OK, bearman, let's see if I understand this. You have connected the red and green wires, and wired them to the outer poles of each toggle. OK, so far, so good. Now, you have connected the black/white wires together, and these to the center pole of your toggles. Not so good. Where and how have you hooked up your power supply? You need to disconnect the black/white wires from the center poles of the toggles, and use those center poles for you power +. Use the black/white commons of the turnouts to your power -.
So, to recap, you need to hook power + to center poles on the toggles, and power - to the black wires off the switches. Red and green should be the ONLY wires going from the toggles directly to the switches. The black/white should bypass the toggles and go directly to power -.
Hope this helps. Send me an email (don't use PM as I rarely check it) by clicking the email button below my signature if you need more help or clarification.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
twcenterprises wrote: The black/white should bypass the toggles and go directly to power
The black/white should bypass the toggles and go directly to power
Well now, that should work. There is no reason the black common wire needs to go to the center of the toggle switch!
That is not what I wrote earlier, but I was working from a false (too quick) assumption that we are talking about a switch acting like the Atlas momentary slide switch which is constructed to have the black wire go to a position at the center of the switch....but it may just appear that way, and it is really isolated, just being in contact with the tab on the side for linking them all together with the power wire and not at all with the slider. I'll break one of those apart tomorrow.
OK, bearman sent me this schematic, which I will take the liberty of posting here.
It looks like the schematic is correct, and should work. The next step would be to make sure the wiring matches the schematic, then start checking connections, and then components (toggle switches).
Did I miss anything?
twcenterprises wrote: It looks like the schematic is correct, and should work.
It looks like the schematic is correct, and should work.
The schematic is correct, but my money still says he wired it wrong somewhere or two wires are touching at one of the toggle switches or an Atlas snap switch motor.
To BlueHillsCPR all I can say is, COME ON DOWN!
Brad, thanks for posting the schematic. I am challenged when it comes to attachments. I've checked the wiring and there is nothing obvious to the naked eye. Sent you another messag with my next plan of attack.
I rigged up a buzzer/9V battery (B/B) when I was wiring the tracks to indicate if there was a short. So I took the B/B and rigged it to the center pole of a spare toggle and the balck lead of a spare turnout. Then connected the red and green leads of the turnout to the side poles of the toggle. No buzz. But then when I flipped the toggle to either on position, there was a buzz. So I am planning on using the B/B to check the layout wiring. Installed where the AC supply is located on the schematic and no buzz, but there was a buzz when I flipped the toggle for the first turnout and the rest of the toggles. So, I assume that I should move the B/B to additional locations farther down the wiring to check for continuity individually between each toggle and turnout. Does this make sense?
Bear "It's all about having fun."
It was a defective toggle. I think I leaned on the 4th one after the 5th melted down, hence the buzz on #4 which is working just fine.
I really appreciate everyone's advice, with a special thanks to Brad who posted the wiring schematic and to BlueHillsCPR who referred to getting under my layout. Canadians are once again overrunning Arizona in the winter now that the Canadian dollar is stronger, and they are the nicest friendliest people, which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of the American snowbirds.
Thanks, again!
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
bearman wrote:It was a defective toggle. I think I leaned on the 4th one after the 5th melted down, hence the buzz on #4 which is working just fine.I really appreciate everyone's advice, with a special thanks to Brad who posted the wiring schematic and to BlueHillsCPR who referred to getting under my layout. Canadians are once again overrunning Arizona in the winter now that the Canadian dollar is stronger, and they are the nicest friendliest people, which is a lot more than I can say for a lot of the American snowbirds.Thanks, again!
Glad you got it figured out! I have a few friends that visit your neck of the woods during the winter months but I stay up here and embrace the cold. Otherwise I would have been happy to crawl under your layout. faulty switch anyway! Burnt out a perfectly good turnout and caused you no end of headaches. I think I'll take a lesson from your bad experience and test wiring components before installing them. Might save me a few steps and gray hairs in the long run.
Regards,
Kevin
Testing before installing is a good point, but even then problems can occur. I had a case of the heat from soldering causing a toggle switch to short out, even though I was using a controlled-temperature soldering station and held the tip of the iron to the contacts no longer than I ever have with any other switch.
