Hogan22

SMH, so many mistakes on my end, I don’t even know how this happened when I located the item in store based on its Cat.No 🤦‍♂️ Must have missed the last 2 of the 4 numbers somehow, or maybe it was a wrong item on the peg with the correct Cat.No, and I assumed it was correct cause it looked the same. 🤦‍♂️ but hey, at least it’s working now 🤷‍♂️😂

Apologies, must have confused myself there, the listing and package for the power supply read 24v ac, but the output of the power supply appears to be 16-17.5ac: https://www.jaycar.com.au/24vac-1a-unregulated-power-supply-bareends/p/MP3032 again, probably another thing I’ve messed up or misunderstood 🤦‍♂️ but yes, the points all throw perfectly fine now. All that’s left now is to install them all and wire it all up. thanks again everyone for the help.

Hi guys, just confirming, the MM reads about 16v AC going into the CDU, and 24v DC From the output of the cdu, or if I switch it to read AC, 48V. The CDU is connected directly to the power supply (see photos attached, not sure why it’s decided to upload them upside down), So I imagine there couldn’t be much wrong with wiring unless it’s a faulty power supply (though I did by it BN). to clarify, I’m not attempting to read the output while toggling the switch, just straight from the output of the cdu, where the wires for motors/ terminal blocks would go. im sure I’ve probably done something wrong in these photos and just don’t know, so please correct me if you see an issue.

Apologies for the delayed response, the output of the CDU is now about 24v

Trying to avoid surface mounted if possible, will resort to it if need be. But would prefer for the motors to not be visible.

Hi again everyone, little update, I’ve bought the very same 24v ac power adapter from jaycar as recommended by a few of you. it’s solved my problem completely, all the motors throw the points now. It’s just a matter of getting everything wired up and plugged into my makeshift control board. Thankyou again everyone for helping me out and being patient with me. i do have one more question, but this has less to do with the electronic side of this task. this layout im building has been in the works for many years now, and at some point I’ve layed ballast over several turnouts. I can’t install these peco pl-10 point motors under that table, since there’s a 6cm difference between the surface and bottom of the table (to much flexibility in the motor rod) would it be worth it to rip up the ballasted track and install motors the same way I am with the rest? (cutting into the foam board within the table) or should I just leave these turnouts as are? id like to have the option to operate them without reaching over and doing it manually, but it’s a fair bit of track to rip up. Please let me know what you think and what you would do regards sam

Based in Canberra.

Thankyou everyone for the help! in case it wasn’t extremely obvious, this is my first time doing anything like this, so please forgive me if I misunderstand any advise you’ve tried to put forward. there’s been a lot of trial and error on my end, and I’ve been close to giving up on all this. I probably should be a little more specific about how I’m going about all this, so I’ll list some things below: I’m using the power supply from a Powerline PR-TC2 DC Train Controller (ac -16vdc power supply adapter) im using 13x0.12mm wire to connect the cdu to the switches, terminal blocks and motors. im using a TKcdu2 CDU, which apparently has 4x 35v 4700μF capacitors (good to know 👍). im not sure as to the specifics of the switches I’m using (non locking sprung vs locking switches) the switch doesn’t spring back to centre off after switching if that’s what you mean 🤷‍♂️ the switches I’m using are these: https://www.jaycar.com.au/spdt-centre-off-miniature-toggle-switch-solder-tag/p/ST0336?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrc62gKzahQMVPmoPAh062Q4BEAQYAiABEgIylPD_BwE id be happy to change the switches if it would help, are the peco pl-26r switches good for this sort of thing, or not much better than what I’m already using? the peco point motors I’m using are the pl-10 motors. And the track I’m using is not ballasted. i think I’ll try and get a 24v dc output power supply tomorrow, and see if that works. If not, I’ll try an old laptop charging cable instead.

Potentially, I believe the cdu I have is only designed for 16v, so should probably get a new one that can handle more. is upping the power by a few volts really gonna make a difference? The motors throw fine when not attached to anything, and also throw with Hornby points, it’s only peco ones they seem to have trouble with.

Oh no the idea wouldn’t be to remove them entirely, just to take them out, adjust them slightly and put them back. Hopefully the result would be slightly less resistance when switching them.

That’s the thing, when the motor is in or out of the board without being connect to points, it throws no problem, if I then attach a set of Hornby standard points to the motor (in or out of the table), it usually throws them as well, But if I try that with my peco points, in or out of the table, they won’t throw. I really do think it’s an issue with the tension of the spring in the points, but I’ve been recommended against adjusting the springs so I’m a bit lost as to what to do about all this.

Alright, seems I should leave turnout spring adjustment as a last resort. To clarify, I’m only using the peco standard points, no express points, no electrofrogs, just the plain standard ones. I’ve only considered adjusting the springs as some of my peco points are easier to switch then others, none of them are particularly older or more worn out then others either. also, I believe I am using 16v DC not AC, that stuff does sort of confuse me a bit, but the output of the power supply adapter reads 16v DC. yes I always make sure to switch all the spdt switches to their centre off before switching again, if I tried to do that without switching all to centre off it just wouldn’t work period. the blades are 100% free to move, not obscured by anything, even with the motor underneath they still switch fine manually. id prefer not to have these mounted directly under the track myself, but the track is on a 6cm thick table (4cm foam board, 2cm wood), I was originally going to mount motors under the table, but the distance the motor rods needs to travel, plus the resistance from the points, it’s just not really an option unless I invest in some heavy duty equipment.

Yeah I probably could’ve worded that better, it does get the 16v on centre off, but when I switch its to brief to read it. i thought 16v would be enough, might need to look at some other power supply options then. I do think the turnout springs are playing a big part in this as well, I think I’ll adjust 1 or 2 and see if it makes a difference.

The power supply I’m using for this setup is a 16v ac to dc adapter power supply ( like a power cable from a DC controller). Good to know a dmm wouldn’t really be able to measure the volts going from operating switch to point motor (after switching). that means the issue would likely be the tension of the turnout springs right?

I’ve been troubleshooting my setup for DC point motor operation , and I think I’ve narrowed it down to a few possible options. I have a bunch of peco point motors wired up, with points attached directly on top, but the motors aren’t throwing the points when switched. All the wiring is fine, as well as the CDU (16v rkcdu2), and I’m using spdt switches with a centre off. I’ve used a dmm on the exit points of the cdu and it reads the correct amount (15-16v) And when I use a dmm, with the black lead on the negative of the point motor, and the red on the positive wire entering the operating switch, I still get a solid read of 15-16v but when I actually use the switch (moving the red lead to the relevant throw) the multimeter only reads about 4-6v. Is this normal for standard DC peco point motor operation? The second thing I believe to be an issue is the tension of the spring in the points themselves, some are more tense than others, and operate differently with the motors. Would it be worth looking into adjusting the springs in the points to be less tense, or is this to risky? I know they can be easy to lose. I’ve thought about cutting the springs, but that’s an even bigger risk if it fails to work. Please let me know what you think I should do, or if there’s anything else I might have missed that could be causing a problem Thanks for the help!