I'm new to all of this and I'm in the process of wiring up an HO layout and was wondering if someone could advise me on what type and size of wire to use when wiring a Tortoise machine to a control panel.
tortoise motor draw about the same amount of current as an LED, so small gauge wire (e.g. #22) can be used.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
For the long runs between the control panel and the turnout, I like 4-conductor telephone wire from a big box store. I'm not sure if they still have it. It's cheaper than 2-conductor on a spool, and works for Tortoises and twin-coils. The frog wire, of course, is green and the two power wires to the frog are black and red, matching my color code for the two main track bus wires. Ordinary hook up wire for those.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
gregc tortoise motor draw about the same amount of current as an LED, so small gauge wire (e.g. #22) can be used.
Rich
Alton Junction
I use 4 pair twisted 23 ga cat 5 cable
Our club used #24 telephone wire because we had a lot on hand. A 3mm bi colore red/green LED in series with one lead told us wich route. No resistor needed. 12vdc supply. I think we finally regulated to 9 vdc. for slower action. Been some years.
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
I use #22 AWG wires to the connector on the Tortoise itself.
For track power, this seems too light for me, so I add a pair of heavier contact switches for power routing and use #16 AWG wires on those.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
FlattenedQuarter I use 4 pair twisted 23 ga cat 5 cable
I second this. I use a single pair per tortoise. thats 4 tortoises per cable.
Colorado Front Range Railroad: http://www.coloradofrontrangerr.com/
SeeYou190 I use #22 AWG wires to the connector on the Tortoise itself. For track power, this seems too light for me, so I add a pair of heavier contact switches for power routing and use #16 AWG wires on those. -Kevin
This is way overkill...Your "add on" contacts are completely reduntant to the built in contacts of the the tortoise. The tortoise contacts STATIC (no motion) rating is 4 amps. The switching rating (motion) is only 1 amp but this should only apply say if a locomotive is sitting on a frog when the switch moves. Even then most modern locomotives don't draw more than an amp of current even at stall.
From Circuitrons datasheet on the tortoise "These auxiliary switches can switch a maximum of one (1) amp of current (they can safely carry 4 amps on each contact set) and can switch either AC or DC loads."
If you have a completely isolated frog (Atlas, for example) or a new unifrog/modified Peco (which I do, can provide how to on this) the internal contacts are more than sufficient. You will never have an issue with the 1 amp switching current limit.
By fully isolating the frog you also eliminate the possibility of the point rail making contact with the stock rail before the contact of the tortoise switch which would create a temporary short and exceed the rating of the contacts.
Renegade1cThis is way overkill...Your "add on" contacts are completely reduntant to the built in contacts of the the tortoise.
The second, very important feature, of the add-on switches (and why there are two of them), is that they "break before make". In fact, the circuit is open over the entire length of the Tortoise throw.
The internal Tortoise contacts do not function in this way.
This is because the point rails of the Shinohara switches I use also switch power to the track routes A short could occur if the internal contacts inside the Tortoise change route before the points actually throw.
I use the older style Walthers/Shinohara (Non-DCC Friendly) solid frog turnouts with DC, and I use them to route power beyond the turnout to cut down on complicated control panels. I am not just powering the frog, I might be powering several feet of track and multiple locomotives beyond the turnout.
I am not relying on the contacts in the Tortoise for that kind of load. I have done live load tests on Tortoise contacts, and if the load is over 0.2 Amp there is a voltage loss.
I use 2.5 Amp power packs, and run some current-hungry older brass locomotives. This sounds like those internal contacts could have trouble in the long run, and I build things to give endless trouble-free operation.
The internal contacts are fine for signalling and powering frogs, but I find them insufficient for power routing.
All this extra work has been well thought out and tested for practical operation and ease of assembly. For my needs it is a very good system.