I am using HO Atlas #6, code 100, turnouts on a DCC system. What are your suggestions on how to wire these turnouts to eliminate electrical dropouts? Thanks for your comments and help.
Jack
Easiest thing, but not the cheapest, is to run a brass screw in the hole next to the frog and solder a wire to it. Connect this wire to one of the outputs of a Tam Valley Frog Juicer. The inputs of the Frog Juicer hoook to your DCC bus. And that's it.
If you use Tortoise motors, you can wire the frog to one of the contact sets on the Tortoise. The wiring diagram is either in the instructions it comes with, or on Circuitron's web site. The hardest part is still getting the connection to the frog, the pot metal doesn't take solder well so the screw is the easiest, a brass screw is easy to solder wire to. At one time, Atlas would sell you just the connection hardware fromt he Snap Relay, which as a nut and bolt and a piece of copper that you could bolt to the hole next to the frog and the solder wire to that, but, assuming the hole size is the same as on the Code 83 track, a 1-72 screw goes in and I didn;t even have to tap the hole. I did this to my turnouts before I installed them, so I could work witht he turnout upside down on my workbench, as it takes a bit of pressure to get the screw going, and push too hard on the frog and it will pop right off. I ran my screw in fromt eh bottom until the bottom of the screw was flush with the top of the hole, and painted the shiny brass with flat or grimy black. When installing the turnout I marked and drilled a hole at the location of the screw and wire.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Randy
Thanks so much for your suggestions and I will save them to use later when I install several turnouts with motors. Right now, I am installing several turnouts that have manual machines. I should have stated that in my original question but it did not occur to me.
Do you have any suggestions for wiring manually operated turnouts?
The Frog Juicers will work perfectly for manual turnouts.
starmanDo you have any suggestions for wiring manually operated turnouts?
Caboose Industries has ground throw with contacts, 220S for HO:
http://www.cabooseind.com/instructions
They are a little fussy to install and wire but are very reliable once installed. You have to pay attention to how you orient the bronze contact and the plastic retainer. Once you do the first one the rest are easy.
Of course with most Atlas frogs* you still have to tap and wire the frog as Randy points out. They are, by nature, a little out of scale but most modelers can overlook this.
*The #8 have a solder tab on them.
Hope that helps,
Ed
starman Randy Thanks so much for your suggestions and I will save them to use later when I install several turnouts with motors. Right now, I am installing several turnouts that have manual machines. I should have stated that in my original question but it did not occur to me. Do you have any suggestions for wiring manually operated turnouts? Jack
Rich
Alton Junction