Micro Mark Switch Tender

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Does anyone have any experience with the Micro Mark Switch Tender switch machine, using Atlas switches?

I did a community search and found no prior postings about it.

Cedarwoodron

2

There have been comments about it in past years, but I don’t know what search term you would have to use to find them. The main comments were that it has no auxiliary contacts for powering frogs or operating signals, and some people said it draws too much current compared to a Tortoise.

3

I setup one just to try it. The install was quite easy. You need to drill a hole that allows the supplied wire toi move the turnout(much like a Tortoise). There are no aux contacts supplied. It is a ‘stall’ motor so a DPDT toggle works fine with the motor. The big problem is that it draws a lot of current when stalled, even with the supplied limiting resistor(about 60 ma, IIRC). Drawing this much current does not allow a Bi-Color LED to be wired in series, and with no aux contacts, it makes panel lamps/LED’s sort of hard. By the time you wire up some micro-switches(and linkage), you are approaching the discounted price of a Tortoise.

A Tortoise or even a servo switch machine appears to be a better solution.

Jim

4

Thanks Jim, for a quick analysis- the cost/benefit I hoped for is not there.

Cedarwoodron

5

Just to add to what Jim said above, I tried a couple of these as an experiment and ended up returning them to Micro Mark. They install very easily, but tuneup for reliable operation is more finicky than with a Tortoise or Switchmaster machine. There is a narrow usable range of voltage; too little and the motor won’t budge, too much and it has sufficient torque to destroy any linkage connected to it. Mine were noisy and drew a lot of current compared to other machines. I replaced them with Tortoises that worked perfectly the first time and have been great ever since.

I wish I had read this review on Tony’s Train Exchange first, http://www.tonystrains.com/technews/mmark-switch-tender.htm . To quote from the review:

"In summary, this comparison review clearly and factually indicates that the Switch Tender does not compare favorably with the Tortoise™.

During the review process we contacted Micro-Mark to confirm or dispute our findings. No one could provide any technical support for the Switch Tender or any DCC applications."

6

Thanks Rob- if I had seen that review, I would have never posted the question to begin with. Seems like “settled science” to me, now!

Cedarwoodron