Hi Fellas, It's happened again with a short circuit on my large HO scale layout. I've been trying to find a short video on YouTube on how to detect where the short is happening, however, all the videos are on a 2 track system. Can someone either explain how to detect the short and give me the link to a video on YouTube as this is a lot easier to understand.

Regards
Greg

First thing to do would be to remove ALL rolling stock from the layout.
If there is still a short, then you have eliminated all your locomotives and coaches/cars as the cause and the problem is with the track or wiring.
On a small layout, it is possible to detect the location of the track short by sound or smell. On larger setups and setups with complex wiring, this becomes more of an issue.
Listen for sounds (sizzling), look for signs of a short (heat damage, burn marks, etc)
With a digital layout, you normally have a few seconds before the system trips. Check areas where wiring is connected to the rails to ensure that a wire strand is not making contact with the ground/live.
I have seen this with K Track feeder sections. With C Track, it is more frequently bent tabs under the track which can cause shorts.
First question is what track are you using? M, K or C?

Can you describe your setup? How many transformers/boosters? What controller? Is the short affecting one section or the entire layout?
Are you powering accessories (lights, signals, etc). Is there a possibility of a short between that circuit and the track circuit at some point?
It can be frustrating to have to check every track section for contact issues.

Looking for Maerklin specific videos is often easier when searching in German (Maerklin Digital Kurzschluss finden or similar)

As Maerklin now uses DC power for digital operation, you can use the same instructions for short detection as for a DC/DCC layout.

One of the first things I would recommend is to swap out the power supply track section(s) and test to see whether the short occurs with the layout disconnected as well as with the replacement track section.
This will identify or eliminate the feeder track as the source of the short. If you have multiple power sources (transformers/boosters), repeat the same procedure for each one.

You can try submitting your question to digital(at)marklin.com to see if Curtis or Rick have any suggestions on how to narrow down your search for the cause.

Regards

Mike C

Do you still use old time wagon lights?
For many years ago when i did had Märklin train i did had short circuits caused of the lighting kit 7335!
You should check if there are fault with the trains, locomotive or wagons with the old time lighting are also possible troublemaker.

Thanks fellas for the information.

I'm using a new ECoS 50220 as the old one was playing up. I have 2 ESU boosters (1 - 4amp & 1 - 8amp). The layout is divided into 2 power sectors and when I plugged the main section into the 6amp ECoS the short started. However, when I plugged the main section into the 8amp booster the short stopped. I noticed that the power consumption is quite high when nothing is running, so there must be something drawing this power, but not enough to overload the 8amp booster. While things are running I'll continue with this setup, but it could be leading to another later problem.

Regards
Greg

So you have a short using 6A*19Vac (Thats more than 100Watt). Thats´s enough to start a fire, yet you choose to just let it go, and continue with 8A which doesnt cut out. That doesnt sound like a good idea...

I think at least both Mike.C and I have given you suggestions on how to proceed. It should be quite straight-forward, I think.

I think there should be a information page in your ecos somewhere that reports actual and peak consumption for your boosters. What does that say? Does it really say 6A somewhere? Maybe it is just the startup current that is too high but not DC? Do you have a lot of capacitors too charge? If yes, is it an option use more boosters at once, ie split the layout in more sections? I think for ho scale it is not recommended to use more than 5A per boosted section.

with the Ecos you can enable to set all switches in 'normal' position at startup as well as powering off tracks. Have you checked this setting?
maybe this is the switching 'noise' you hear?

Sounds like plenty to stump me as well. Glad you found it!

Hi Guys
Sorry to jump in the conversation and add my grain of salt.
Indeed old locos when digitalized need a lot of current BUT recent locos (I use Märklin ones) need very little current:
- less than ONE mA (Milli Ampère) with light and sound ON
- 100 to 150 mA for a running loco
- 100mA additional for a smoke unit when turned on
- 150 to 200 mA for a pulsed digital smoke unit.

Of course in thses recent locos there are only LEDs and no bulbs

My layout is L-shaped 3.5 m x 3.5 m on 3 levels and includes 27 locos powered simultaneously, a large number of lighted coaches and the total current need in 3.0 to 3.5 Amps
Here is a flavour of it


Sorry for the long speech but when using recent locox and coaches 3 Amps allow you to power quite a layout without having to use boosters, etc (I use only on CS3 with a 100 VA PSU
Cheers
Jean