[Accrs-ho] Last Friday night at the club

Sun Mar 27 20:29:19 PDT 2016

Another thing to add to the 'knowledge base' on this is that there is a common electrical contact bar (brass ?) that is used in the Chubb detector board wiring.  A few years ago Bob Johnson was having  problem with one or more or the detectors.  I cleaned the corrosion off that and it fixed that specific problem.  That's  another thing to be aware of.

Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2016 22:37:45 -0700
To: accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org
From: accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org
Subject: Re: [Accrs-ho] Last Friday night at the club

Message From: Joel Clark  clark.joel.a at gmail.com

That's true. Last winter we just gave it a whack and it went on again.

On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 10:35 PM, ACCRS HO Scale 
wrote:

> Message From: D. Marc Stearman  dmstearman at gmail.com
>
>
> I agree with Joel. I have found especially when it is cold the relay seems
> to get stuck a bit. If you listen closely there is a ticking sound. I have
> found it to be very quiet. If you give it a little flick the sound gets
> louder and the lights start flashing. I'm guessing we just need a new
> relay.
>
> Marc
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 24, 2016, at 10:29 PM, ACCRS HO Scale 
> wrote:
>
> Message From: Joel Clark  clark.joel.a at gmail.com
>
> Climb under the layout next to right side of dispatch. Along the wall
> under Oildale is a bunch of Chubb boards. These boards should be lighting
> up when a train is detected. If not, well then we know we have a much
> bigger problem.
> If they are lighting ok, then from each board they all feed into a relay
> that provides the flashing signal to dispatch. It's a little board to the
> left of the Chubb boards that looks like a smaller version of a Chubb
> board. That relay board is what keeps causing the system to go out. Usually
> after i disconnect and reconnect it a few times it comes back.
> It should be clicking away, if it's not clicking then it probably finally
> died. I think its been on its last legs for awhile, which is probably why
> it gets fussy like this.
> You could also just wire around the relay board in a pinch. It just
> provides flashing, and as far as I can tell the system should work without
> it, just a steady "on" light.
> -Joel
>
> On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 10:11 PM, ACCRS HO Scale 
> wrote:
>
>> Message From: Wayne Toigo  w_toigo at hotmail.com
>>
>>
>> I had to look at it a number of years ago when we redesigned the port
>> area and made a number of other additions to the layout.  I think there is
>> some documentation in the big white Master Electrical binder (upstairs in
>> the cabinets).  But if one of the circuit boards has gone bad, then the
>> whole system might be DOA.
>>
>> The control boards are all under the layout on that distribution panel
>> that feeds each block (not in the main dispatch panel; that just contains
>> the flashing LED indicators).
>>
>> The only thing the small relay does is to flash the LED indicators. I
>> can't remember if you pull the relay out if all the indicators just stay
>> lit when a block is occupied (and not flash), or if they don't light at
>> all.  I'd have to look at that.
>>
>> I do remember that the entire block system is fed by the common rail. So
>> if there's a break leading back to the detector boards, it might knock out
>> the whole system.  I'd have to look. But as I remember it was a confusing
>> system because of how intertwined it is with existing track power.
>>
>> If no one else wants to tackle it, I could take a look.  But it might be
>> time to think about a replacement system.
>>
>> -Wayne
>>
>>
>> On Mar 24, 2016, at 9:40 PM, ACCRS HO Scale 
>> wrote:
>>
>> Message From: Gary Lewis  glgslewis at comcast.net
>>
>> Folks,
>>
>> There were a reasonable number of folks running trains last Friday
>> night.  However, it became difficult to track them when the occupancy light
>> system went dead.  Not being an electrical whizz-bang, I don’t have a clue
>> as what component caused the problem.  Garran thought it might be a relay,
>> but then the question was “do we have any spares”?  Bottom line is that we
>> need someone with knowledge about the system to troubleshoot it and get it
>> back on line.  Do we have any volunteers?  It’s surprising how difficult it
>> is to dispatch trains blind!
>>
>>
>>
>> Gary
>> _______________________________________________
>> Accrs-ho mailing list
>> Accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org
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>>
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>>
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>
That's true. Last winter we just gave it a whack and it went on again.
On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 10:35 PM, ACCRS HO Scale <accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org> wrote:
Message From: D. Marc Stearman  dmstearman at gmail.com

I agree with Joel. I have found especially when it is cold the relay seems to get stuck a bit. If you listen closely there is a ticking sound. I have found it to be very quiet. If you give it a little flick the sound gets louder and the lights start flashing. I'm guessing we just need a new relay. 
Marc

Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 24, 2016, at 10:29 PM, ACCRS HO Scale <accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org> wrote:

Message From: Joel Clark  clark.joel.a at gmail.com

Climb under the layout next to right side of dispatch. Along the wall under Oildale is a bunch of Chubb boards. These boards should be lighting up when a train is detected. If not, well then we know we have a much bigger problem.If they are lighting ok, then from each board they all feed into a relay that provides the flashing signal to dispatch. It's a little board to the left of the Chubb boards that looks like a smaller version of a Chubb board. That relay board is what keeps causing the system to go out. Usually after i disconnect and reconnect it a few times it comes back.It should be clicking away, if it's not clicking then it probably finally died. I think its been on its last legs for awhile, which is probably why it gets fussy like this.You could also just wire around the relay board in a pinch. It just provides flashing, and as far as I can tell the system should work without it, just a steady "on" light.-Joel
On Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 10:11 PM, ACCRS HO Scale <accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org> wrote:
Message From: Wayne Toigo  w_toigo at hotmail.com

I had to look at it a number of years ago when we redesigned the port area and made a number of other additions to the layout.  I think there is some documentation in the big white Master Electrical binder (upstairs in the cabinets).  But if one of the
 circuit boards has gone bad, then the whole system might be DOA. 

The control boards are all under the layout on that distribution panel that feeds each block (not in the main dispatch panel; that just contains the flashing LED indicators).

The only thing the small relay does is to flash the LED indicators. I can't remember if you pull the relay out if all the indicators just stay lit when a block is occupied (and not flash), or if they don't light at all.  I'd have to look at that. 

I do remember that the entire block system is fed by the common rail. So if there's a break leading back to the detector boards, it might knock out the whole system.  I'd have to look. But as I remember it was a confusing system because of how intertwined
 it is with existing track power. 

If no one else wants to tackle it, I could take a look.  But it might be time to think about a replacement system. 

-Wayne

On Mar 24, 2016, at 9:40 PM, ACCRS HO Scale <accrs-ho at mail.accrs.org> wrote:

Message From: Gary Lewis  glgslewis at comcast.net

Folks,
There were a reasonable number of folks running trains last Friday night.  However, it became difficult to track them when the occupancy light system went dead.  Not being an electrical whizz-bang, I don’t have a clue as what component
 caused the problem.  Garran thought it might be a relay, but then the question was “do we have any spares”?  Bottom line is that we need someone with knowledge about the system to troubleshoot it and get it back on line.  Do we have any volunteers?  It’s surprising
 how difficult it is to dispatch trains blind!  

Gary 

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