I went to an open house train show in Greensboro, NC today. I noticed that they had a “clip” that fit on the bottom of the tortoise switch machines. The clip had the wires on it that went to the control panel. Anyone know about this “clip”? What is it called? Where can one find these? Seems like a great idea. If the Tortoise switch machine burns out or needs to be replaced, all you have to do is unscrew the Tortoise and take off the clip, replace the Tortoise, screw it in and replace the clip.
Was it an edge connector similar to: http://www.greenwayproducts.com/buy_tortoise.shtml ?
Since when does a Tortoise machine ever burn out or need to be replaced? That’s the real question. My club has hundreds of Tortoise machines on our layout, and we’ve had then installed and in use for 8 years or more. Not one has ever needed replacing (there was the one Tortoise that got drilled into by someone installing feeder wires, but that doesn’t count).
Sure, there may be one that goes bad…someday. But the fact is that Tortoise machines are very dependable. A quick disconnect edge connector is a waste of time & money, IMHO.
At our club, we have some 8-conductor cable that we cut 12" to 18" long, which we solder to the Tortoise machine on the work bench (color coded, of course). When we install the machine, the wire dangles free, and is used to test the machine’s operation with a 9v battery. After installation, the 8-cond. wire is then trimmed to length and secured to an 8-position terminal strip (usually a Euro-type), which in turn is secured to the layout. This terminal strip is where all connections are made to the layout for power, frogs, and indicator lights. It also makes a great strain relief for those that might tug on the wires.
The beauty of our system is that no soldering is done under the layout. If you’ve every dripped solder into your face or lower body when soldering above your head, you’ll appreciate that. [:)]
Paul A. Cutler III
If you want to use some sort of plug-in fitting, I would just solder Molex pins to the Tortoise. Far more reliable connection than the edge card connectors - even the ones specifically sold for the Tortoise aren’t a perfect fit, plus the cost far more than ‘generic’ endge card connectors from an electronics supplier. And the Molex pins are cheap.
However, between the ones I used for myself and the club I used to belong to, I’ve never seen one fail. Even one I had that I took apart to see what was inside, and otherwise abused by manually moving it back and forth as fast as I could, still worked fine, if a bit noisily. I see little reason for attaching expensive connectors of any type to one. My layout height is such that I don;t have to be laying on my back to solder underneath, I’m more or less sitting, so there’s little danger of solder dropping on my head, so I don’t even worry about that.
–Randy
Our club had one turtle fail and it was a plastic gear the came off the metal shaft. I took it apart and used a tiny bit of 5 minute epoxy to fix it on the shaft.
Rich
I looked at those a while back and like the rest just didn’t see the need. I can solder my leads to the tortoise just as quickly as screwing them to a terminal block and much prefer soldering. In fact I enjoy soldering. Much better places to spend your money in my opinion.
I’ve tried a few different approaches, including the edge connector, direct solder, remote terminal strips and the best solution for me has been to solder PCB screw terminals to the Tortoise solder traces. This gives you the option to wire in place, without having to solder beneath the layout, it’s easy to replace a tortoise, and it gives you the ability to still move wires around (which I do often).
I appreciate everyone’s input. I do not have problems soldering the Tortoise and I do not wish to waste money on something that is not necessary. Since I have only been using the Tortoise for a few years, I am not aware of its usual lifespan. My concern was Murphy’s Law. Any piece of electrical equipment can fail and is most likely to be in a place that is the most difficult to access. Thanks and happy modeling to all.
I think they released the edge connector with the new Smail, which is a tortoise with a built in Accessory dcc decoder. I haven’t tried one yet but will soon.