I’ve seen this but can’t find it, what is the Ma draw of the Tortoise switch machine?
I don’t have the documentation here, but I seem to recall that it is something like 15mA when the machine is moving, and 10mA stall current.
Clay, I found just the information you’re looking for at:
http://www.ncedcc.com/pdf/switch.pdf
Current draw is lower when it’s running, and higher when it stalls out due to the back EMF created by the running motor.
At 10 volts the stall current is about 9 mA. That gives an equivalent resistance value of 1100 ohms for the windings. You can see why people can successfully put bi-color LED’s in series with the motors.
Mark in Utah
According to the Circuitron Spec sheet for the Tortoise, the current draw at 12v DC is 15 -16 Ma. According to Ohms law calculations that puts the resistance at 800 Ohms. The Tortoise actually runs better at about 9 volts. If you do a Google Search on “Circuitron Tortoise Spec” you find the PDF spec sheet for download.