Tortoise contacts so tiny

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

I want to hook up power to my Tortoise swtich machine but the contacts are so tiny. Do I just solder to those tiny contacts?

Thanks

2

There are connectors available that plug onto the Tortoise pc board so you don’t have to solder directly to the Tortoise. Digi-Key is a source for these, but I don’t have the part number handy. They’re called PC Edge Connectors. The spacing between the pins is critical to a proper fit. I believe the Tortoise uses .156" spacing, which is a common spacing.

3

douort,

Frankly, I’m surprised the connectors didn’t come with the tortoises; one usually expects all of the items to be there when purchasing an item.

I’ll try to find the digi-key on google. Thanks.

4

try these

http://www.loystoys.com/loystoys/tortoise-conn-key.html

5

I push wires of the appropriate size (no. 22) through the Tortoise circuit boards from the back side, and solder them on the front (foil) side. Then I trim off the excess wire. It goes quickly and makes a very neat installation.

We used edge-board connectors on many Tortoises installed on our MR&T club layout, but none of those motors has ever failed. I decided that there would be little need for quick replacement on my own layout and I’m simply hard-wiring the motors as I described. They draw very little current, so no. 22 wire is adequate for the Tortoise motors themselves, and it’s also adequate for short runs of DCC track poser to my isolated turnout frogs.

So long,

Andy