short circuit protection for model trains

I was asked to do a demo of how my short protection was setup. when connected correctly the lit bulb should absorb the amperage being placed across the circuit. I am not an electrician or an electronics expert. I saw this on another channel and wanted to give it a shot.

[@HumancityJunction]

Are you still using the bulbs, or did you switch to electronic circuit breakers?

[@FBMRR]

Still use the bulbs..

[@Ausmerica]

Nice cheap easy solution for short circuit protection. With the price of the DCC units, decoders and engines, especially here in Australia. A 50cent bulb will save hundreds of dollars. To solder the wire on the side of these light bulbs, to make the solder stick to it easier, just lightly sand the spot where you want to place the wire, as the side of these bulbs now have a coating on them to prevent corrosion.

[@FBMRR]

Thanks Arty. you right a quick cheap solution. I didnt think of the coating on the metal. good catch.

[@russcole5685]

Or get some bulb holders from a car wreak

[@TomsTrainsandThings]

Good job [ Enter Your Name Here ]. lol Great explainition Rick!

[@FBMRR]

Thank you "enter your name here" appriciate you watching. Lol

[@tanzj]

Rick, Nice tutorial on using the least expensive way of making circuit breaker indicators. I prefer the DCC Specialties circuit breakers but yours will do the job....John

[@FBMRR]

totally understand. once i find an actual breaker that does the job i may just switch but this was last ditch resort as my NCE EB1s are not doing the job.

[@sparky107107]

just call this video " short circuit protection for model trains"

[@FBMRR]

As always sir... good idea. Change made. Thanks for sharing.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

Rick this looks good, only question, do you need to install this between one section of your sub bus, or you install between a feeder wire then connect to your sub bus

[@FBMRR]

If your doing sections then it would be BUS>LIGHT>SUB BUS or FEEDER. Sub bus is not necessary. I only added it because i will be attaching more items to the bus later; block detection, signals, etc.

[@Steelerfan820]

Thanks for the hard work Rick

[@FBMRR]

No problem Frank. Hope it helps.. it hasn't failed me yet.

[@BoxcarJerry]

Excellent job on this to tutorial , even I can pull this off . Those Y things are called solderless connectors . Since your just starting with videos you may want to start making Playlists and add this to one . Thanks for sharing Rick .

[@FBMRR]

its really simple. and thanks for the playlist tip.

[@manshedrailroad]

Well explained Rick!

[@FBMRR]

Thanks ManShed.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

Round Two watching again Rick

[@FBMRR]

Ok. Let me know if you need help.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

Rick I am getting ready to hook up my EB1 breakers, looking into this idea as a backup. Decided to divide my layout into 3 sections, yard , steel mill and main line and that will give me a spare EB1 , getting everything hooked up correctly now

[@randysrockandrollrailroad8207]

Hey Rick, thanks for sharing this, I will be adding this to my layout soon, adding this to my watch later list

[@FBMRR]

thats awesome. I hope it was easy enough to follow as it was to build.

[@pdrrengineer1404]

Good job on the tutorial Rick. Importantly you used terminology that would be familiar to the layman wanting to do this. The only potential problem with this type of short protection is when operating a consist of multiple (say 3 or more) sound-equipped locos the combined current draw of the locos through the bulb can generate enough DCC voltage drop to cause a sound decoder to cut out. Art...

[@FBMRR]

Cutting out the decoder is the whole point i would rather have the power surge absorbed by the bulb than the decoder. Also the short wont travel back to your command station. Which is more important.

[@melvinfackler8282]

Thanks Rick. Your vid makes this simple enough even for me!

[@FBMRR]

Glad to hear... not hard at all. I'm glad it worked. since i dont have all 3 of my tracks built yet - wasnt sure what to expect when i shorted those tracks, lol.

[@barnfulloftrains]

Thanks for making this video.- Gary

[@FBMRR]

I hope it helps you Gary.

[@jimtedesco]

Thanks for sharing, Rick.

[@FBMRR]

I hope it helps you.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

Hi Rick great video on your layout you connect feeders to a sub bus then hook up the sub buss to your main buss

[@FBMRR]

Yes. this time i did for my top desk. the bottom deck is done the traditional way but uses NCE circuit breakers. I will eventually change that to this.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

Thanks you just one more easy step for me, going to work on some sort of video on what I have, just can’t build yet but sure hope soon, I need track

[@FBMRR]

There are a few discount codes out there. Vinny has one for yankee dabbler. I think luke towen has one for micro mark and dg modelworks has one for midwest model railroads.

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

I live in Canada about 1/2 hr from Sparky 107107, going to use pico track not sure on the turnouts yet , need more research but i do have the NCE procab control system

[@dundasjunctionmodelr.r-jam8267]

I just checked amazon.ca 1156 bulbs available pack of 8, they also have LED version too

[@KerleyExpress]

So how many of these things i would have to put on my layout? Thank you for showing how too

[@FBMRR]

it depends on your wiring.. Im going to guess that your layout is all one piece, correct me if im wrong. I would definitely use one bulb on the feed wire coming right out of the NCE panel before it hits the track. It should be sufficient. again all we are trying to do is stop the AMPs from back feeding into your system, in your case that means your NCE powerCab throttle. If you have any other isolated track sections I would say put one there too. This way if that secution is shorted the rest of the track should continue.

[@KerleyExpress]

@@FBMRR my layout is a 4x8 and i have a small add on for the engine house and the turntable

[@FBMRR]

@@KerleyExpress is your wiring in sections with feeders, or is it all one piece of continuous track?

[@KerleyExpress]

@@FBMRR lol i don't have the feeders started yet lol i could make a new video on my layout explaining how i want it to be if that helps any

[@FBMRR]

@@KerleyExpress sorry i assumed you were already running DC. Are you able to run any train of any kind?