I don't recall having seen much, if any, discussion on the Micro-Mark Switch Tender in this forum. I know, the Tortoise is heavily favoured, but I was interested in what appeared to be the very simple mounting method for the Switch Tender. I decided to buy one and check it out thoroughly. I model in N scale, BTW.
When it arrived, I found that the supplied wire wasn't long enough to go through my 1/2" plywood with 2" of foam on top. So, I e-mailed Micro-Mark asking for the specs on the wire so I could buy longer lengths locally. They replied very promptly with the specs for both kinds of wire and the tubing. Now that's what I call customer service!
The instructions are very clear with lots of closeup photographs. They supply two kinds of wire, brass wire for a direct connection to the turnout and steel wire and brass tubing to make an extension if the turnout is already installed. I was able to remove the turnout--an Atlas manual turnout--and drill a hole and use the direct method with the brass wire. The only drawback to using a longer wire is that the top end of the wire moves a longer distance for a smaller rotation of the motor. The motor barely turns to move an N scale turnout with just over 2 1/2" of wire. However, that doesn't seem to be a problem for either the motor or the turnout.
They supply a 1 watt resistor to limit the current through the motor. The motor draws just under 70 mA when stalled which dissapates almost 3/4 of a watt of power in the resistor at 12 volts. The resistor gets quite warm, so a 2 watt resistor may be better if it's in a confined space. I found that the motor operated reliably down to 9 or 10 volts drawing about 50 mA at 10 volts. It also operated reliably with resistor values as high as 270 ohms. The supplied resistor is 150 ohms.
I also found that once the points are thrown, they will stay in place with the power removed. The mechanical resistance of the motor holds the points against the stock rail more firmly than even Peco's over the centre spring. That was a pleasant surprise for me as it meant I could use momentary toggle switches just like for all my twin-coil switch machines and I wouldn't have to be concerned about the resistor getting too warm and I wouldn't have to use a higher amperage power source for these turnouts. (I have my own method of lighting the indicator lights on the control panels.) This may not be the case using the steel wire to make an extension if the turnout is already in place as the linkage between the steel wire extension and the motor is a loose one.
The one screw mounting was easy and didn't seem to be too critical. The motor and mounting bracket can be adjusted slightly after mounting to fine tune the action.
If it sounds like I'm a fan of the Switch Tender, I am now. (I suppose I should say that I've got no connection with Micro-Mark in any way.) I would like to hear comments, both good and bad, from anyone else who has used these switch machines.
..... Bob
Beam me up, Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here. (Captain Kirk)
I reject your reality and substitute my own. (Adam Savage)
Resistance is not futile--it is voltage divided by current.
No comments from here yet, but thank you Bob for your review. I am sure that many of us will find it useful. For now I like the tortoise but if the prices drift further apart I may just try a couple.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
Jack W.
Seamonster - I was really interested in your review as I have bought 10 of them but have yet to install any. I was also interested in Tony's review but you seem to have addressed many of their concerns favorably?
As to the wire length, I think I will also have the same troubles. What were Micromark's answers? My other worry is whether they will stay affixed to construction board, so I have mounted one to see if the weight will make it fall. Not sure that the test will answer the question under operations.
Micro-Mark didn't reply specifically to any of my comments on the Switch Tender. They just thanked me and said that they forwarded it on to someone. My high school physics and geometry were a very long time ago, but I would think that the longer the actuating wire, the stronger the pressure on the points is going to be. Maybe the method described for installing on a turnout which is already in place could be modified to decrease the pressure. I'm thinking that if the brass wire loop on the motor shaft were pointing down instead of up, it could be made longer and thus would have to turn farther to rotate the steel wire that goes up to the turnout. I'll have to try that next time. I don't know what you mean by "construction board" Jake, so I can't respond to that. I've got 1/2" plywood under my foam and they hold really well in that, of course. (I know foam can be used by itself, but I wanted something to attach wire clamps and electronic pc boards to, and Switch Tenders, of course.)
I read Tony's review and posted some comments on it, but that post seems to have vanished into thin air. Gosh, I don't think I said anything I shouldn't have in it. I'll try again. Tony has good points about the differences between the Tortoise and the Switch Tender. The Switch Tender can't replace the Tortoise in all applications. It's not suited for DCC if you use the DCC buss for switch machines, it doesn't have contacts for frog and signal powering and it pushes pretty hard, as well as a few other things. One would have to use a separate power supply for them. Now, the higher current issue can be gotten around by using momentary switches as I plan to do. Not everybody will find the Switch Tenders to their liking just as not everybody finds twin-coil or Tortoise machines suitable for their circumstances. I just wanted to share what I had learned about the Switch Tender because I don't recall seeing any posts about it here and see if I could get some comments or helpful hints from others who have used them and if I've helped anyone decide for or against using them, then that's a bonus.
Well, whatever this 1/2" board material is that I got at Lowes, it is stouter than cork but a pressed product with an upper and lower paper skin. If it doesn't work, I will have to pull up all the sections and put a layer of fascia board below. Already I have had to move some cabinetry as I forgot about the many yard switches hanging down.
As far as "the wire", I thought you meant the power wires. Oops! at the wheel
I am concerned about what you say about powering them. I do use DCC and was planning on running power from the main buss wires through a 3P2T switch. What is the issue there? A separate power buss just adds complexity and $ to me. I was planning on using a second pwer buss for districting but that wouldn't workm either??
Thanks for the help, Seamonster
Your right. I haven't seen much about those here on the forum. Thanks for the review! I assume there's no provision for frog contacts?? One of the reasons I'm leaning towards the Rix machines. (THAT and the fact I can get them for $6!)
Don't feel bad. I've had 2 post "disappear" for no apparent reason in the last couple days...