For anyone wanting to make their own buzzer/battery combo, here's
typically what to look for.
I've bought from Goldmine many times, always been satisfied with
their products.? As a surplus dealer, stuff comes and goes.
Blair
On 12/3/2021 10:39 AM, Blair wrote:
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With a 9V battery and a suitable buzzer, you're looking at a
few tens of milliamps at most, so it's not an issue - the buzzer
limits the current flowing.? That's why I don't use my DCS as
the power source.? The hardest part might be finding a decent
small buzzer in rural areas, which is why I've repurposed an old
smoke alarm.? When I was a kid, every hardware store had them,
but nowadays, they're less common.
Blair
On 2021-12-03 10:10, Charles Cauble wrote:
Thanks. ?I¡¯ll try to rigg something up. I was afraid I could
melt wires with a battery?
?
Okay.? Sorry, thought this was understood.? Basically,
you replace the Booster with a battery/buzzer combo.?
(FWIW, I use an old battery smoke alarm, with a pair of
alligator jumpers wired to two sides of the test button,
but it doesn't really matter).
When I set out to wire a bunch of feeders to a given
booster or circuit breaker output, I disconnect the bus
wires and attach one leg of the buzzer to the Rail A bus
wire, the second leg of the buzzer to the battery
positive, and the battery negative to the Rail B bus
wire.? (you must disconnect from the DCS output, or
circuit breaker output, without fail).? If the buzzer
buzzes right off the bat, you've got something miswired,
or you already have a short.? If it doesn't buzz, your
next step is to test that it will detect a short, by
simply shorting the bus A wire to the bus B wire; if the
buzzer sounds, you can detect a short.? Un-short them, and
the buzz should stop.
Now you may proceed to wire your feeders.? To be sure all
is well, wire your first pair, then momentarily short THE
RAILS THAT THE FEEDERS ARE CONNECTED TO - you should hear
your buzzer.? If all is well, proceed.? You'll know it if
you happen to miswire either rail.? I like this process,
because I can be upside down in the far corner of the
layout, and I can still hear a warning if I wire something
wrong.
Beware, there are limitations.? This setup won't help you
if you start to mix in wires from other sections of the
layout; you need to know exactly which feeders should be
wired to the bus you're working on.
Hope this helps, Charles.? I don't think there's a
shortcut for you in this situation - you may end up
cutting all your feeders before you find the mistake.
Blair
On 2021-12-03 9:42, Charles
Cauble wrote:
I figured I
might have a dead feeder or reversed feeder but can¡¯t
check when the booster immediately shorts. Could Explain
how a battery/buzzer is set up. That would certainly help
me verify each hook up