Sometimes you do get a bad one.
cacole wrote:Testing before installing is a good point, but even then problems can occur. I had a case of the heat from soldering causing a toggle switch to short out, even though I was using a controlled-temperature soldering station and held the tip of the iron to the contacts no longer than I ever have with any other switch.Sometimes you do get a bad one.
Indeed! I certainly did not mean to suggest that testing before installing was a surefire way to avoid defective parts. Lots of times a part is just "hanging on" and a little torque or heat will do it in. I'm going to learn from Bearman's grief though and double check in an attempt at avoiding headaches. I like to make use of a heat sink whenever I can when I am soldering anything that may be susceptible to heat damage.
Kevin, you EMBRACE the cold?????? I'm lucky on this one since the layout wiring is pretty much finished with only three spurs to go which have to wait on a structure before they are laid. Now all I have to do is wire in the circuit breakers and kiss electrical work sayonara for the most part. If I had tested the toggle switches before I installed them then this one would have been caught, but it just never occurred to me that it would be necessary.
Thanks again to everyone for your advice.
bearman wrote:Kevin, you EMBRACE the cold??????
Yup! There is really nothing like going out early in the morning and being greeted by a fresh blanket of snow. Everything looks so clean. The air is crisp and cold and seems very fresh and clean to me. Add to that a coating of hoar frost on all the branches and you have yourself a Christmas Card in prototype!
When I walk out my door and it's -30C outside, there is no doubt. I know I am alive!
Besides that I hate the heat, and humidity drives me nuts. If it could only be 10-15 degrees Celsius all the time...
bearman wrote: Kevin, you EMBRACE the cold??????
Kevin, you EMBRACE the cold??????
I do! In fact, I'm up in Maine right now (Sunday morning) waiting for my wife to get out of the bathroom so we can get out on the slopes. Low teens right now, and it's not supposed to get any warmer. Fortunately, the 20+ MPH winds from yesterday have abated somewhat. So, I'll probably be able to ski without any face cover other than goggles.
It's the heat I can't take. That's why I do most of my modelling in the summer, even in my home of Massachusetts. I hide inside in the air conditioning or down in the cool basement workroom when it gets too warm.
As an ex-New Englander living in the diaspora, I most certainly do not miss the cold. I miss the Red Sox but not the cold and when January rolls around and my brother sends me an email that they are expecting a heat wave with daytime highs in the 20's, I merely smile.
BlueHillsCPR wrote: bearman wrote:Kevin, you EMBRACE the cold??????Yup! There is really nothing like going out early in the morning and being greeted by a fresh blanket of snow. Everything looks so clean. The air is crisp and cold and seems very fresh and clean to me. Add to that a coating of hoar frost on all the branches and you have yourself a Christmas Card in prototype! When I walk out my door and it's -30C outside, there is no doubt. I know I am alive!
Sorry, Kevin, but for those out there who don't know.....where Kevin lives, there is only cold for entertainment.....and the occasional Grey Cup Championship. But I tell you, when the air is compressed and dry at -30 or -40C (same as F at -40) you can hear the train coming in the countryside from 20 miles away....probably more, especially with a little wind (and where Kevin lives, the is never just a little wind). I used to listen to them at night safely in bed when just a toddler....
Sorry, am I allowed to rib you? I used to live in Provost, Alberta very near the SK border.
(from one who is not a member of the Saskatchewan Board of Tourism)
Otis wrote:Sorry, am I allowed to rib you? I used to live in Provost, Alberta very near the SK border.
Sure rib away!
There are a few other forms of entertainment though. We have satellite TV in the Igloo so when baseball season arrives there is that. We have wireless ADSL in the Igloo...obviously or I wouldn't be here. True there is the odd Grey Cup to get excited about...not that I am a huge footbal fan, but if you gotta watch football you have to cheer for the Riders...at least around here!
And what do you mean there is never a little wind?! Why every morning there is a little wind...granted it usually becomes a lot of wind by afternoon.
In any event there is always Model Railroading! Who needs more than that?