Hello Marklin Community,
I am trying to add railway crossing Faller 120171 to my layout. I want the crossing to activate when the train comes from with direction. I would like to the control to be using the presence of the train over the tracks (no button control)
I added contact tracks Marklin 24194 on both sides.
I powered the Faller 120171 using a 12V DC power source (as per instructions). I connected everything aside with no connection to my track Layout. I tested it by pushing on the triggers of the contact tracks and everything worked perfectly as expected.
However, when I connected the set to my tracks I powered the railcrossing using a 16V AC (also possible as per instructions) that 16v AC is also used to power my track Turn outs (marklin 6646), after making that connection it caused my Marklin 6021 to burn out. Now I am left with a damaged 6021 that I have to repair / replace it .
Question is how should I connect the Faller 120171 ? do I have the right set up, and if I connect it to my tracks and power it using an external 12V DC will that work without damaging the layout ?



Set up Digital Layout using Marklin 6021 and 6001. And Marklin 6646 to control and power the Track Turn outs.

Your guidance is much appreciated

Hello John,
Thanks for the quick reply. I am still a beginner at this; What is conventional mode ?
Yes what I did is that I connected the 0 (brown from Track) to the LC terminal GND as shown in the pic.
And the bars worked perfectly when pushing on the contact track. LC closed the bars.

I prefer the floating solution as I don't want to damage the layout.
So if I do this, can I just power the LC using a 12v DC and connect the 0 (ground of Track) to the GND of the LC module with no issues ?
Can you please elaborate more on this explanation, not too sure I follow how do I leave the common brown wire UNPLUGGED ?
"AND use those slider-operated Märklin track (SOMT) with the common brown wire UNPLUGGED (not connected to Märklin ground). The metal tongue of the small printed circuit on this connected to the Faller module GND plug"

Also I need to connect 2 wires to the metal tongues from the SOMT to the LC: one to STart and one to GND, as shown in pic. Your guidance is much appreciated. Thanks,

Hello Jean, thanks for the reply. So I made the connection as per your instructions here are the results.
I disconnected the brown cable of the SOMT and connected it to the GND of Faller LC module, and covered the connection with tape to avoid contact with something else.
I powered the Faller LC module via 12V DC I tested it manually apart from the layout and it worked perfectly..

Is this set up ok, can I power on the Tracks and run the trains without blowing anything. Here are the pics.
The layout is powered and controlled using a Marklin 6021 and 6001 :

So on the Faller I have the Start terminal and the GND terminal. Which ones are the Red and Green wire from the Faller ? The only green wire is coming from the Faller LC motor and 2 red wires for the Motor and the Schranke.
What I understood is that the insulated brown wore from the SOMT will go to the GND on Faller Terminal and the other wire from the male pin of the SOMT to the Start on Faller Terminal. Is this correct?

OK that's good to know, thanks for the tip.
Just one more "gotcha" challenging question I'm facing, to finish it all off.
I am trying to add a sound effect to the movement of the barriers. When barriers start closing we hear the LC rail crossing bells.
So I connected a DFPlayer Mini MP3 module, that can play MP3 sound. And I can trigger the sound when the GND and trigger wire touch each other.
So what I did is connected the GND of device to the GND of the Faller and the trigger wire to the Start on the Faller (as shown in pic).
However, with the set up now (in Floating mode), the Faller is getting 12V DC and the MP3 player is getting 5V DC and

1. on the GND of the Faller Terminal : The GND wire of the MP3 player is connected + the SOMT Brown cable (the one we insulated).
2. on the Start of the Faller Terminal: the blue wire connected on the male pin of SOMT + MP3 player wire

Would that set up work on the layout without frying anything ?

Here's a PIC and a VIDEO, hope this clarifies it :



HERE's the VIDEO

Video.mov (2,408kb) downloaded 9 time(s).

That is correct,when the GND and Adkey1 make contact on the DFPlayer the segment plays. And since the barriers on Faller close when the Start and GND make contact; what I did is that I connected the GND of DFplayer to the GND of Faller and Adkey1 of DFPlayer to Start on Faller. (keep in mind the SOMT male pin and brown wire are connected to the Start and GND on the Faller respectively).


"Which contact to get it started? Why not use another (free) contact of the relay you are using for starting the level crossing, to get the DFPlayer started?"
only when I make contact between Adkey1 and GND the sound plays. Are you proposing a different terminal from the Faller LC to connect ? and correct DFplayer runs on 5V DC, Faller on 12V DC.

Here's a pic, your guidance is much appreciated :

So you are suggesting that connecting the GND of the DFplayer (5V) with the GND of Faller (12V) and with the GND of the SOMT would pose a risk ?

Ok now I understand. you want an additional piece of hardware to separate contact of the relay between the 2 power supplies.
The hardware would be a 4-channel SPDT relay (Single Pole Double Throw) used to trigger the Faller. WHich allows keeping the power supplies seperate.
But how would I connect the wires to it ? Here's the Diagram :

This diagram is perfect thank you Jean. Sorry for the back and forth.