Electronics and DCC

Been a while since I did this. Putting in the switches/wire for my TT bridge track power. DPDT switch. (top on, bottom on)  X  solder 1-6 and 2-5, right? Buss power to 3 and 4. 1 and 2 to track, 5 and 6 to track. Right?             Flip switch, polarity reverses. Right? And I can  jump 1-5 and 2-6 and go to my track with just two wires, right??
(my brain's getting old...)

loathar:

Been a while since I did this. Putting in the switches/wire for my TT bridge track power. DPDT switch. (top on, bottom on)  X  solder 1-6 and 2-5, right? Buss power to 3 and 4. 1 and 2 to track, 5 and 6 to track. Right?             Flip switch, polarity reverses. Right? And I can  jump 1-5 and 2-6 and go to my track with just two wires, right??
(my brain's getting old...)

It sounds a bit confusing the way you said it, but you don't need two sets of wires to the track. (1 and 2 to track, 5 and 6 to track). One set will do since you've put the "X" of wires from 1-6 and 2-5. But your last sentence seems to indicate you've figured this out.

The wires from 3 and 4 go to the track. Power from the powerpack goes onto 1-2 or 5-6. Because of the X you added, the output from 3 and 4 will be reversed depending which way you throw the toggleswitch.

wjstix:

The wires from 3 and 4 go to the track. Power from the powerpack goes onto 1-2 or 5-6. Because of the X you added, the output from 3 and 4 will be reversed depending which way you throw the toggleswitch.

Thanks! I knew something wasn't making sence the way I was looking at it.

 As long as you have the X from 1-6 and 2-5, the following are all valid:

 1-2 to power, 3-4 to track

5-6 to power, 3-4 to track

3-4 to power, 1-2 to track

3-4 to power, 5-6 to track

My advice is to make all such controls the same so you don't confuse yourself later on. And tag the wires, because a year from now you'll never remember which two go to power and which two go to the track.

                                 --Randy

as randy points out, it can be done either way, either the X as the feed in, or the feed out, it doesn't matter at all.

Easiest way is to look at the terminals as if it were a 6 cylinder engine.

So you have 1-3-5 on the left, and 2-4-6 on the right.

Power comes in one 1 and 2. (They are contacts, as are 5 and 6.)

A wire is used to connect 1 and 6, and another for 2 and 5, forming an "X".

Power is routed out on 3 and 4. Which are the blades of the switch.

You can use the 1-2, 3-4 and 5-6 pairs interchangeably for in/out. The real secret to wiring is that it should be neat and consistent, which makes troubleshooting and repair easier. (Not that I really follow that rule all the time.)