Bachmann switches

[philws]

I have four # 4 switches with a black wire for the fog. I'm  runing my switches on DC and loco on DCC will it hurt to have black wires hooked up to the fog?

[Jerrys HO]

I operate my turnouts with dc pack also. I run DCC also. I had the black wire hooked up to power my frogs and everything was fine except in my yard, when the loco hit the frog it shorted the system. Why, IDK not that knowledgeable to know why. I do know it says on the packaging that powering the frog is only recommended for analog operation NOT DCC.
It did work fine on mine till I wired the yard. I eventually removed all wires from the frog.
In case you don't have the packaging.....
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/HO__6_Turnouts_Instructions.pdf

Jerry

[jonathan]

Don't know if this is helpful, but I feel like rambling for a few minutes.

With today's locomotives, with plenty of electrical pickup, it has become increasingly unnecessary to power the frogs on turnouts (my opinion).  Most of my locomotives don't hiccup or otherwise notice they are running through turnouts without powered frogs.

However....

I have some older locomotives, including brass, that do hiccup, or even stop running when hitting a non-powered frog.  I have connected all my frogs to a SPDT switch and run power from both left and right rails to the switch.  When running an older locomotive, I throw the switch to add current to the frogs--in the direction the locomotive is traveling.  Works great.  If I have to back up, or enter a yard, I can change the polarity of the frogs to match the direction of the locomotive.

This is a rare occurrence.  This manipulation only takes place if I want to show off something quite vintage.  99.99% of the time, my frogs are turned off and I experience no problems.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Joe Satnik]

Dear All,

The SPDT function should be built-in to the Bachmann turnouts with metal frogs. 

The SPDT feeds the metal tab underneath the turnout that the frog wire connector slides on to. 

If it doesn't work properly (connects to the north stock rail in one points position, the south stock rail in the other points postion), 

it is possible that the internal gear has jumped a tooth in its position along its rack.

Another possible electrical failure could be that the frog is not truly isolated from the rails,

which could happen if a frog rail or a closure rail slides from its (intended or ideal) position and physically touches (shorts to) the frog.

Hope this helps.

Jonathan,

By your description I suspect your external SPDT is a "center-off" type.

By "direction", you must mean "mainline vs. divergent", not "forward vs. backward". 

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik