A slight deviation in this update away from the station rebuild to review the new Peco Unifrog points that will lead to the phasing out of both Insulfrog and Electrofrog points.
Just looking at wiring unifrog points and must confess your explanation is the best especially about the small plastic piece taking the place of the insulated fish plates.
Thanks for this video Euan. I've seen a lot of chaff on forums about this change but this is the first time I have seen it so clearly explained. If they are already replacing electrofrog for standard points I will almost certainly get unifrog for the raised section when I come to buy the track later this year. Stephen
Hi Stephen thanks for your comments. I couldn't find any You Tube tutorials on the Unifrog so thought I'd have go myself. I personally didn't realise it's Peco's intention to retire the Insulfrog/Electofrog point range. It will save Peco in production costs over the medium term. They will now only require to produce the Unifrog in either code 80 or code 55. I presume the same will apply across all the track gauges. Euan
Hi Tony - yes the Unifrog is a really good idea from Peco. The great thing is the frog is wired which in N gauge quite fiddly to do yourself. Not sure if Peco have replaced all the code 55 range with Unifrog especially as production stopped due to Covid. Cheers Euan
Hi Euan , nice video. I am currently building a N Gauge layout of Ross-on-Wye Station. I wish I'd known that Peco were going to make these, as I modified all my Code 55 points last year (all 30 of them!!) I have cut the rail at the Frog just where the plastic insulator is on the new uni frog, my dropper wires join the stock & closure rails and I have removed the plastic for the Peco mounting plates and those annoying little pimples from the tie bar! So I have pretty much done what Peco have, D'OH! Perhaps one day I might pluck up enough courage to put my Layout on UA-cam!......Cheers Les.
Ouch!! I read about the Unifrog about a year ago but didn't realise Peco were retiring both the Insulfrogs and Electrofrogs. It should vastly improve the slow running potential in N gauge. Euan
These look very good, I wish these had come out before we bought all the electrofrog's! I presume these are in code 55? we do need to get some more points for the yard, so will definitely go with these, thanks for the great explanation and review, I suppose you could paint a silver colour on the plastic isolation parts to make them less noticeable, cheers, Dave
Fantastic explanation for the unifrog point. You mention wiring the frog to an accessory switch, which accessory switch would you recommend for n gauge. Many thanks Ant
Hi Ant. There are two accessory switch you can use. PL13 or PL15. PL13 is the single accessory switch - so would switch polarity at the frog. Easy to attach to the point motor. PL15 is essentially a double switch - so one half of the switch deals with the polarity at the frog and the other half of the switch can be wired back to lights on a control panel to show which way the point is set to. Pl13 is the easier of the two switches to fit if I'm honest. Any other questions just ask 😊 cheers Euan
Hi Paul - I'd heard about the unifrog but didn't realise Peco were using it to phase out the Insulfrog and Electrofrog points. Think it is a vast improvement on what we had before in N gauge. Cheers Euan
Any risks in painting the insulating bits of the frog with rust and grime and the top with a little bit of shiny steel colour or will that short things out?
Hi Euan thanks for the helpful explanation on this. I've just bought myself a few and about to wire them up. I've got SEEP PM1 point motors. If you know them, have you wired the frog to the motor to make the frog live and if so, apart from the usual power to each rail from the bus, is there anything else you needed to do? Thanks for any help in advance. Cheers Mike
Hi Mike 👋 I wired the point in exactly the same way as if it was an Electrofrog. Good thing is these points are already prepared at the frog so no struggling in trying to solder a wire to the frog. Hope this helps. Cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge yes it does help thanks Euan. I do have one further question though. Have you set up your point motors to operate together on a crossover from one switch or are they all separate? I’d like to do same but not sure how to do it. So two facing points both switching together for loco to move from one track to the other, Thanks for any help you can spare Mike
@@ksldHi Mike - yes every set of crossover points are operated as a single entity. I use studs and probe on a mimic diagram. On the diagram for a crossover there are three studs. One is positioned in the middle between the two running lines - when this touched the two points will switch in unison to allow a loco to move across from one track to the other. The other two studs are on the diagram lines that represent the two running lines. Doesn't matter which you touch they will switch both points back to the main running lines. To wire you simply ( I use Peco PL10's) link the two wires on one side of the motor to one side of the other motor. From this second motor take the two wires back to the three studs. One wire will go to the single stud in the middle and the other goes to one of the other two studs. Link a wire from this second stud to the last stud. You might find you need to switch wires until you get both motors working in unison i.e. when you switch the points they change in opposite direction - just switch the around until you get them working the right way. Cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge brilliant thanks so much for taking the time to get back to me on this, really helpful again. Hope to crack on with 10 points and motors soon! Fingers crossed! Cheers mike
You don't require the nylon insulated joiners as Peco have effectively isolated the frog by the small plastic parts built into the frog. Peco say in the instructions the Unifrog is ideal for DCC layouts as both routes on the point are live at all time (with the exception of the frog itself). For DC layouts isolated sections will still be required in order to "park trains". Euan
@@timstrainvideos142 Hi Tim I wouldn't imagine a frog juicer would make any difference to wiring the point. I think Peco would argue the Unifrogs are specifically DDC orientated and the use of a frog juicer isn't necessary. Euan
See idk y people don't get that u can take out all that metall underneath and cut an exact area where the metal conjoins and just make a dead spot there. I run just fine like that and I wish peco sold switches as basic like how do it as u can get it.
