Hello All,
I'm pretty sure this has been covered here before, but I am having trouble searching for the thread. How do you physically attach a wire to the Walthers Code 83 #4 (or any other) DCC Friendly turnouts? The only place I can see where you can solder a wire to the frog is on the inside web of the rail. I don't really want to do that because it is unsightly and (more importantly) I am afraid of damaging the frog with the heat required to solder (yes, I know how to solder, but it still bothers me). I was hoping someone here can offer an alternative. Thanx.
I can see why Walthers chose this design, but never have quite figured out why they didn't provide a straughforward method to tack in a green wire (green is for Frog in my wiring scheme, YMMV.)
What I do is get a short bare wire. I tack it into the diverging side of the frog by filling it in a little with solder. The wire is long enough to reach past the gap to the two diverging rails. I similarly fill that in just enough to bridge between the two rail ends next to gap with the frog, while at the same time using that solder to fasten the end of the wire from the frog. Then I take the green wire from my Tortoise (or other switch machine provided contacts) and solder to the solder bridge from below.
The solder bridges can be painted flat black to make what little you see disappear.
A quick in and out with the soldering iron should avoid any issues. Putting a dab of rosin flux on the rails where they'll be soldered speeds things up some.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Yes, soldering on a short geen frog wire is the way to go. I think it's easier to do that on the bench before you install the turnout.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanx for the info Mike,
mlehman What I do is get a short bare wire. I tack it into the diverging side of the frog by filling it in a little with solder.
What I do is get a short bare wire. I tack it into the diverging side of the frog by filling it in a little with solder.
Question: Is this the point side of the frog, or the opposite side of the frog?
mlehmanThe wire is long enough to reach past the gap to the two diverging rails.
Any chance you could post a photo? I'm having trouble visualizing this.
OK, maybe I just got it... Are you talking about the point side of the frog, soldering the short wire between the two small nubs of rail near the insulating plastic? Any idea what temp the soldering iron you use is? I have an adjustable one with a max temp of about 40 Watts. I usually run it at about 3.8 (out of a max of 5) on the dial. I often end up with slightly softened ties. I probably need to turn up the temp a bit so the railheats faster.
Looking at the turnout again, it appears the plastic below the closure rail (point) side of the frog can be removed and a wire soldered to the bottom of the rails. I may try that.
Since I am running old school DC train control, I actually prefer the older Shinohara power routing turnouts (most of the turnouts on my layout are this type). With these new DCC Friendly turnouts I not only have to fool with the frog, but also route power to the frog-side rails to obtain the same results. Progress...
I could post a pic later, but I do it on the diverging end of the frog.
IIRC, I used my multimeter to test the point end and it gets fed as is (under the points via a small brass wiper IIRC). You could power the frog through it, but I thought better to rely on the green wire on the other end for frog power. I use Tortoises on these, so have the contacts to switch the frog power.
If you are DC only, then it may make more sense to keep doing them from the point end, as that should avoid the need for contacts.
A simpler way to do it:
The guard rails on either side of the frog are electrically continuous with the frog. Therefore, solder the green wire (yea-me, too!) to the outside of whichever guard rail is less visible to the public (or to you, if you prefer). The connection is just the same as any feeder: tin the solid wire and the rail and hit the connection quickly with the iron (I use a 25 watt).
Dante