All my switches are hooked up to digitrax stationary decoders (DS-64) so I just have a powersupply that feeds the decoders and in turn feed the Tortoise motors.
Pick up the latest Model Railroader! Great article about hooking up switch motors for yard route control without DCC....Great article. You'd find it interesting if you are looking to wire up a yard or two and don't want the stationary decoders.
Allegheny2-6-6-6I have been reading a lot about wiring Tortoise swm with stationary decoder’s etc. and have been contemplating this myself but I have several yards where this would prove to be impractical let alone costly. So I have noticed according to the instructions that come with the Tortoise there are several ways one can hook them up with a toggle switch. AC or DC powered with diodes when using AC etc. My question is there any advantage to wiring toggle switches one way over another? What power sources is better AC off the main buss or a separate stand alone power supply? DC or AC power?
A separate 12VDC supply, if you are going the toggle switch route. I have multiple yards with stationary decoders. Yes, it is a bit pricey but for me, it was worth it.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
Allegheny2-6-6-6So I have noticed according to the instructions that come with the Tortoise there are several ways one can hook them up with a toggle switch. AC or DC powered with diodes when using AC etc. My question is there any advantage to wiring toggle switches one way over another? What power sources is better AC off the main buss or a separate stand alone power supply? DC or AC power?
The DCC main power bus is your most expensive power source. My advice is to limit the DCC main power bus to track power only. This also has the advantage that you can still throw your turnouts when the track has been short-circuited. Not being able to throw a turnout that is causing a short circuit because the DCC power is shut down would be a real bummer to me. For these 2 reasons, I recommend an independent power supply and an independent means available to throw your turnouts besides the DCC system.
The Tortoise machines work quite well from 500ma (or smaller depending on number of turnouts) DC wall warts with outputs in the 9-12 volt range. If you use an AC source, you need diodes somewhere in the circuits to convert the power to DC.
A final comment: let the chosen setup suit your operating preferences.
Do you want or need to be able to throw the turnouts from more than one location? If so, use a wiring setup that allows parallel toggles or push buttons.
Do you need the toggle to show the turnout's position? Or will you use indicator lights? Or will you just look at the turnout to see that it's thrown correctly? Again, adjust your wiring scheme to reflect your preferred practice.
my thoughts, your choices
Fred W
I'm not so much as concerned with the cost but with the situation where lets say you need to make an emergency stop and your in aux. mode to switch a turnout your basiclly screwed. I do like the option of running both the stationary decoder and the switch. That would give you the best of both worlds nodoubt. I have many places on the layout where stationary decoders will be used but I figured in places like a yard or a servicng area (roundhouse) an operator will be standing right there so a toggel switch will be a better choice. I eventually hope to have a working signaling system on the layout but do like the option of either lighted toggels or LED indicators on the panel.
Thanks for the input.
Oh, yeah! When I made the switch (no pun intended) from analog to DCC I kept the old power pack, just in case I wanted to test run a loco before installing a decoder. Now I use the fixed DC line for all my Tortoise powered turnouts (staging, main sidings, the spurs are all hand throw) using a DPDTCO toggle mounted on the fascia, with the toggle throw oriented to the turnout direction . I used blue and brown wires to differentiate from the black and red DCC power bus and drops. Hint: I also use a 2 pole barrier strip for each Ttortoise in case I have to replace it or reverse it due to orientation. John Colley, Port Townsend, WA
A 12 volt wall wart (from a defunct battery-powered whatever) will power several Tortoise machines. I just grabbed one (from a power drill) that's actually rated 15V, 2.33Amp - enough power for more than 150 tortoises. Most are in the 0.5Amp range, still enough to handle 20 or so machines.
If your wall wart produces AC, you can use two 50V 3Amp diodes to split it into + and - DC and reduce your toggles to SPDT. LEDs can be put in the switched legs of the circuit for panel indicators.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
I use DC from a separate old train transformer for all my toggles, panel lights, etc.
Hal
I used two DC supplies, both 12 volt, connected to give a neutral, a plus 12 volt bus and a minus 12 v bus. The supplies were cheap, one from All Electronics, one from the junk box. I mounted SPST toggle switches on the fascia, each switch as near to the turnout it controls as possible. I put back to back red and green LED's in series with the motor lead to give an indication of turnout position. I used connectors on the tortoise machines and simply swapped the connector end for end until I obtained green for straight thru and red for the diverging route.
The LED's work OK although I have had a couple of them pop. When that happens the tortoise stops working and the LED's must be replaced to get the tortoise to run again. I think maybe I just weeded out some weak LED's, the layout have been stable for a month now. The tortoise current is on the high side for LED's, 20-25 mA. Was I doing it again, I'd think real hard about using the Tortoise auxilary contacts to drive the LED's and use a resistor big enough to limit LED current to 10 mA. That means more wiring, but it might be more reliable.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Allegheny2-6-6-6My question is there any advantage to wiring toggle switches one way over another?
AC - PRO: only one wire between switch and turnout, SPDT switches, simplified wiring in panel and at turnouts as there can be common wires. CON: need diodes (but can use LEDs), control from two locations can be tricky.
bi-polar DC - PRO: only one wire between switch and turnout. SPDT switches, simplified wiring in panel and at turnouts as there can be common wires. CON: need bi-polar DC supply or two separate supplies, control from two locations requires special wiring like a 2-way house circuit.
Straight DC - PRO: most people understand the "reversing switch" concept even when there are two control locations. CON: requires two wires from switch to turnout, control from two locations requires special wiring and two wires between the two control locations, requires DPDT switches, no common bus.
Personally, for turnouts that get thrown often (like a yard lead, ladder, and main line passing tracks) I have started using center-off momentary-contact switches. This in conjunction with either the AC or bi-polar DC methods makes it easy to control the turnout from multiple locations with only one wire from each electrical switch to the turnout. It also avoids the problem of having a electrical switch handle pointing the opposite way that the turnout is thrown.