I am going to peruse the archives on this, but thought I would ask right off the top.
I am going to install my first tortoises today, through 2" of foam plus 1/4 to 1/2" of plywood (depending on location in benchwork) to activate the various Shinohara curved switches on my expansion.
I see the instructions say to drill a 1/4" hole for the throwing motion of the wire. Should I increase this diameter if going through the thicker base like mine, or make it more of a slot?
I have the correct longer wire to use for an extension.
I have to cut away the roadbed under the tiebar. But I was wondering if it is possible or advisable to cut away some of the long ends of the tie bar on these Shinohara switches, since I will be using the hole in the middle for activation. Are the longer ends typical in reality, or no? They would seem to stick out quite a bit past the cork roadbed, but may be a good idea for the travel of the tie bar?
And any other tips on this sort of application would be appreciated before I start in. Thanks.
Oh, and this is more of an electronics thread ques. I see I would not be using the current through my Circuitron Snapper capacitor discharge unit to power the tortoises, I guess. Seems they need just a regular low voltage transfomer ?
I don't see why anything 'fancy' needs to be done to use a Torotise through 2" foam. You MIGHT need a slightly larger hole than specified in the Tortoise instructions, or more to the point, a slight oval rather than a round hole. I don;t use Torotises anymore, I switched to model airplane servos, but the mouting method works exactly like a Tortoise - the actuating wire pivots in a hole on the mount, just like a Tortoise. My layout actually has TWO layers of 2" foam, plus a layer of 1/4" plywood on the bottom, and they work fine. I could repalce a servo with a Tortoise and it shoudl still work fine.
No Snapper with a Tortoise. They use 9-12V DC, continuously applied - not momentary like a twin coil switch machine. To get fancy with LEDs ont he control panel, you cna wire them in series with teh Tortoise motor, no resistors are needed. This gives you indicator lights and drops the voltage to the Tortoise. They are rated for 12V but can be alittle noisy, runnign them on 9V quiets them down quite a bit. The easiest hookup is a 12V DC power supply and a DPDT switch for each Tortoise. Wire the switch like a reversing switch - with an X between the outter terminals. Power to the middle terminals, Tortoise pins 1 and 8 to one set of the outer terminals.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Thanks for the wiring tips, Randy. Here I go!
OK, I just did a few of these a couple of months ago. Like you, I was a newbie to Tortoises, although I've been in the hobby for a long time.
First, go to the hardware store and buy some "music wire." I think the stuff I got was .039. The piece of wire you get with the Tortoise isn't long enough. They have a template for bending the bottom of the wire to shape. Use a good solid pair of pliers. If you can do it with your fingers, the wire isn't stiff enough. They also give you a mounting template. I scanned mine, and made a page of copies. Then I cut one out and punched holes where holes should be. I found some 1/4-inch plywood in my garage and made bases, about 3-inches square, and drilled them to the template. (I have no plywood under my foam, so I need these to attach the Tortoise. If you've got a plywood base below the foam, you can skip this step.)
Next, I centered the throwbar, and used a paper clip through the throwbar to mark the center of the hole. I drilled the 1/4 inch hole through roadbed and foam. That's drilled, not "punched." The drill will remove the material cleanly. With foam, when you punch a hole, the foam just compresses out of the way and then the hole just closes up again. Be careful, and make sure the hole is vertical. NOTE: I did NOT glue down the turnout before I did this, but I had it pinned in place so it was in its final position. Set the turnout aside, which, come to think of it, you had to do to drill the hole.
Now, you've got a nice, clean hole all the way through. If it's foam at the bottom, take the square of plywood and put some glue on it. Mount the square in position, making sure you've got the holes aligned and the square oriented properly to throw the turnout. Take a long carriage bolt and thread it through from the top, and put on a washer and nut. Tighten it to hold the plywood square in place, and give it a good 24 hours to let the glue set.
Meanwhile, wire the Tortoise and test it. You're not supposed to move it manually, so wiring it serves two purposes - first to test it, and second to center it across its range of motion. Cut the throw wire about a half-inch longer than you need, and attach the throw wire to the Tortoise.
23 hours and 45 minutes later, remove the carriage bolt. The plywood square should be solidly attached. Mount the Tortoise with the wire coming up through the hole. (Now you understand why I said to make it a half-inch too long.) Wire up the Tortoise electrically, and check out the motion. (I used 9 volts on mine.) Mount the turnout from above, and again check the motion with the power. Fasten the track in place, and again wait a while if you used glue.
Test things again when the glue sets, just to make sure you haven't glued the wrong parts together. Finally, get a good solid pair of diagonal cutting pliers, and snip off the extra length of wire.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Great, thanks, Mr. B.
I am sitting next to the switch at the moment with the laptop reading your instructions. Very handy.
Since I have plywood I will be able to mount mine a little faster. Thanks for the tip on centering the tortoise throw motion first.