Atlas Turntable

[sully57]

Howdy! Could sure use some wiring advice. I Recently purchased a turntable (Atlas) for my layout. I have DCC. When I purchased the table, I was told by my hobby shop guy that I needed to purchase an auto-reverser unit, (MRC AD520). So I did. I wired up the turntable (1 approach track to the turntable, and 3 spurs on other side). When testing this (without the auto-reverser), an approaching locomotive to the turntable will short things out once its first truck touches the 'live' track on the turntable. However, if I place locomotive directly on the turntable and accelerate, it makes the transition from the table and onto the spurs just fine. But, if I try to drive it from the turntable back onto the approach mainline track, then again, it shorts out just like before. I then wired the reverser (2 yellow wires to turntable terminals, 2 red wires to approaching mainline track). The results with reverser installed were identical to above. Anyone have suggestion? Thank you! -Sully

[Anonymous]

Perhaps the power leads to the turntable are reversed. I have an Atlas turntable, too, and I've found out that the latest version is self reversing, and a reversing device is not needed. I run DCC as well, and as long as the power leads are the same polarity the loco should roll right on. Mine roll on, I turn them completely around, and drive them off without a reversing switch or a DCC reverser. Hope this helps.

[Javern]

don't need a reverser unit for the Atlas turntable

[wjstix]

I had the same thing with mine, I assumed it needed an auto-reversing gizmo so hooked it up to one. It doesn't need it, the Atlas turntable has split contacts so the reversing is done automagically. Just wire it up to the regular DCC. If you still have a problem after that, try reversing the wires going to the turntable tracks and then it should work fine.

[sully57]

Thanks all. I will pull reversing unit off, and reverse wires to table. Will let u know if it did the trick. Thank you again. -Sully

[sully57]

Again, thanks all. Reversing the wires on the actual turntable did the trick. Took the autoreverser out of the configuration completely, and it operates fine. Returned reverser to hobby shop and got my $$ back, so thats great.

Related: I have hooked up the turntable feed to my DC powerpack (running trains DCC from separate pack). It seems to turn table very fast to the next index slot. And I think because of this speed, the motor really rattles loudly while table is turning. Using a 9-volt battery for power seemed to give it a much more realistic operating speed. Is there another power source alternative I can use to "slow" this thing down, and have it operate a tad more slowly? TY. -Sully

[selector]

Just a very unnerving hunch, but did you hook it up to the right set of terminals? It would rattle like hell if you hooked that (I think it should be a..) DC motor to the AC terminals. Ouch, looking for troubles there. Make sure you are on the DC terminals, and the rheostat will allow only the voltage you dial in. Therefore, you control the speed that way, just like your loco, and no more speedy indexing.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by sully57

... Is there another power source alternative I can use to "slow" this thing down, and have it operate a tad more slowly? TY. -Sully

Sully
You can hook up a basic mobile decoder and give the turntable its own address to control speed and direction from your throttle or pick up a old cheap power pack/ throttle on eBay or train show and connect that to the turntable.

[sully57]

Ended up taking the two wires off the DC terminals on the old powerpack, and putting them on the 'variable DC' terminals on that pack. Works fine. Was able to slow it down, and that quieted things down as well. Thanks all for the suggestions! -Sully