Hi Ian - I had the same problem when I decided to change over from insulfrog to electofrog. I really do think the unifrog will make it much easier to wire up the electrofrog route if you choose to go down that route. Euan
Just looking at wiring unifrog points and must confess your explanation is the best especially about the small plastic piece taking the place of the insulated fish plates.
Glad it was of some assistance Chris.
Thanks so much. That’s helped me a lot in understanding my new Unifrog points. Looking forward to a larger range coming out!
Thanks Simon , glad it was of benefit to you. Cheers Euan
Superb explanation, confirmed what I'd thought. Looks like Unifrog is the future.
Glad it was useful 👍
Great video. It’s the best explanation yet, very useful. Thank you 👍🏻
Thanks for your comment. I tried to keep the explanation as simple as possible. Cheers Euan
Excellent video, thanks. All is now clear - I wonder why Peco themselves can't put out something like this!
Barrie - my apologies I seem to have missed your comment. Thanks for your kind remarks Euan
Thanks for this video Euan. I've seen a lot of chaff on forums about this change but this is the first time I have seen it so clearly explained. If they are already replacing electrofrog for standard points I will almost certainly get unifrog for the raised section when I come to buy the track later this year. Stephen
Hi Stephen thanks for your comments. I couldn't find any You Tube tutorials on the Unifrog so thought I'd have go myself. I personally didn't realise it's Peco's intention to retire the Insulfrog/Electofrog point range. It will save Peco in production costs over the medium term. They will now only require to produce the Unifrog in either code 80 or code 55. I presume the same will apply across all the track gauges. Euan
Hi Euan, I've heard of uni-frog points but didn't know anything about them, great explanation! and a brilliant idea for N-Gauge! all the best Tony
Hi Tony - yes the Unifrog is a really good idea from Peco. The great thing is the frog is wired which in N gauge quite fiddly to do yourself. Not sure if Peco have replaced all the code 55 range with Unifrog especially as production stopped due to Covid. Cheers Euan
Hi Euan , nice video. I am currently building a N Gauge layout of Ross-on-Wye Station. I wish I'd known that Peco were going to make these, as I modified all my Code 55 points last year (all 30 of them!!) I have cut the rail at the Frog just where the plastic insulator is on the new uni frog, my dropper wires join the stock & closure rails and I have removed the plastic for the Peco mounting plates and those annoying little pimples from the tie bar! So I have pretty much done what Peco have, D'OH! Perhaps one day I might pluck up enough courage to put my Layout on UA-cam!......Cheers Les.
Ouch!! I read about the Unifrog about a year ago but didn't realise Peco were retiring both the Insulfrogs and Electrofrogs. It should vastly improve the slow running potential in N gauge. Euan
These look very good, I wish these had come out before we bought all the electrofrog's! I presume these are in code 55? we do need to get some more points for the yard, so will definitely go with these, thanks for the great explanation and review, I suppose you could paint a silver colour on the plastic isolation parts to make them less noticeable, cheers, Dave
Hi Dave - yes code 55. Not sure how quickly peco are going to take to switch every point over to unifrog. Euan
Fantastic explanation for the unifrog point. You mention wiring the frog to an accessory switch, which accessory switch would you recommend for n gauge. Many thanks Ant
Hi Ant. There are two accessory switch you can use. PL13 or PL15. PL13 is the single accessory switch - so would switch polarity at the frog. Easy to attach to the point motor. PL15 is essentially a double switch - so one half of the switch deals with the polarity at the frog and the other half of the switch can be wired back to lights on a control panel to show which way the point is set to. Pl13 is the easier of the two switches to fit if I'm honest. Any other questions just ask 😊 cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge many thanks, I will look into those 👍
Very helpful, thanks
Glad it was of some use.
