Gazoo wrote: 6. Alternatively you say "Gazoo you're completely lost."
6. Alternatively you say "Gazoo you're completely lost."
I'll take option 6 please.
If you wish to mount from the top (And not use the adapter plate which makes this whole discussion moot)
See electro's post.
Like this...
^^^^^^^^^^Mounted to "Bread board" commonly found at radio shack. It's real easy to cut/score & snap with a knife or dremmel.
This foam sits on top the plywood. Cut a hole in the plywood just big enough to pass an edge connector through from the bottom side. (This is where your wiring connections go.) The edge connector is removeable. That way if a wire ever breaks, or you need to wire up leads, or switches you can easily add them.
The likelihood of ever having to replace your tortoise is small. They are tough lil motors. I have yet to hear of an actual tortoise failure! I have heard of terminals 2/3 and 6/7 being on at the same time. A quick one time fix before installation should take care of this.
Don - Specializing in layout DC->DCC conversions
Modeling C&O transition era and steel industries There's Nothing Like Big Steam!
Sorry, I can't say that I follow you completely. But let me try to repeat it and see how close I get.
1. Cut a hole in the foam2. Then cut a hole in the plywood base that is smaller than the hole I cut into the foam but larger than the tortoise. 3. Screw the tortoise into a piece of plywood that is larger than the hole cut into the plywood base from #2, but smaller than the hole cut into the foam from #1.4. Glue / screw the plywood piece that's attached to the tortoise into the plywood base.5. At this point, you are closer to the track by the thickness of the plywood attached to the tortoise. And all you have to do is unscrew the tortoise and take it away when necessary. 6. Alternatively you say "Gazoo you're completely lost."
Total newbie question alert: Is it very difficult to fish the wire back up through the hole in the switch?
How about this solution: cut a hole in the foam / plywood base about the size of the tortoise, then glue miniature L brackets to the bottom of the tortoise. Would that allow you to move the tortoise within an inch of the roadbed? Screw the L brackets into the plywood base, and whenever you need to service it just unscrew the L brackets.
> Cut a hole in the bottom of the layout and use an edge connector. It would pull/push off and> on without moving the tortoise.
For those of us a little slower on the uptake, could you try that explanation again? This is of great interest to me and I'd like to make sure I understand.
Is this how you do it, or a hypothetical way to do it?
For many modelers who already have their tracks glued/nailed in place on their choice of roadbed, you cannot easily surface mount the tortoises imbeded into the foam ( assuming you are using 2" foam as Bruce and some others are ). I am mounting mine under the table so that I can get at the motors easily for adjustments or repairs in the future. ( Nothing lasts forever except death and taxes ) Again, this is all personal choice, but I sure don't like to have anything that I may need to get at in the future, buried under my tracks where I would have to pull up track to effect repairs........no way Jose !!!
Blind Bruce wrote:I thout about top mounting but how on earth do you service it if a wire breaks or something? You would have to remove the turnout, ballast and roadbed causing a lot of additional problems.
Cut a hole in the bottom of the layout and use an edge connector. It would pull/push off and on without moving the tortoise.
Drill two holes; one on the far left side, and one on the far right side. Take a hand jigsaw and cut between the two holes to make room for pushing the connector through.
I don't have the instructions with me on how to mount a tortoise. But on that sheet they list the spacing specs, and where you can find an edge connector.
73
Bruce in the Peg
It is my guess that they used a router to cut the square hole which is also nice and flat.
Looks like a good idea.I would also say, you cold probably go as deep as 1 inch into the foam, or do the same thing from the underside of the table,then mount your tortoise on a piece of circuit board, or even lite aircraft plywood( available from LHS), then just epoxy the plywood to the foam.
TheK4Kid
Circuitron states that the tortoise should NOT be more than 1" below the throw bar. You're magnifying the movement the further you move it from the throwbar. This is most likely the jerkiness you are observing.
You can easily mount a tortoise below the foam board. Just grab a dremel and carve out the offendning foam and mount it to a circuit board as someone above already kindly posted.
If you don't want to carve up your track and foam, you might want to try this remote adapter plate which makes the motion linear.
http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/800-6100
NevinW wrote:Do you cut the square area in the foam that the board fits into with the exacto blade? It looks really flat and a perfect fit. Where do you buy the pc board, Radio Shack? - Nevin
Karl gave me a hint that I followed up on about a splinter. Well, they don't call me Blind Bruce fer nuttin. My 3/8" hole was not vertical! It was off in both directions causing binding of the wire as it ran through its motion. I am now trying to straighten it up to be plumb. Very necessary when going through 3" of stuff.
Thanks guys,
Hi Bruce,
If the throw is jerky then the wire could still be hanging up somewhere. This happened to me on a similar setup. The plywood had a small splinter blocking part of the hole. I use 1/2" holes and .039" wire. I also now ream the bottom of the hole a bit to clean out any rough edges. With a 3/8" hole you need to be pretty careful with centering too. Maybe you can get a better idea of what is happening from beneath the layout.
Also I have most of mine hooked up to a drilled hole in the center of the throwbar. Your observation about the end hole might be valid.
I hope that this helps.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net