Hello,
Preparing to install some Tortoise machines and I want to operate them from fascia panels using toggle switches. Back in the 80s I used the big reliable and robust automotive paddle type from the local R.S. on a 4x8 layout, overkill for sure, but never failed and were kid friendly. This layout will not see many little hands and need to use smaller switches. Last trip to my local R.S. turned out to be an effort in futility, their supply of DIY electronic parts was bleak at best and the clerk thought I was speaking Martian when I asked for a barrier terminal block, not your father's R.S. anymore. I digress.
Internet search turns up mini toggle switches priced from less than a dollar to over $8 each. Needing 30+ switches the ones for less than a dollar are tempting, but at that price quality and reliability seem suspect.
advice and or references would be appreciated.
Thanks, Peter
I just bought some of the mini toggle dpdt for Tortoise switch machines and I got 20 of them for just under 12.00 and they work great. A better price than your local R.S. for sure. Jim.
I hear you. I checked the local hardware and electronics store and smaller SPDT they were around the $4.00 mark.
I checked the net I found similar toggle switches for $1.25 each, I ordered what I needed and with postage they were $1.55 each.
I later compared them to the local stores switches and the ones I ordered were superior, they appear to be more of a heavy duty construction.
How can you shop local when faced with that type of price difference?
MPJ is one of my favorite suppliers of switches and LED's.
http://www.mpja.com/Category/Switches/Toggle_Switches/Toggle_Switches-Switches.asp
I use the ones that have the 1/4 inch mounting.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
LION buys most of his switches from All Electronics (an MR advertiser) they are cheap and work well, and if one goes bad it is cheap enough to replace it than it is to buy a fleet of more expensive ones.
The LION also does use mini-toggles, but these are in locations and for reasons that do not invite frequent manipulation. LIONS have big furry paws and so like big switches. I am thinking of automotive type switches again were I to do something other than what I already have. The LION has built a 1:1 model of a GRS model-5 interlocking plant.---you probably do not want to do this, but you may find that you like the idea of using the automotive switches in the same lever arrangement as the model-5 machine. In this way you would have toggles for both switch machines and interlocking signals. The signals get the red switches and are located on either end of the lever row while the switch machines get the black switches are are in middle of the row. I like the idea of controlling the home signals separately. I wish I had done more of this on my layout, but LIONS do not plan ahead, they just go ahead and build and then improvise as needed. But that is just what LIONS do, experts around here do otherwise, and they say they have better grammer too.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion LIONS have big furry paws and so like big switches . . . But that is just what LIONS do, experts around here do otherwise, and they say they have better grammer too.
It's not that, it's that keyboards are not paw friendly!
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
I also got DPDT on-on mini toggles (MTS-8) and bicolor 2 leg LEDs (LED-6) from All Electronics. The toggles were $1.60 each and the LEDs $0.50 each. Also bought 5-position dual row terminal strips (TS-205) at $1.66 each. I needed 5 terminal for the 2 switch motor connections and 3 spots for the frog powering contacts. The terminal strip was located near the prewired tortoise so I could hook up the tortoise wires to one side and the control panel motor wires and the track feeder wires (for the frog) to the other side of the T.S.
I mounted my toggles and LEDs on an aluminum control panel per a Jan 2012 MR article, assisted by forum pointers. A fun project. The soldering of these relatively small switches is a bit challenging. I also purchased 2-part LED mounts (HLED-4) to insert into the aluminum hole, though all that was needed was one of the 2 pieces of each mounting set. They were $12 each. I don't recall the hole sizes required. Consider the LED addition as it's easy and a neat feature. I also used their 24AWG red/black auto zip wire ($0.11/ft) for the tortoise power wires.
http://imageshack.us/a/img33/2620/img2230nz.jpg
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I use the 1/4" diameter mount toggles on my panels as well. I also draw the track plan on the backside of the panel to aid in keeping wires and toggles in the proper place. My toggles were from All-Electronics and very inexpensive.
-Bob
Life is what happens while you are making other plans!
peahrens I also got DPDT on-on mini toggles (MTS-8) and bicolor 2 leg LEDs (LED-6) from All Electronics. The toggles were $1.60 each and the LEDs $0.50 each. Also bought 5-position dual row terminal strips (TS-205) at $1.66 each. I needed 5 terminal for the 2 switch motor connections and 3 spots for the frog powering contacts. The terminal strip was located near the prewired tortoise so I could hook up the tortoise wires to one side and the control panel motor wires and the track feeder wires (for the frog) to the other side of the T.S. I mounted my toggles and LEDs on an aluminum control panel per a Jan 2012 MR article, assisted by forum pointers. A fun project. The soldering of these relatively small switches is a bit challenging. I also purchased 2-part LED mounts (HLED-4) to insert into the aluminum hole, though all that was needed was one of the 2 pieces of each mounting set. They were $12 each. I don't recall the hole sizes required. Consider the LED addition as it's easy and a neat feature. I also used their 24AWG red/black auto zip wire ($0.11/ft) for the tortoise power wires. http://imageshack.us/a/img33/2620/img2230nz.jpg Missing a decimal point, I think. The led holder would be $.12 each...