Peco turnout motor (PL10) troubleshooting for N scale

[Anonymous]

[:)]I've got a dozen or so of these attached to N scale Insulfrog turnouts. The motors worked fine in the test bench, but now that they're attached to the underside of the turnouts they just don't seem to have the umph to move the points...anyone else have this experience? How'd ya fix it?!?

[snowey]

I had the same exact problem, then, upon closer examination, i found that the wires had come loose from where they were soldered to the lugs. Maybe that's what's wrong. O ther than that, I don't know what to suggest. I'm sure someone else on here can help you out, though. I'm sure that Andy Sperandeo knows. Andy, you reading this?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Snowey. I'll check to make sure the feeder wires haven't come loose. Intuitively, though, the problem strikes me as more mechanical than electrical. The spring that holds the points seems to have too much tension for the strength of the electromagnet. I re-read the info sheet included with the Peco turnout and motor, and made sure to cut off the extra mounting lug (I thought that maybe the torque of having the turnout "racked" onto the motor's flanges was causing the problem. This one's really bugging me...

[Anonymous]

I could never get Pecos mounted underneath the layout to throw the switches all the way. I tried a capacitor unit, which boosts power somewhat, but it was still not 100% reliable. Of course, I was thowing from below 1/2 each of homosote and plywood. I have seen them work when attached directly to the track, like they were designed.

I have no trouble with surface mounted Peco switch machines, and do so wherever possible, covering them with scenery of some type. All of those are still clicking after 13 years of use. I have replace all yard swithes, etc. with hand throws, usually caboose industries ground throws.

[BR60103]

If you have mounted the machines directly under the turnout, you may need to slacken off the spring that holds the points over. There is a little doohickey just beyond the points in the middle of the rails held down by a metal clip (or clips). If you CAREFULLY open the clip you should be able to slide this doohickey just a tiny bit down and get less spring pressure. Pu***he clip in place again.
(I'm writing from memory and assuming that the N gauge turnout is the same as the HO.)

[Pennsy58]

The spring adjustment mentioned worked for me in the past. They do not seem to be produced with springs that have the same tension all the time. Doohickey is my term for the hickeydoo thing too....

[Anonymous]

Scrap the PECO Switch Machine and the Spring on the turnout that holds the points and use a Circuitron- Tortoise Slow Motion Machine!

[der5997]

No need to scrap the perfectly fine Peco motor. the problem may be in the current supply to the motor. Are you using a capacitor discharge unit in your circuit? If not, have a try. All my Peco machines work like a charm with the cd unit, even if they burr and stutter on ordinary 15 volt AC. Klambach's Electronic projects for model railroaders 1 or 2 has the cuircuits. Easy to build, and a great help.

[Anonymous]

I'd agree with the last response - there's nothing wrong with the Peco switch machines - they're considerably cheaper than the Tortoise versions! It is important to have a decent power supply to them - I had endless trouble with the same units in HO until I changed my transformer/controller unit for one with a little more power!

[der5997]

The Tortoise is great for a slow motion effect as the point rails move. Also the contact is good, so I've been told since there is a constant pressure from the motor. My powered Peco turnouts are where I can't get at them to change them by hand as I follow my trains around. (That's mainly passing sidings in tunnels[:O]) So, I don't need the slow motion effect. The Capacitor discharge unit ensures a snappy contact, and the built in spring in the Peco turnout keeps the contact firm. I also like the small knob on the end of the trowbar that makes manual operation easy, while not being obtrusive visually.