# aristo craft art-11091 reversing unit inop



## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

i have been wanting to put a reversing unit on a straight track section in my gameroom. so i did. i installed it per the instructions with the exception of connecting the reversing unit to track in between the diode/end sections. i screwed up(in a hurry) and connected it to one end of the track. i corrected this and it still doesn't work. the train travels one way and never reverses. i checked the diodes and they were good. did i burn up a component in the aristo reversing unit by connecting it up wrong the first time? any help will be appreciated.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Have you adjusted the time delay? If not set the unit will not reverse. Later RJD


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

I am assuming the train runs off the end of the track. You probably have your diodes backwards, turn them around but leave them on the same side of the track. Also make sure you aren't shorting across the diodes with other cars or the engine. It is pretty hard to trash the reverser or the diodes unless you shorted the track out through them. 

What I did was put a couple of lights across the track sections that were diode protected. What should happen is the light in the direction the train is moving should be off, the one that it just left should be on. If you remove the engine from the track so there is no load on the reverser it should swap back and forth at the rate that you set the delay for. 

Tom


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## JPCaputo (Jul 26, 2009)

Are you having the problem at all speeds? The reversing unit does not function below ~4VDC. It will go one way and stop and never reverse. 

Also, with the soft start, some engines will not start up in reverse at slow speed. 

There are a couple ways around this. The easiest is to run a higher speed. The other way is to bypass the internal regulator and run a constant voltage to it. If memory serves me it requires cutting a trace on the board. 


Here is a link to another post line that i showed the pictures of my mods to the aristo unit. 

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...f/23/aft/113505/afv/topic/Default.aspx#136731

JP


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

JP: 
I tried following the links in you other post and they don't want to work anymore. The first photo was ok but the rest couldn't be found. At least Safari on my Mac doesn't like them ... I tried clicking on them and copying the line into the browser. 

Tom


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## DennisB (Jan 2, 2008)

Tom, I have sent you a personal message. Dennis.


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

the engine is a aristo doodlebug. it will run one direction but never stops. i varied the speed of loco through power pack and adjusted the time delay on reversing unit but nothing makes the train stop. aristo says to put the diodes in same manner on one rail. i put them the same way on one rail and i gave enough room past the diodes for the doodlebug to stop. ? will mess with it more tonight. oh i did try a 0-4-0 lgb loco and it did the same thing.


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

tom, i will try changing the diodes. thanks.


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

turned diodes around, train stops, reverses, and everything works perfect.







in the aristo instructions it just states that the diode stripes need to face in the same direction.







oh well! thankyou all for your time and for your thoughts and ideas on this! thanks rjd, jp, and tom.







you guys are cool!!!


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

I am glad it is working. The diode direction was something that I ran into when I set up my Split Jaw unit. Since they all seem to work pretty much the same, I figured you walked into the same problem I had. 

The lights on the Aristo track bumpers are how I make sure things are working correctly now - it is pretty nifty, the lights turn on, in my case, the trolley enters the end point and then everything turns off when it fully enters the end track, after a delay, the light turns back on and a few seconds later the trolley starts up in the new direction. 

Of course I also run it in DCC mode with a couple of occupancy sensors and my NCE mini panel which I implemented an auto reverse function so that the trolley stops gently at the end, sits there with the lights on (headlights turned off), then starts back up in the other direction. 

Tom 

Tom


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

tom, that's pretty neat. i think mine, when i put my lighted aristo end track bumpers in are on in the direction away from travel. do i have something else backwards? i would like to have them lit in the engine direction of travel or destination. i am running analog, mainly cause i understand it best or think i do and it is more cost effective for me. it's just cheaper and simpler for me.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The end of track bumpers can never be on for the direction of travel unless you wire then to opposite ends of the track!!! 

Think about it, if the engine starts to move from the end, then that end has power, the other end does not have power, as that is where the engine ceases to run. 

You only have to wire the side with the diodes, but you must remove the power on the end of track light on the diode side and tie this to the opposite end.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Try reversing your throttle. It seems they can get confused if you're going the "wrong" way.


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

dan & torby, thankyou guys! your great!


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Well sounds like you got it to work. Great. Did not know you where using a reversible power supply. Later RJD


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

If you don't feel like running wires from one end of the track to the other to light the bumpers, if they didn't come with the reverser, go pick up 2 more 50V diodes from Radio Shack. On the mainline side of the isolator that you bridge with the diode, put one of the new diodes going the opposite direction (band facing the other way) as the one feeding the end section of track. Take the wire that is on the same side as the diodes on the bumper and run it over to this new diode. Do the same at the other end of the track. 

This will allow you to have the lights on in the same direction that the train is moving. 

Tom


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

oops I clicked Post.


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

Something I realized last night as I was testing out a new section of track that I am contemplating using with an auto reverser. I didn't install the reverser but I tested the diode configuration using just the power pack (it has to be a rectified DC out of the transformer and it needs a direction switch). 

What should happen is the engine should go to the end and stop on the diode isolated section of track. Switching the direction on the transformer should send the engine back in the other direction where it should stop at the other end. Switching the direction switch should send it back again. 

The auto reverser just automates the direction switch so if the layout passes this test, the reverser will also work. 

Tom


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Tom Bray on 04 Oct 2010 04:33 PM 
Something I realized last night as I was testing out a new section of track that I am contemplating using with an auto reverser. I didn't install the reverser but I tested the diode configuration using just the power pack (it has to be a rectified DC out of the transformer and it needs a direction switch). 

What should happen is the engine should go to the end and stop on the diode isolated section of track. Switching the direction on the transformer should send the engine back in the other direction where it should stop at the other end. Switching the direction switch should send it back again. 

The auto reverser just automates the direction switch so if the layout passes this test, the reverser will also work. 

Tom I do this to my sidings. It keeps engines from running off the end of the track. Additionally, I've put auto-reversers right into my control panel so this allows me to do automatic point-to-point operations between any two opposing sidings on the railroad.


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## fwtxrr (Oct 14, 2009)

great info!!! thanks everyone. this is a great site!!!


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