# Kato Turnouts and Wiring



## jackpresley (Dec 19, 2017)

This might be a mute point when I switch everything over to DCC, but I can't figure out the power routing logic in the Kato Unitrack turnouts. #6 and #4 - they don't seem to be the same.

I'm sure this has been addressed here, but I don't find it.

Maybe I just need more feeders to the track downstream of each turnout.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

This may answer your questions:

http://www.gaugemaster.com/articles/guides/kato_power_routing.html

I don't know Kato, but Peco power routing turnouts
turn off power to diverting track when points are
set to straight. If you desire that the tracks beyond
the frog be always powered it is necessary that you
install a track drop from each frog rail to your bus.

Don


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## jackpresley (Dec 19, 2017)

Thanks Don -- that's the ticket!


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## akabu (Sep 23, 2018)

jackpresley said:


> This might be a mute point when I switch everything over to DCC, but I can't figure out the power routing logic in the Kato Unitrack turnouts. #6 and #4 - they don't seem to be the same.
> 
> I'm sure this has been addressed here, but I don't find it.
> 
> Maybe I just need more feeders to the track downstream of each turnout.


I don,t profess to be an authority on any of this, but I have just started a small N scale layout using Kato Unitrack. The card on the back of the Electeic Turnout #4 package opens up and contains information on "Power Routing". The information I am looking at on my #4 right turnout states that it is set at the factory to "Non Power Routing" It also tells you to change to "Power Routing". I'm still trying to determine which way I must be prior to making final installation.


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## sid (Mar 26, 2018)

DonR said:


> This may answer your questions:
> 
> http://www.gaugemaster.com/articles/guides/kato_power_routing.html
> 
> ...


THIS ^^^^^^^^


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Akabu

Unless you have a spur track where you might
want to 'park'
a loco without power, you would want to set your
turnouts to NON power routing. With power routing
you would need additional power drops in the
frog rails to maintain always on track power.

Don


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## Guest (Oct 14, 2018)

The #6 switches are power routing only. The #4 switches can select power routing or non power routing.

The double crossover insulates the parallel tracks but also insulates one end from the other.

It's pretty easy once you get used to it. The track was designed to easily set up temporary layouts using DC. The power routing switches allow a train to be held in a siding while another runs without any extra wiring.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*"DCC friendly" turnouts*



jackpresley said:


> This might be a mute point when I switch everything over to DCC, but I can't figure out the power routing logic in the Kato Unitrack turnouts. #6 and #4 - they don't seem to be the same.
> 
> I'm sure this has been addressed here, but I don't find it.
> 
> Maybe I just need more feeders to the track downstream of each turnout.


jackpresley;

First off, I want to get this said. ANY turnout can work with DCC, or DC. Any ads you may have encountered for "DCC friendly" turnouts are essentially baloney. Kato being the excellent company that they are, I doubt they would advertise anything that wasn't true.

Whether power routing, or not; the stock and point rails of almost all commercial turnouts are of opposite electrical polarity. This normally doesn't matter, as long as all your wheels are properly gaged. If some wheels are too narrow, it's possible, though not all that likely, that a metal wheel may short the point and stock rails. Typically the short circuit is very brief. With DC control, the slow-acting circuit breaker in a DC power pack wouldn't have time to trip. However, the breakers used in a DCC control station are very fast-acting, and might trip on this type of short. It's still no big deal. Nothing will be damaged. The worst case would be a circuit breaker needing to re-set. 
Normally, "wheels properly gaged" would mean using an NMRA gage. Kato wheels in general, and possibly their turnouts, I don't know; tend to be narrower than NMRA specs. If you were using all Kato cars and locomotives then maybe everything would be in gage, by Kato' standards, and you wouldn't need to adjust anything.

My only reason for posting this is to make you aware of this possible problem; just so that you will recognize it if it should actually happen. Since it's so rare, it may never happen, which is a good thing.

On some turnouts it's possible to electrically isolate the frog from every other rail and then jumper the stock and point rails to be the same polarity. I don't know if Kato turnouts have this as an option or not. Doing this would eliminate any possibility of this short ever happening. Again though, if things are gaged to work together, then no modifications would be necessary.

The isolated frog turnout is the only case I know of where any turnout could be more "DCC friendly" than any other turnout. The phrase "DCC friendly" is used in advertising indiscriminately. It really means nothing. Any turnout can work with DCC, or DC.

regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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