Brian

All 8 pin plugs should fit the socket regardless of their make and pin length. Where some issues have arisen is that if the plug pins are too long they can pass through the socket and could in some cases make contact onto any metal that's immediately below the socket (Chassis etc). Here either add a couple of layers of Insulating tape underneath the socket sticking it onto the metal or reduce the overall length of the pins slightly. 😀

Hi As with most electronics a stable Regulated DC power supply is best. “Regulated” means the output volts remain constant regardless of load (Up to the supplies maximum) There are loads of suitable power supplies available and eBay and Amazon are both examples. Look for those marked as CCTV or LED power supplies. They come in various current rating and most with a moulded 2.1mm Barrel plug. I personally would be obtaining a PSU rated at a minimum of 1.0Amp and perhaps consider a 2,0Amp. as this allows for future expansion. Example...Link to PSU Also always worth obtaining is a female adaptor for making onward connection to the layout much easier (also sold by this same seller).

Possibly a bit late. but I have to agree that Wago 221 terminal blocks in 2, 3 or 5 ways are the simplest to use. They accept all the usual sizes of wires used in model railways and in both solid or flexible stranded wires. No trying to open and tighten grub screws and no soldering. Just strip the wire ends and inset and push the lever down to lock them. Here is an example... https://www.toolstation.com/wago-221-5-way-compact-lever-connectors/p83258 Not the cheapest connector, but they are extreamly good and easy to use. To answer your original and main question ... You can have as many droppers into a Bus connection as that connection allows. Just ensure rail polarity to bus polarity is maintained - e.g. All Outer rails have say red droppers and connect to the red bus wire etc. (Colour of the wire insulation is of choice, but keep to the same two colours). Typo corrected

Just a thought??? Older Hornby tender drive locos frequently collect power from the front wheels on one side and return the power via the tenders wheels on the oposite side. Is this a cause of the problem as when the front wheels leave the first power section and pick up on the second section, but the tender wheels are still in the first power section? May be barking up the wrong 'DCC tree' but it has been a problem on DC layouts when passing a loco controller to controller over IRJs. I overcame this in my DC days by adding wheel wipers to all of the front wheels and adding a new wire back to the tenders motor. Finally over came it all by selling the locos as they never ran well anyway, many having their motion intermittently lock up and the loco was seen skidded along the track. Later tender drives had all front wheel power collection with twin power coupling going to the tenders motor.

Rather go forward, get the lottery numbers for the weekend or the Euros But then need to pop back to today and place a bet. I wish !!

Err... It proves they work (without a load or any binding)!!!

Michael Hodson .... As a former BR Signalling Engineer of 43 years I know exactly how a J/I and the main aspects and route work. In the model form the simplest is to allow the proceed aspect to be lit and then the J/I as needed. There is no lamp proving for the J/I LED in the model, so using the proceed aspect(s) to allow it to be lit is the simplest. Your post, while technically correct, adds little to the OPs question and to answer how to wire such.

Hi The Eckon signal with J/I has two resistors supplied. One for the J/I white LED and the other for the two aspects . The J/I should only illuminate when the signal shows a proceed aspect (In this case the Yellow) You need two switches One is an On/Off and the other a On/On switch The On/On operates the two aspects and the On/Off controls the J/I when the signal displays a Yellow. You should not need a centre Off switch. Aspect and J/I control can also be switched with one 3 position Rotary switch, so as Pos 1 is red, Pos 2 is Yellow and Pos 3 is yellow and J/I. The alternative to using a toggle switch for Sw2 is to use a point operated switch so as when the point is set towards the turnout direction the J/I will illuminate once aspect the controlling Sw1 is set to the proceed direction.

As I pointed out in my comment in the topic "Blowing CDUs" Link According to the images on the Gaugemaster website the two capacitors are rated at 40 volts and each is 2200uF. When feed with 15-16 volts AC from a reasonably rated ampere power source that should easily move two Seep PMx motors. What we still do not know is what exactly is being used to power the CDU? e.g. if a DC source is used then 12volts DC just wont do! 19 to 21 volts DC would be ok. But that's guessing what the OP is using? More info in detail is needed.

