I have just recived my Switchmaster switch motors. I am inpressed with the flexability of the system, but the torqe seems too much. I am just playing around with one using a 3 volt batery and it seems that the force at the throw bar would be enough to pull it or the whole switch off the road bed. Anyone else use these that can give some insite? thanks a lot.[:0]
I believe they recommend using a resistor in the circuit, rather than just applying power like a Tortoise. It should be in the instructions, I don’t have anything at hand that would say what value resistor should be used. The resistor will reduce the stall current, and also allow less power to the motor, reducing the torque.
–Randy
Thanks for the info, but that applies if you are using a 12vdc power sorce to knock it down to 3vdc. The 3v battery tested(according to the included instrutions) just fine (2 - 1.5v flashlight batteries in series). I’ll put the resistor on befor hooking up the power supply.
These motors will throw a switch on 1.5 volts. I have about 25 of them on my layout and use one of Miniatronics 1.5 volt lighting power supplies for power. An added advantage is that I can connect LEDs directly to the DPDT toggle switches that operate the switch motors, thereby showing the position of the switches.
We have several Switchmaster machines on the Cochise & Western Model Railroad Club’s HO scale layout.
When we purchased ours, they were sold under the brand name of Torquemaster, but they are exactly the same thing and even come from the same address.
They must have a resistor added to the circuit to limit the current. You should have received a resistor with the motor. The purpose of the resistor is to limit the stall current, not the voltage.
If you use the proper piano wire linkage between the Switchmaster and the turnout, it will absorb a lot of the torque, but the resistor must still be used to keep the motor’s stall current down to a level of around 10mA.
The resistor provided with the motor is not the correct value. I determined a more appropriate value by putting a wire-wound potentiometer into the circuit temporarily; adjusting the pot until the Torquemaster moved at a reasonable speed; measured the value of the pot; and then put in a fixed resistor – unfortunately, I don’t remember what the value is because this was a few years ago. I used 5 or 10 Watt cement resistors just to be on the safe side.
The control panel’s indicator LEDs are wired into the Torquemaster circuit.
Thanks,. that helps some. I’ll be experementing this weekend.
I use Switchmasters on my layout. I think I needed a 1600 ohm resistor but I’m not sure. I used 1/2 watt resistors without any problems. I’ve used these switches for 14 years now without any problems. In my opinion they have substantially superior to the Tortoise.