Hi everyone,

I am new to marklin system and I just registered here a moment ago. I live in China and we don't have any Marklin or AC system community here. So I am here looking for help, sorry for my bad English.

I am playing C track system with a Mobile Station 2. The problem I have right now is the disconnected(no electricity pass through) points on the track.

I built a simple loop layout of 18 straight tracks and 12 curve tracks, plus two side lines each with 8 straight tracks and 2 digital turnouts. The locomotive runs fine on the track except for 4 points (2 are the straight tracks connect to the curve tracks and 2 are the curve tracks). I tried to replace the problem tracks but only fixed one point, the other three remains problem.

When the locomotive reaches the problem points, it suddenly stops and the lights were off, looks like no electricity on those points. I tried to push the locomotive a little and it reconnected after pass through those points.


I tried to searching on the internet and solutions varies. I tried to clean the problem points with dry towels but it didn't work. I saw on other posts said I may need to buy more feeder tracks and connect them every ten tracks. And also mentioned a higher voltage power supply (36v or 60v).

The power supply I bought was along with the mobile station 2, on ebay from here:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MARKLIN-60653-Mobile-Station-mit-Anschlussbox-60113-Netzteil-66361-NEU-/290619488916?pt=DE_Modellbau_Modelleisenbahnen&hash=item43aa457a94

I want to hear some solutions or suggestions from you guys before purchasing anything more. Since there are no Marklin dealer in China so I have to buy everything from Germany, shipping costs are really expensive.....

And by the way, my English is not so good and it is really difficult for me to learn how the digital layout works. I just spent more than 8 hours to figure out how to put together 4 digital turnouts and add them to the controller. And I have no idea how to use multiple power sources on one layout. I would really appreciate your help, hopefully as detailed as possible, probably in simple words. :)

Thanks again to you all!

Wu

Edited by user 22 January 2014 18:47:45(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Wu,

You may also try to use your locomotive to clean the studs in the middle of the track: Drive the locomotive at a fast enough speed it will pass the point, let it go over a few times. The slider on the locomotive may wear off some of the corrosion by friction.

Ray also has very good suggestions.

-Brandon

Hello Wu,

Welcome to the forum.

Ian.

Hello Wu,

Welcome to the forum

By the way your english is fine

Brgds - Lasse

And thank you all for your welcoming!

You are all very friendly and welcoming and I will try to improve my English and visit the forum more often in the future. :)

Best wishes,

Wu

Welcome Wu!!!

Never use sandpaper on the rails OR the center rail!!!!

Dr D

Wu,

Welcome. I am new here too (well, fairly) and it's a great place.

Ashok

Thanks for your suggestion! I will keep it in mind, next time try sandpaper last. :)

Wu

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the information. I usually buy from ebay.de, have noticed the online shop and will try it in the future.

I plan to build a medium size digital layout this summer, and it takes too much time to buy everything online. I am thinking to visit the Märklin Museum in Göppingen and purchase the accessories all at once.

Best regards,

Wu

I like to publicly thank Wu for his help by getting me started to download my videos in China with a very similar youtube website.

John

Hello again Wu,

Well, keep this for later when your layout grows considerably. Then, you could either switch to a Central Station (easy but expensive) or employ a "homemade" booster to support the mobile station connection box (difficult but cheap). However, for the time being, you need none of this.

Greetings - Ak

Hi Damon,

Thanks for the summary, running locomotives to lean the studs is a really efficient way!

And thanks again for introduce the website, remove the 19% VAT is indeed very attractive. :)

Best regards,

Wu

Hi Dr D,

Thanks for the advice. I am not sure but directly translate gives the word "acetylacetone", this is what I can easily get in China.

Running locomotives to clean them is the most efficient way indeed! :) Thanks again~

Best wishes,

Wu

Acetylacetone is a solvent, but not the only one. Semi-technical words are often difficult for translation software/websites.