Hi The drawing you reproduced above at the opening post are not actual wiring diagrams, but were used to show the basic difference between Series and Parallel wiring. Seep PM1 PM2 and PM4 range of solinoid motors are notorious for needing to be accurately fitted under the point and should not be over tightened by their fixing screws either. If they are slightly out of correct alinement they frequently fail to operate correctly. So this would be my starting position to ensure they are free to move the point above. I would remove the pair of Seep motors from the points and baseboard and let them be still wired but hanging in free air. Then try them over and back on the switch. If they move together both ways with each switch operation then consider them as being wired correctly. Now refit one and ensure it is correctly aligned with the point above then retest from the switch. If ok refit the other one again positioning it to ensure it is directly in line with the point above. Next, all Seeps PM1, 2 & 4 use the same wiring operation three pads - A & B with C as the return So A & B are the feeds from the switch. C tab connects to the common return wire that goes back to the CDUs output Negative connection. You can use PM1 on any point, PM2 have no change-over built in switch. PM4 has a switch plus it has a built in self lock mechanism. The PM1 pads D, E & F are usually used for electrofrog polarity switching or sometimes for other switching requirements such as LED point position indications. In the case of two motors operating from one switch, I usually recommend wiring each motor back to the switch rather than parallel linking one to the other. But linking will work and should do so on short wiring runs. So for parallel wiring, take a feed wire from one tab of the switch (outer tab) to the first motors A pad add a second wire to this and take that wire to the other motors A pad. Do the same for the other operation wire coming from the switches other end terminal to the first motors B pad. Add a second wire to this on the B and take it to the second motors B pad. Run induvial wires from each motors C pads to the main common return wire for all motors. This run back to the CDU negative output. Positive CDU output connects to all operation switches middle wiring connection terminals. This is all show here if its of help?... Link to Point wiring Scroll down a little to the Seep wiring. The Gaugemaster CDU when feed from a 15/16 volt AC power supply rated at around 1.0Amp or more will be fine to operate two or more solinoid motors at once.

Cliff Park is correct, its like the the below You can feed the CDU with AC typically 16v AC or DC at around 19 - 21 volts. The CDU has a diode in the input so getting a DC input the wrong way around result in it not working

Hi Its here Link to click Scroll down a little and you will see the difeerence in wiring colours between Hornby and Peco surface solinoid motors (Peci colours are the same as Gaugemaster PM20 and Rails versions too) and further down the basic CDU wiring etc. As suggested, if at all possible avoid the Peco CDU (Unless Peco have amended theirs it lacks the needed punch!). Obtain one from Gaugemaster, Blocksignalling or even eBay.

Hi In your opening post you say "I can’t link a LED circuit to the point switch ( if I had used DPDT instead)." You should not be using locking switches of any pole type with solinoid motors unless some other precautions are taken. The normal switch to use is a sprung to centre Off type, often referenced as (On)-Off-(On) where the bracketed (On) cannot remain in that position when the lever is released - It springs back to the central Off position via its own internal spring mechanism. So these switches cannot illuminate any LEDs as their contacts open when they spring back to centre. The logic boards often called 'Point Position Indicators' are a good idea, but they only show that the switch has moved from one position to another. It is therefore possible to have a failure to throw on the point itself yet still indicate incorrectly that the point has moved! The Twin coil latching relay also only proves the pulse has been sent, not that anything has operated correctly. By using a switch (micro switch is usually used) that's operated by the point motor moving is by far the best option and is as near as practicable to proving the point has moved over. A small lever type micro switch mounted next to the point motor and has its lever worked by the movement of the solenoids drive pin is IMO a good as near as true point position indicator switch one can obtain other than a directly fitted motor operated switch such as the Peco PL13 (which isn't the best of switches!) or better their PL-15. If at any time a surface mounted solinoid motor is used a micro switch can be fitted on the oposite side to the motor and its lever worked by the points moving stretcher bar. Small micro switches can be obtained for a few pennies each. Examples are here Micro switch examples but there are many suppliers.

I've been showing LED carriage (and other uses too) lighting designs for some while. It may help? Link to DCC lighting section

As you say your wiring is as per the drawing I supplied, then my next step would be to return the CDU and its power supply to Gaugemaster for them to examine and see what is wrong and hopefully repair or replace the items. (Note, many GM returns are repaired FOC under their Lifetime warranty!) Contact their Service dept. first to obtain any returns info. they may need. 01903 884488

Hi Can you confirm your layout Seep PM? motors, CDU and switches are wired like this?