Great review, as you say a good improvement for N gauge cheers Paul
Hi Paul - I'd heard about the unifrog but didn't realise Peco were using it to phase out the Insulfrog and Electrofrog points. Think it is a vast improvement on what we had before in N gauge. Cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge Yes i agree ,will take a look at them next time i do a revamp, lets hope they go easy with the price! cheers
Very useful upload well explained thanks
So glad you found it useful
Any risks in painting the insulating bits of the frog with rust and grime and the top with a little bit of shiny steel colour or will that short things out?
Hi Mark. I've painted the plastic bits of Insulfrog points before without any issue so would imagine it would be okay. Euan
Hi did you ever test this unifrog point? Many thanks
Hi Sean - the point is on my layout and has never given me any issues. Cheers Euan
Hi Euan thanks for the helpful explanation on this. I've just bought myself a few and about to wire them up. I've got SEEP PM1 point motors. If you know them, have you wired the frog to the motor to make the frog live and if so, apart from the usual power to each rail from the bus, is there anything else you needed to do? Thanks for any help in advance. Cheers Mike
Hi Mike 👋 I wired the point in exactly the same way as if it was an Electrofrog. Good thing is these points are already prepared at the frog so no struggling in trying to solder a wire to the frog. Hope this helps. Cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge yes it does help thanks Euan. I do have one further question though. Have you set up your point motors to operate together on a crossover from one switch or are they all separate? I’d like to do same but not sure how to do it. So two facing points both switching together for loco to move from one track to the other, Thanks for any help you can spare Mike
@@ksldHi Mike - yes every set of crossover points are operated as a single entity. I use studs and probe on a mimic diagram. On the diagram for a crossover there are three studs. One is positioned in the middle between the two running lines - when this touched the two points will switch in unison to allow a loco to move across from one track to the other. The other two studs are on the diagram lines that represent the two running lines. Doesn't matter which you touch they will switch both points back to the main running lines. To wire you simply ( I use Peco PL10's) link the two wires on one side of the motor to one side of the other motor. From this second motor take the two wires back to the three studs. One wire will go to the single stud in the middle and the other goes to one of the other two studs. Link a wire from this second stud to the last stud. You might find you need to switch wires until you get both motors working in unison i.e. when you switch the points they change in opposite direction - just switch the around until you get them working the right way. Cheers Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge brilliant thanks so much for taking the time to get back to me on this, really helpful again. Hope to crack on with 10 points and motors soon! Fingers crossed! Cheers mike
Great video and review
Hope it gave a simple overview. Euan
great video. where do the insulated joiners go now then if using on a dcc layout?
You don't require the nylon insulated joiners as Peco have effectively isolated the frog by the small plastic parts built into the frog. Peco say in the instructions the Unifrog is ideal for DCC layouts as both routes on the point are live at all time (with the exception of the frog itself). For DC layouts isolated sections will still be required in order to "park trains". Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge ok great thanks that is easy to remember then!
would use of a frog juicer to automatically change polarity make any difference to how you would wire up a unifrog point?
@@timstrainvideos142 Hi Tim I wouldn't imagine a frog juicer would make any difference to wiring the point. I think Peco would argue the Unifrogs are specifically DDC orientated and the use of a frog juicer isn't necessary. Euan
@@thegrowler-blackwoodngauge ok great many thanks. i have got some unifrogs for my new layout so will try out wiring up soon.
See idk y people don't get that u can take out all that metall underneath and cut an exact area where the metal conjoins and just make a dead spot there. I run just fine like that and I wish peco sold switches as basic like how do it as u can get it.
That’s a really good idea Euan! I am still tryin* to get m6 head around electro frog, haha. ian
Hi Ian - I had the same problem when I decided to change over from insulfrog to electofrog. I really do think the unifrog will make it much easier to wire up the electrofrog route if you choose to go down that route. Euan
I don't like the look of those. They don't look real.
Hi Stephen. What is it you don't like about the Unifrog?