I would recommend this: use isotropy alcohol (rubbing alcohol). If you have something really stubborn, you can try using a liquid lighter fluid (for cigarette lighters). Electrical parts cleaner works well too (possibly available at car parts stores). However, lighter fluids are all different, so if you find one, test it on a small section of track and let it sit a while to make sure it doesn't melt or eat the plastic before using it everywhere.

-Brandon

Hi Brandon,

Yes the translation may not be accurate for such words. Ligher fluid is more easy to find, thanks a lot! I will try it for dead points next time~

Best regards,
Wu

Hi Peter,

Thank you very much for your help! I think I have some idea about it now.

I found the distribution block is Marklin 72090, and feeder wire 74042. So I am thinking what should I do is to get some 74042 feeder wires and connect one end of each wire to the track(2 meter per wire) and another end to the distribution block 72090, then connect the 72090 to the bus cable (not sure what cable to use for this step) and finally connect the bus cable to the connection box (using the feeder wires come from the connection box), are these steps correct?

And I am having some difficulty find the Bus cable, would you mind to let me know the item number if it is available from Marklin? I found something like this but not sure, it looks kind of complicated:https://www.ldt-infocenter.com/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=en:dicostation

By the way, do you think it is necessary to get a Marklin 74046 overload protection feeder wire for the layout?

Thanks again for your help!

Best wishes,
Wu

Hi, Wu,
Welcome to the forum!
No, never! Must not be used for digital operation. It's for analogue operation only.

If you want to use the 72090 distribution blocks, then get the 74040 feeder sets (spade connectors on one end). The 74042 has spade connectors on both ends and can be used to distribute power from one piece of track to another piece of track. You can cut a 74042 in the middle and use it like two 74040.

I finally bought the spade connectors only (74995) and added the cables myself (with a small pair of pliers, no special tool needed).

BTW: no need to use the 72090 to distribute current. Instead of messing with those tiny Märklin plugs I'd solder or screw cables together.

Hi Tom,

Thank you for let me know 72090 is not necessary. By the way, can I just get some 74042 wires and use them to connect tracks (track to track) 2 meters away to distribute power? I wonder if this way works. Thanks again! :)

Best,
Wu

Hi Peter,

Thank you so much for the pictures! Now I guess I almost get it! :)

I am wondering, are the standard 14 awg house wiring type cables you used to go into the distribution box (yellow one) equivalent to the feeder wires comes from the Marklin connection box (60113)?

Also, as I can see, you used for different colour wires to distribute the power. You mentioned that red is for tracks and white is for catenary. What about black and yellow, what roles are they playing?

By the way, I really like the Viessmann blocks you used, I think they are better than the Marklin blocks.

Thanks again for your generous help!

Best wishes,
Wu

Forgot to answer your other question. No the red and brown wires coming form the 60113 are much smaller gauge than the #14 AWG house wiring bus that I am using. That's OK as long as the bus cable is larger gauge than the 60113 wires and any of the individual feeds to track sections, the bus is doing its job. Does it have to be as big as what I am using? It is probably overkill, but as mentioned before it was left over from another project and thus, free. It was either use it or throw it out in the recycling bin, so I used it.

Cheers
Peter

Hi Peter,

Sorry for my late reply, thanks again for your explanation! The information you gave are more than helpful to me. It saved me Much Much time wondering and searching online. Hopefully I can get my layout done by this August. :)

Best,
Wu

Hi Mike,

I can easily get ethyl alcohol, thanks a lot! I too have concerns about lighter fluid since it is flammable.

I have tried thelokshop (a German dealer) last week, good price there. I have checked Eurorailhobbies, and found they also exclude VAT for international address, so the price is right. :) Thanks again!

Well, since a lot of items I am interested are out of stock from these retailers, I have to buy most locomotives and cars on ebay.de auctions, luckily the auction prices were usually cheaper, depends on luck. :)

Anyway, thank you for your generous help Mike!

Best,
Wu