242 Tower to Tortoise Switch Machine 16, Come in 16...
THIS is how REAL LIONS do it!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Here is a single hookup for a tortoise switch machine and a CVP stationary decoder. A separate Accessory Decoder Circuit is always a good idea. A short on the track bus would disable everything unless a separate bus was available to keep turnout power alive.
Using LEDs hooked back to back allows them to indicate the polarity of power to the panel indicators. Adding a resistor in series would slow down switch machine operating speed. A rheostat can be temporarily wired in series to see what resistance value suits you.
The pushbutton allows independent control of the turnout while it will still function correctly using DCC control.
adkfishI am planning to use tortoise switch machines on my layout.... They all instruct you to hook up to a 12v DC power supply but neglect to say where. Can I use the DCC bus wires to tap in the switch machines? Or do I need another independent source?
Except you need to rectify it, since the Tortoise needs DC. ANd like powering DCC turnout decoders from the same bus as the track - if you short running into a turnout, you loose power to actually operate the turnout and correct the situation.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
While you have to use an accessory decoder if you want to connect a Tortoise to the DCC bus, and while it is true that amps are precious, this business of not connecting them to the DCC bus is a little overdone. Assuming that the Tortoise will require 20 milliamps to operate continuously, that means that you can operate 50 of them before making a one amp dent.
thanks for the simple diagram. I probably won't be including any signal lights on the righ-of-way since the period I am modeling is 1900 and earlier but I do plan indicator lights on the control panel. thanks again for your help.
Well, if you're no electrician, good luck understanding the diagrams posted so far.
As Mister Beasley said, use the DC power supply, not your DCC bus wires, to power your Tortoises.
The best way to do this is to use a DPDT switch to control the movement of the Tortoise from left to right and right to left.
Here is a simple schematic on how to wire it including a bi-polar LED to indicate the position of the turnout.
Rich
Alton Junction
This is the way I wired up a display switching layout. It interfaces with a control panel the public uses via pushbuttons on the panel. It can also be controlled via routing on the accessory decoders. These can also be controlled individually using the accessory decoder address.
Connections to the Tortoise machines is not by the PCB edge connectors normally used, but by the same method shown in the Model Railroader book "Trackwork and Lineside Detail". It used to be cheap and easy to use the 8 pin PCB edge connectors Tortoise machines were originally designed for. The headers I used are less than a dollar for the part soldered to the circuit board fingers. The other parts needed are also cheap. The whole thing costs a fraction of the 8 or 10 pin PCB edge connectors.
One thing Tortoise did when they designed the machine was placing the motor leads on pins 1 and 8. If the header is reversed, all it does is reverse the direction of the motor; no damage. Same thing with the relay contacts.
Tortoise Connection
Wiring Diagram
Well, the LION has posted his Tortoise instructions so many times him thinks to put them on his own website and just reference it here. In any event Tortoise machines do not draw much current, and you can put many of them on a single wall-wart, though of course the LION would use two of them, just because LIONS like to keep things SIMPLE!
Here is LION'S diagram for Aux Power. Instead of using the big transformers shown, just use two wall warts and wire them as shown. Be SURE to GROUND the Common line, if not to a grounding outlet, then at least to a water pipe. LION uses this Aux Power for many things and stray voltages on the common will cause mysterious sequale. If you use the wall warts then you do not need those rectifiers that are shown below.
From there wiring your control pane becomes much more simple:
And it gives you so many options out on the layout. In addition to the signals shown you can also set out relays to control signal logic and/or track power routings.
DCC power is a modulated square wave, not DC. For that reason alone, you don't want to use it. Also, consider your DCC power to be a precious commodity. It should only be used for track power, as it will quickly be used up if you start adding other things to it.
I power my Tortoise machines with a 9-volt DC wall wart from some forgotten appliance. The instructions say 12 volts, but I find that running them at 9 volts gives a slower motion that I prefer.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I am planning to use tortoise switch machines on my layout. I am no electrician but I can follow most of the directions I have found on line. They all instruct you to hook up to a 12v DC power supply but neglect to say where. Can I use the DCC bus wires to tap in the switch machines? Or do I need another independent source?