The wiring diagrams that come with the Tortoise don’t show what I want to do, I think.
I thought I had heard that you can use the middle six anodes on the tort as a switch. I envisioned having one toggle, a DPDT switch, to control the DC current which throws the switch motor, AND wiring track power (AC current) through the remaining anodes on the Tort to reverse the “polarity” of the isolated, reversing section of my track at the same time.
Is this possible, and can someone 'splain how to do it?
The Tortoise has two sets of spdt contacts switched by the motion of the machine. You could also call it a single dpdt switch.
The essence of reverse loop wiring is a dpdt toggle wired as a reversing switch that allows you to reverse the polarity of the reverse loop independently of the main line. In operation, you set the polarity of the reverse loop to match the main line at the entrance of the reverse loop. Once the train is on the reverse loop, you reverse the main line polarity. Reverse loop polarity must NOT change when main line polarity is changed, unless you want the train to back out of the reverse loop.
If you used the Tortoise contacts for the reverse loop polarity control, you would get a reverse loop polarity transfer (and the train backing up) when you threw the tortoise to let the train out of the reverse loop.
You could use the Tortoise auxialiary contacts to reverse the main line when the Tortoise is thrown, but that would confuse this operator.
…but I don’t see what connections to use for the track power and which to use for the reversing section of track. I don’t think I’ll mind the “wait” while the loco sits in the reversing section.
Maybe someone could sxplain it further… thanks in advance.
The two end pins, pin 1 and pin 8, supply power to the Tortoise motor. The other 6 pins make up the pair of SPDT switches.
Me, I don’t use the power routing features of the Peco turnouts or the Tortoise. My power gets to the rails thru block toggle switches. I like to leave locomotives on spurs and sidings and have them stay there while another train runs by on the main. Each siding or spur gets power thru manually controlled toggle switches. This means a locomotive on a siding will stay put dispite throwing turnouts. Right now, my Tortoise auxiliary contacts are unused. If I wanted to try to control a reverse loop with them, they both are available.
The wiring diagrams for the tortoise show what pins the switch contacts are. Not how to use them, as there are many many ways to use them, limited only by one’s imagination. If you are going to be doing some layout wiring, you should get a book on how to wire your model railroad. Kalmbach has a few.
You should also get a good Multimeter. It will read AC Volts, DC Volts, AC Amps, DC Amps, Resistance and Continuity. Once you learn the basics, you won’t have to rely on anyone. A Mulitmeter is one of those indispensable tools for electrical work, just like rail cutters are indispensable for laying track.
It is also kind of hard to “explain” in words how wire something up or make a wiring diagram. It is also not the easiest thing to draw and post pictures to these forums, so you may not get an exact answer, or the answer you are looking for about electrical questions.