07-01-2009, 11:31 AM
I think when you use pc board ties for a handlaid turnout, you do have a risk of a small bit of metal falling on the pc tie and crossing the slot you cut to isolate one side from the other. It is not unusual for various metal Kaddee coupler parts to fall, especially knuckle springs. It is probably not very common since anything that would cause a short must fall precisely on one of the few pc ties and exactly where the cut has been made to bridge both sides! We used an insulating paint called "Glyptol" on all of the electrical connections on any of the equipment we used when I worked in the harbor. Much of the equipment like cranes and such run on either 600 volts or in some cases 4,180 volts, the refrigeration units ran on 3 phase 440 volt power, and you don't want anything to short out connections! It is available at any electrical supply house. It might even be available at Home Depot or Lowes, I haven't looked. I only saw it in spray cans, but if it isn't available except in spray cans, a little could be sprayed into a small container and then brushed over all of your pc ties. It is bright orange in color, so you would use it as a primer and then paint your creosote, gray, brown or whatever color you prefer over it. We could use a meggar to check for voltage leaks from terminal boards to ground to make sure we had no shorts and a thin coating of this stuff would insure that we got a reading of infinity.