Weather Warning!! Protect your digital systems!

stevelewis said:
It is useful to have a look at the Met. Office website re the Rain Radar which gives a good indication of where Rainfall is and how much there is of it
Click to expand...
Good idea. However.......regrettably it did not forecast the freak (near tornado) storm that afflicted (only) our village in north Bucks about a year ago. Hailstorm, the size of gobstoppers, and rain sheeting down for 10 minutes. Overwhelmed the drainage system, house flooded (insurer sneakily withdrew flood cover at renewal 3 months later >:( ). Shot blasted all the track side buildings, figures and bridge decking. Still fixing things bit by bit >:( Nothing a total loss thankfully :) Tip, Preiser figures more resilient than Woodland Scenics ;) Max.
 
Sounds like you had a vision of Hell Max, looks like I got off lightly last Friday. More by Luck than Judgement it has to be said. Hope you get all back in full order soon.
JonD
 
Another factor which is worth considering, re sheds and heat!!

Central stations dont like 2 things heat & Cold, in my early digital garden days, using MTS i went out one cold morning switched on.....nothing...!! I was in my initial learning period... so phoned up jeremy at Dragon G Scale who in those days was my main supplier, ' AHA' he said take the CS indoors and let it warm up, it has probably been affected by overnight cold and subsequent condensation , I did as instructed and within the hour it was working OK,

I also heard of a local MTS CS which was kept in a brick garage, situated inside next to the wall which faced South, one hot sunny day the CS packed up completely, it had to be sent for repairs, the heat in the garage had got it!
The moral I think is to be aware of these possibliities and take steps to protect CS if it has to be left stored in these locations.

Just as an aside when I had a 00 layout in a garage 2 of my BR coaches melted from the heat of the sun shining thro a window!
 
Steve,
When I concpverted my shed it was insulated both inside and the Floor. So there are no real extremes of Heat, Cold and more importantly Damp. Damp is the thing that can get to DCC Kit in the Winter. A very cold Central Station starting up can cause Dampness to form with bad effects on the Electronics inside.
JonD
 
JonD,
Don't earth one side of your track.. DCC is a balanced system, and will not like it..
If you get a nearby lightning strike, there will be many kV per metre field-strength, and if one 'leg' (track) is earthed with respect to the other there will be a larger potential (voltage) difference between the two rails. - If both are floating, then they should both have the same induced voltage (near enough) in them. It is where this voltage finds to go that does the damage.
Ground BOTH, or neither, but a big gap and unplugging the CS is your safest bet.

Dampness is a real problem if you leave things powered-up..
Damp and DC, and you have a battery / electro-plating system.. All the copper will migrate from anode to cathode.
If the 'dampness' is slightly acidic, then the effect is enhanced.
When looking after computer newsrooms.. If a keyboard had coffee (or worse Coke) split in it, and was left connected. The small currents flowing would mean large areas of printed circuit would 'disappear' if it was left a day, or so, before we were told about it!
 
dunnyrail said:
Steve,
When I concpverted my shed it was insulated both inside and the Floor. So there are no real extremes of Heat, Cold and more importantly Damp. Damp is the thing that can get to DCC Kit in the Winter. A very cold Central Station starting up can cause Dampness to form with bad effects on the Electronics inside.
JonD
Click to expand...

Hi Jon
The shed in question was a small 6x4 which was inherited when we moved some years ago it was a very convenient location to site the Electrical side of things being next to garage with power already installed, but significantly it was very well insulated so much so that the internal dimensions were more like 5 x 3 rather than the usual 6 x 4 less an inch or so as is usual on uninsulated sheds.
 
stevelewis said:
Another factor which is worth considering, re sheds and heat!!

,
Click to expand...
I used to run with one of those little Guagemaster transformer/controller Jobbies, I used to have to have a fan blowing of it in summer as it would cut out due to overheating after about 10 minutes ???
 
My shed has been hacked from an 8x6 and a 10x6, I have lost around 3 inches on internal dimension. Possibly a bit less as I have maneged an LGB Rad 2 Curve between Stations at one end. Each has a Siding outside of this, one having a good wide platform with Half Relief Station Building. But was well worth the loss.
JonD
 
Although my Central Station is disconnected when the layout is not in use (and kept warm and cosy in the house) I have several Massoth and LGB modules connected to the tracks for points / signals operation, feedback, etc. Supposing the track was hit by a lightning strike, I'm guessing these would all be toast?
 
Ralphmp said:
Although my Central Station is disconnected when the layout is not in use (and kept warm and cosy in the house) I have several Massoth and LGB modules connected to the tracks for points / signals operation, feedback, etc. Supposing the track was hit by a lightning strike, I'm guessing these would all be toast?
Click to expand...
IF the track was hit, then almost definitely.. Though it can be weird just how lightning finds a path to earth, and how some things survive, whilst others do not.
Even a strike nearby may damage some items.

