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Keep your frogs happy with our frog juicers!


Frog Juicers are also available at Fast Tracks


 

Read the review in the February 2010 Model Railroader

View Model Railroader's video of how frog juicers were installed on their Bay Junction project layout

A review of the frog juicer at the RailfanX Blog
How to wire a large complex layout with Block Detectors and Circuit Breakers.
Advanced Dual Frog Juicer Information

You can use the Dual Frog Jucier as an autnomatic polarity reversal unit for either 2 frogs, for a Reversing Section, or as a Circuit Breaker.
To use for a reverser, you put ON (across both gold pins) the Pair Outputs jumper.  This forces the two outputs to stay opposite in polarity. (If they are both the same polarity then current will not flow and the locomotive will be off.)
Note: If there is no CB jumper then the dual is too old to use as a circuit breaker.

The following features work on the latest model fo the DFJ - it will have holes marke 1A, 1B,C 2A,2B on the edge of the board.

If for some reason you end up with two cascaded dual frog juicers - that is the input of one is coming off the output of another frog juicer you can force the first DFJ to delay slightly to allow the second one to switch first.  Add a wire jumper across the two holes marked "DE" right next to the blue input connector on the first DFJ.

To use as a circuit breaker you jumper a wire across the 2 holes marked "CB".  This also turns on the delay so putting a jumper across DE will have no effect if CB is jumpered.  The trip level can be 2A or 4A.  We receommend trying 2A first but if you are having trouble with the board thinking there are shorts when there is a heavy load you can change to 4A.

A DFJ/Circuit Breaker makes an excellent protection device for the mono, dual and hex frog juicers. It has been carefully balanced to work seamlessly as a circuit breaker for our other juicers.  If you have a large investment in hex frog juicers you will want to consider adding a CFJ upstream of the juicer inputs.

The holes marked 1A,1B,C,2A,2B are used for indicator LEDs.  The resistors for the LEDs are built in to the boards.  How to wire these up is covered in the manual.

Please note - Frog Juicers are DCC (Digital Command Control) devices ONLY.  They will not work with DC or 3-rail.  They will work with most all DCC systems, Lenz, Roco, NCE, Digitrax, Zymo, MRC, CVP.  If you don't see your DCC system here, don't worry, there are just too many to list them all!

Alas, they will not work with the Bachmann EZ-DCC system or the SPROG II as they do not have enough power to reach the 1.7 Amp switching threshold.  However, if you use one or our boosters then you can use frog juicers and other auto-reversers with these systems.


Peco Electrofrog Update- All Frog Juicers have both been modified to work with Peco electrofrog turnouts (and other power-routing turnouts) as they come. You still need to insulate the Peco electrofrog turnouts as in the instructions that come with the turnout.  Peco Insulfrogs do not need a frog juicer as the frog is plastic and cannot be powered.
 
Video of the Hex Frog Juicer in action.

I designed this board originally with the prompting of Ted Pamperin and Craig Bisgeier.  Ted was so thrilled with the product that he and Dave Ramos made this video testimonial.

Don't cut up that nice PECO turnout!

There is no need to cut gaps and such on your PECO turnouts if you use frog juicers to power them! Instead just attach a frog juicer output to each silver wire lead on the bottom of the PECO and you are good to go.  The frog juicer will take care of the polarity issues. 


  
Wiring Diagram for the HFJ (Click to Enlarge)

Wiring Diagram

Here is how the Hex Frog Juicer is wired to your frogs.

A single wire goes to each frog.  Track power goes in at the other end of the board.
Crossing Wiring
Here's how to wire a crossing for automatic polarity control.  It requires 2 circuits on the Hex Fog Juicer.  Two of the frogs diagonally across from each other can be ungapped.  The other two need to gapped and polarity controlled with each frog connected to its own auto-reverser circuit.

Please note that commercial crossings often have a different arrangement of gaps and many have plastic frogs that cannot be powered with a frog juicer (or at all).
Crossover Wiring Diagram. This is a "DCC-friendly" style crossing. Please make sure yours has gaps like this on before wiring.
Note: Jumper On, Yellow Orange are paired and blue, green are paired. See Manual.
Double Crossover Wiring Diagram Style I crossover. Not all crossovers are wired like this - look carefully at yours noting the gap positions before wiring.
Double Crossover Wiring Diagram Style II crossover. The crossing frogs are either plastic or are gapped - no metal point. Not all crossovers are wired like this - look carefully at yours noting the gap positions before wiring.
Double crossover with a return section. If you have a doggone and you add a double crossover you will encounter this situation
Double crossover with an attached loop wiring.
Shinohara Double Crossover (new style)

You can use a Dual Frog Juicer (DFJ) or 2 outputs of a Hex Frog Juicer or 2 Mono Frog Juicers to power the frogs on this crossover.  Connect the 2 blue cricled frogs to one output and the 2 red circled frogs to the other output.  In the straight through direction the frogs will have the same polarity.  In the crossover direction the train uses only one of the paired frogs - the other direction is a collision. So even though the frogs technically should be different polarities, in practice they can be paired together and save on frog juicer outputs.
This trick can be used on other brands of double crossover.
Helix with wye wiring. The distance between gaps reds to be longer than a train.

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