I just got a Walthers 130’ Turntable and was wondering how to connect the control to my new DCC system. The instructions say to hook up two of the terminals to the “rail power” and the other two to the A/C on a power pack. I’m going to use a spare DC power pack for the motor but I’m not sure how to hook it up to the rails?
Let me ask the same question a different way. Can I hook up the turntable per the instructions (standard DC) and operate it with a DC power pack? Will my DCC equipped locos work on the DC powered bridge track without doing any harm to them? This might be an easier way to do it if it will work.
The answer to your question…“will DCC locos work on DC powered TT tracks?”.My answer…definitely not.In theory,DCC locos work on DC but jumping the gap between DCC access track and the DC TT deck is a definite NO,don’t even try it.
The two track power terminals of your TT should be fed power from your existing DCC power supply (your existing track power) and Walthers instruction sheet says that you simply reverse your wires if necessary to match the access tracks polarities.Being designed to handle DC,the TT will automatically reverse the polarities of it’s tracks as it turns around.If all your access tracks all have the same polarity (no Wyes or return loops involved),powering your TT tracks should be that simple.
However,if one or more of your access tracks come from either a Wye or a return loop (not likely but can be),then you’ll need a polarity reversing device between your track power and the TT track power feed.The TT will change polarity during its rotation according to its position but will not detect polarity differences in the access tracks.
The TT drive is designed to run on 15 volts (min 12V/max 19V) either AC or DC and should have its own power supply according to Walthers instructions.
Do yourself a favor. Go to the Shack and get a 15V power supply and use that, fool proof, cut off the plug and wire it in. For railpower just take to power from teh LEAD track to the TT. Red to red and Black to black. and also Forget about the DC operation if you have DCC.
the odss of cooking something are very good when you mix DC and DCC in this application. The TT is almost fool proof.
The bridge drive should be…should be… DC drive so that the motor can have its power reversed in polarity, thus allowing the motor to run in reverse and turn the bridge in the other direction. A DC powerpack with a polarity switch will allow that, unless the TT has instructions for another way…in which case follow them closely.
The rails must be connected, indirectly or directly, to the same signal that insructs your DCC decodered locomotives so that they act as you’d like them to, whether on the main or on the bridge of the turntable. The DCC signal must be able to “talk to” every loco, no matter where it is. So, your bridge tracks will have to be routed to the main bus or two a sub-bus, depending on your wiring scheme. Polarity problems related to the bridge reversing as it passes 180 deg is a separate issue.
I do not know if the Walthers 130’ built-up has auto polarity reversing, but your manual should discuss this aspect of operations.
It does and it works very well. I would NOT override the factory controller inless I was 100% sure about what I was doing. I have (2) and they work perfect as designed on DCC.