Having said that, the chances are pretty remote, unless you are on top of a hill!
 
PhilP said:
IF the track was hit, then almost definitely.. Though it can be weird just how lightning finds a path to earth, and how some things survive, whilst others do not.
Even a strike nearby may damage some items.

Having said that, the chances are pretty remote, unless you are on top of a hill!
Click to expand...

We are at the top of a hill!! 540' above sea level

So I suppose the only solutuion.......would be to rip out all the point decoders etc, and install the pneumatic point & signal control system which was marketed in the 90s ( Brandbright used to offer it) but I dont think it is still avaible anyway

Brandbright are closing anyway,
 
Sunset Valley Railroad (SVRR, or is it SSVR ?) in the US do a nice air powered point actuating system. The guy is a a UK expat' who runs it. Back2Bay6 was his UK distibutor. Sadly now Steve has passed away I do not know if anybody has picked up the agency. I have recently partly installed the system on my line. Bought direct from SVRR. Runs off a little compressor with a 1 ltr receiver at 30 psi. Jon Dunnyrail has a similar setup. Gave me a lot of advice on that one. Max.
 
Hi Max,

This is Sunset Link

http://www.sunsetvalleyrailroad.com/pneumatics.html

Have a couple of their bits that I herited from the Ruschbahn. Andy did get some of their kit for odd extensions that we were doing as others either withered away of just lost interest in Air. Think that he may have got it from Steve but Not sure. I do know that Andy imported Easy Air Parts as they did Special Valves etc. there are Companies in UK that do Pneumatics, but we have never been able to understand what and how they work and whether thay would be Compatible with Model Railway Set up. At the GC event the othe week this lot were giving out Cats at Quorn

https://www.cromwell.co.uk

If you picked up their Maint Choice Cat look at P118. Some of the kit is eyewatering in price. But there are Pneumatic Cylinders at around Sunset Price. Much of what they do is larger Tubing (with Quick Release Valves) than Sunset, Del Air etc. However there may be Companies out there with kit that is compatible. Just that I do not know them. Oh I could not find the pneumatice on their Webb Site as it did funny things with my iPad.

My line has the Points exclusively worked by Air as Max related to. I have been into Air since around 2000, having started with Del Air. I still use much of their Kit plus others and would never consider anything else. Air is just so much easier to set up. Yes there is a bit of a price difference, but probably cheeper than Digital Point Power.

JonD
 
Steve,

As long as you are aware of the pitfalls.. Your track will be at ground-level.. Hopefully there will be a nice damp tree, or two, nearby? Perhaps a church or farm building??

Lightning is weird stuff, and quite often the thing you think is a certainty to be struck isn't. - Or has adequate protection, so appears not to have been hit.

A shed in the middle of the lawn with a scaffold pole, and floodlight on it might not be the best place to shelter, or have your CS.. :o ;)
But being in the garage, or conservatory would probably be fine.
 
No actually when mine went all those years ago it was in a garage, but obviously connected to the track in the garden which was quite extensive in those days.

A second unconnected MTS central station which was aloso in the garage was not effected by the storm.

The supplying retailer who kindly received my damaged MTS CS back in exchange for a Massoth system+ some cash, told me that during the week in question he had heard of 3 other CSs suffering similar damage.
 
Funny stuff electrics/electronics. Straying to non-railway. My wife's washing machine is getting on a bit and starting to play up, sometimes at the end of a cycle the door will not open. She looked on t'internet and apparently the fix is to diconnect the machine from the mains. That is not just switch of at the mains, that does not work, but actally pull the plug right out. I know nothing about electronics, but as a layman, I assume there must be some residual current in a plugged in cable. Unplugging it disipates that and allows the chip in the machine to re-boot. Crazy or what?.

David
 
PhilP said:
Jon,
Turning off track switches will not protect your equipment.. Contact gap in the switch will be 1mm or so, not enough.

You really want a metre gap between the wiring outside, and that inside the house/garage/shed.
Short the track wiring together, and possibly to earth as well. With a nice big break between internal, and external wiring.

Am sure Sparky will come up with some better ideas??
Click to expand...

I was out in a field with 3 60ft towers in the air near folkestone when the storm hit, coaxs disconnected and shorted to earth, towers spiked to earth, luckily storm went over top but channel was lit like xmas tree.as philip says you need a least a metre gap of isolation from a storm, lighting will easily jump a 1mm isolation switch
 
Here at Scarborough, as I read Steve's post, there was a loud rumble of thunder, but no lightning.

That's an interesting map.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom