switches and DCC

I have been tasked with building some switches for our club display module, the club uses digitrac, is there anything special that has to be done, cutting for insulating etc, to the switch to ensure all works fine other than what is normally done? I have made some for my layout but have not as yet switched to DCC. Thanks Ron..
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Ron: the best thing is to cut the points loose from the frog-- wire the points to the nearer stock rail and use extra contacts or microswitches to wire the frog. Alternatively, leave the frog unwired (dead) -- but then you have to cut it as close as possible.
 

sumpter250

multiscale modelbuilder
Ron,
With the dead frog, you also have to use an insulated throw bar. A 'PC' tie, can be soldered to the point rails, and the copper cladding can then be cut between the point rails, and the point rails then connected to the stock rails.
The advantage of the dead frog turnout is that the point rails always have the same polarity as their near stock rail, and you won't get shorts from the back of a flange touching a point rail.
 

Gary Pfeil

Active Member
Ron, The most important thing for either DC or DCC is to provide power to all of the turnout (no dead frogs!) and to prevent shorts. The only reason DCC is perceived to have more stringent requirements is the fact that the entire DCC layout can be shut down (if not blocked) whereas with DC only the one cab would be affected. The goal with either DC or DCC ought to be short free operation, and handlaid allows you to space the points closer to the stock railsto boot. The frog should be gapped on all four rails which form it. The points are then wired to their respective stock rails. The frog to a switch as I'm sure you know. I expect you've done it this way anyway. So, there will be no problem with DCC.

Gary
 
Thanks everyone for your valued advice, going to start on them this afternoon. will let you know how they work out..
thanks again...Ron..
 
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