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wiring for scratchbuilt turntable

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  • Member since
    June 2004
  • From: From Golden, CO living in Puyallup (Seattle), WA
  • 751 posts
Posted by Renegade1c on Thursday, November 30, 2006 11:35 PM
What i do for my turntable is a split ring system. No Auto reveser is needed. when you install your ring rail make two cuts across from each other. have a pick up on each side of your turntable and now you have an automatic auto reverser. works just fine for DCC. the only thing that would really make a difference is if you are running sound locos. it would cutout for a second. but this saves you money and you don't have to buy an auto reverser. it has worked on the club layout I belong to for more than twenty years (it even worked when the club switched to DCC.)


Colorado Front Range Railroad: 
http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/

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  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: East Granby, CT, USA
  • 505 posts
Posted by jim22 on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 11:08 PM
Thanks for the info.  I will plan air gaps at the bridge rails.  I plan to rotate the table manually, so no motor or indexing required.  I agree a precision axel/bearing are needed, and I do plan to stabalize the bridge with a rail in the pit and wipers (although not electrically active) on the bridge.  I have a friend with a layout where I can see some examples.

Jim

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Southwest US
  • 12,914 posts
Posted by tomikawaTT on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 1:13 AM

The bridge rails and the lead rails have to be air-gapped for mechanical as well as electrical reasons, unless your workmanship rivals that of Rolls Royce for precision.  I would lay the lead and stall tracks AFTER the turntable is in and de-bugged, with about a 1/16 inch (in HO) gap and something like a spikehead or several soldered to every rail to prevent creep.

In theory, a stereo plug would work for both an axle and an electrical connector - but, how are you planning to power the turntable.  Applying torque to the plastic sleeve of the plug could tend to unscrew it from the pin.  Also, since the stereo jack gives very little anti-tilt capability, the bridge would have to ride on the carrier rails around the edges of the pit.  Either that, or carry the bridge on a more serious bearing and use slip rings on the central pedestal for power transmission.  (Since you specified DCC, the old analog DC trick of using a split carrier rail would confuse your decoder when the power is interrupted, which it will be as the table turns.)

I, personally, use analog DC - and bicycle wheel hubs and axles for center bearings.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September 1964 - one turntable operating, one to be built)

  • Member since
    February 2005
  • From: Vancouver Island, BC
  • 23,330 posts
Posted by selector on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 1:08 AM

Jim, that is my understanding, as well.  Any reversing loop, of which the TT's tracks are one, must be physically isolated from the rest of the layout.  The air gap you mention is just the ticket, although you need to take some care to ensure there is not too large a gap between the approach rails to the bridge and the bridge rails.  Making the engine wobble because of slight misalignment in azimuth is one thing, but making it wobble because of misalignment due to height or an overly large gap is going to look sloppy.

The turntable I have, the 90' Walthers one, has two brass rings on the bridge's axle, or pivot, that are separated by a plastic spacer to keep them in position and apart. The axle is hollow, so small wires soldered to the brass rings can be fed up through the axle, up through the bridge ties, and nestled and soldered against the rails.  This part of my kit has worked flawlessly.  The phone jack idea has been mentioned here before, and I believe Randy Rinker cautioned about the type because one of them is not suitable.  Maybe he will respond soon and remind me which is the one.

Edit- I erred in stating that the wires are soldered to the brass slip rings.  They are not.  They are connected to copper wipers that are held against the brass rings from their separate moorings on the sidewall of the motor housing.  The copper wipers are placed in such a way that they are under tension, like leaf springs, against the brass rings.  Inside the rings, on their inner surfaces, is where two more fine insulated wires are run up the hollow pivot and soldered at the far ends to their respective rails.  Sorry for the confusion.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Conemaugh Division
  • 389 posts
Posted by Pennsy58 on Tuesday, November 28, 2006 1:07 AM

This is how I wired mine. A main bus to the roundhouse area. I connected the bus wires to a terminal plate. Then I wired seperate feeders to each track in the roundhouse from the terminal plate. Lastly I ran feeder wires to the turntable rails themselves from the terminal. Before the wiring gets to the turntable I wired in an autoreverser. Yes you must have a gap between the turntable rails and the rails going into the roundhouse. If they touch the system will either sense a short and shut down or the reverser will keep tripping. Just enough gap so that the turntable can move has been sufficient for me. Never expirienced an arc across the gap so far.

As for power to the turntable to turn it, I haven't gone to DCC with that. I power it by using an old power pack wired to the turntable motor.

I did not do this but I've seen where some people also have a switch for the roundhouse tracks so they can turn off power to the roundhouse thereby taking the parked engines off line to reduce power consumption or prevent sound equipped engines from making noise when you dont want them to.

  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: East Granby, CT, USA
  • 505 posts
wiring for scratchbuilt turntable
Posted by jim22 on Monday, November 27, 2006 10:51 PM
I'm going to build a turntable for my layout.  I'm using DCC and I think I'll wire it with an auto-reverser circuit.  How does the trackwork and wiring work out for these things?  I'm thinking there needs to be an air-gap between the rails on the table and the fixed lead rails so they cannot touch when the table is rotated - is that true?  One suggestion I've had is to use a 1/4 inch phone jack and plug as a mechanical  axel and electrical connection to the rotating rails.

Thanks,
Jim

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