According to the images on the Gaugemaster web site Link to GM CDU the two capacitors are rated at 40 volt and each is 2200uF Therefore the maximum AC or unsmoothed DC input should not exceed 28 volts which is very high anyway IMO! Things that I would be checking... Input volts and the type - AC or DC or regulated DC. Disconnect a known working CDUs output and read DC output voltage. Ohm test each point motors coils possibly to be found at around 4 - 6 Ohms per coil. Check for a short occurring somewhere on a particular motor or its wiring. If using diodes as Bemf suppression ensure none of these have gone on short circuit. and none are fitted the wrong way around!

Have to agree with john new, I have never had any problems with a loco (Ringfield, XO3/4 or modern can style) when using a standard Gaugemaster DC controller (or even a Morley!). GM DC controllers - cased with internal power supply or uncased panel mounting which need a separate power source, usually 16v AC. Or their hand held Model W again needing a 16v AC power supply, their Combi comes with a plug-in mains power supply and all DC controllers come with a lifetime warranty.

Hi DO NOT set the PowerCab to 0. It should if only one cab, be set to 2. Which is the as supplied cab number.

When the PL10 motor is pushed up tight to the underside of a Peco point the four metal tabs on the PL10 are long enough to bend over at 90 degrees along the sleeper top to retain the motor firmly in place. When the PL10 is fitted directly to the underside of the point the extra long drive pin is not needed. Unfortunately as you say you have cut them already you will know you need a large rectangular hole cut into the baseboard to allow the motor and its pre fitted wiring to be dropped into place - Approx size of hole 40 x 20mm! This hole will usually need a covering too once the point is in place. IMO and for future point installation a much better option is to drill two 4mm holes side by side then join them by elongating them, making a 4 x 9mm long elongated slot, Or alternatively drill one 9mm dia hole directly in line with the points moving Stretcher bar (Tie Bar) and in the middle of the points rails. Then fit the motor underneath with the drive pin passing up via the slot or hole and entering the hole in the points moving Stretcher Bar. You can use the Peco PL9 fixing plate or simply bend the PL10E lugs outwards to around 90 degrees and fix the motor in place with two suitable sized woodscrews and a small washers or screw caps. Suggestions on fixings are here if it helps? Click here

Personally and if it were myself, I would make contact with Gaugemaster Technical department either by email or phone call and ask them.

How are you operating the GM500? Its a latching relay and requires a pulse to one relay coil to energise and latch the relay and it then remains mechanically latched until a second pulse is sent to the other relay coil to release the relay! Its not designed to operate solinoid motor coils such as the Seep PM2

Hope you have added a series resistor to limit LED current? Or have purchased 12 volt rated LEDs - These have a built in resistor. On 12v DC I would be looking for a 1K (1000 Ohm) 1/4 or 1/3 watt resistor, or if the LEDs are too bright increase the resistor Ohm value up to around 5K (5000 Ohm) I've shown the usual way of wiring switching the DC positive below

Hi Some good advice being offered, but some posts seem to forget you only have a Bachmann EZ DCC controller and are therefore not able to alter any CVs or carry out a reset. A good starting point for you IMO is to thoroughly clean all the rails and the locos wheel rims and check the wheel wiper contacts are clean and making good contact onto the wheels even when the wheels move slightly across the chassis. Also ensure your means of providing rail power connection is sound and is not loose. Another option which costs just a few pence is to add a DCC Filter across the rails or across the DCC bus pair if you have a DCC Bus This may help? reduce some corruption caused by spikes of higher voltage causing the decoder to miss behave. A 120R (120 Ohm) 3Watt resistor and a 0.1uF ceramic capacitor wired in series and then across the the DCC is worth trialling IMO it certainly wont hurt anything! As stated, the run away is caused by the DCC decoder thinking the full rail volts DCC provides is full power DC and therefore makes the loco take off like the proverbial sculled cat! The real way to stop this is to disable DC operation on the decoder, which you cant do! But a model shop. friend with a better DCC system or even a local model railway club may be able to do for you. Once disabled you will not be able to run the loco on DC power of course.

I've been recently using Aviation connectors. Two to fifteen pin and in three sizes. For my DCC bus pair and a 12 v layout lighting feed pair I've used 20mm dia. (GX20) four pole connectors. They have a large pins and locking rings to retain the plug secure. Example... eBay example Prior to these I used XLR connectors, but was limited in the number of ways available.