remote turnout wiring for e-z track

[jzskins]

I just received the Your 1st Railroad e-z track kit.  How do the remote turnouts get wired?  How many AC wire ends can I attach to an AC terminal?

[Jerrys HO]

jz-

The green wire coming from the turnout goes to the switch that has the connection by it self, meaning there is no connection opposite from that one. If you notice the switch has three places to plug in connectors- two across from each other and one by itself.
The switches can be pushed together so as all you need is one power feed or you can wire them separately. That is where the red wire comes in and connects to the side that has connections on both ends. You can attach as many turnouts as you wish to the accessory pins as you will only be throwing one switch at a time.(hopefully).
If you don't have enough length of wire it can be cut and a desired length added. I solder all my splices and wrap in heat shrink tubing.
Hope this helps.

Jerry

[Jim Banner]

You may want multiple blocks of turnout controls if you use walk-around control on your layout.  Then to answer your question, you can attach as many pairs of wires to your power source's ac terminals as is physically possible.  The turnouts draw current only while you have the control switch pushed in.  So 1 turnout or 100 use the same amount of power if you throw them one at a time.

It is a whole new ball game if some of the wires are powering fixed loads like light bulbs.  Then you have to add up all the currents of all the loads to make sure you are not exceeding the allowable current load of the power source.

Jim

[mf5117]

Re: wiring switches
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2011, 10:40:21 PM »



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. You gang them together , will be male prongs on the left and female prongs on the rightside of the switch ,join them altogether .Then take your green 3 wire connector cable "I also believe they come with extention cables the green ones" from your turnout to your switch box . Then take the 2 wire red cable and go from the farthest left switch to your accessory side of your controller . the cables are unsightly but you can , if your layout is permanent slot holes in your table and run your wires underneath to your switches and controller . I had at first a couple of the cables running under a few pcs of ez track on the layout when I first started and had uncoupling problems because of the hump . You can take a small file and notch a spot in the road bed  if need be . hope this helps happy holidays

[Desertdweller]

Not trying to confuse you, but it is possible to wire up your turnouts so two can be thrown at the same time from the same control switch.  This would either require splicing some wires or using a terminal (barrier) strip.
You may want to do this if you have a crossover between two main lines  (a crossover is two turnouts, a left and a right, installed with their diverging tracks running into each other.

You would normally never encounter a situation where only half a crossover would be thrown.  In fact, the actual railroads have a rule about not throwing only half of a mainline crossover.

Les

[jzskins]

Thanks for the advice to everyone.  It makes a lot more sense to me now. 

[Elnovato]

Jz, which AC terminal do you have?

[Jerrys HO]

Jz, which AC terminal do you have?

El, I don't think he will answer the last time he posted was in 2011!

The link I sent you before has the PN for Bachmann's dc controller. It has an accessory output for doing this. Like I stated before any walwart or old toy charger will do the trick.

[Doneldon]

Elno-

There's a good chance that you have a power supply which will work. Check all of your surplus wall warts and other power bricks to see if one
puts out something in the range of 12-14 volts and an amp or more. If you don't have one which will work, see if your LHS has a used section
or buy one on eBay. You shouldn't need to spend more than $10-12.
                                                                                                        -- D

[Sullivanmd]

Hello all. I have 5 turnouts and 2 crossovers Bachmann track and I drilled holes under each so that the green wires can hang below the layout. My question is how can I connect those wires to their perspective switches in a clean organized way and also have the swiches all connected together (ganged) and also all on one red power wire that's going to the AC Accessories terminal on the MRC tech II transformer. Thanks.

[Joe Satnik]

Hi, Sully.

I suspect the distances between the nine controllers and the turnouts are longer than the supplied green cables. 

In that case, you would have to buy #44598 extensions, or lengthen the cables by cutting and splicing wires in between. 

You can use small wire nuts, crimp connectors, or solder and shrink tube. 

Scrap Cat5 cable would work to extend the lengths if the distances weren't too long.   

You can drill smaller diameter holes if the wide terminal ends don't have to go through your table.

You could hard wire in a competitor's #56 controllers (stripped wires under screw terminals) instead of using the wide Bachmann slide-on 3 wire connectors. 

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[jbrock27]

Doctor Sullivan, are you using the same MRC power pack for powering the switch machines and for powering the rails?

[Sullivanmd]

Hi Joe, you are correct! I want to stay from the 44598 $10 green wire. Those can add up real quick. I want to stay more along the lines of cutting and splicing the wires. Where can I get scrap cat5 wire at? So would it be as simple as cutting and splicing on the green wire, 2 inches from the connector and cut and splice the scrap cat5 wire and run enough wire to make it to the switch and from there re attach the connector by crimping, then plug into the switch? Does each switch need it's own wire? One more question for you, I already have power going to the rails, can I run another power wire from the power pack ( doubling up on the connection and run it across to the far side of the track just to have power on the far side. It seems like my train slows when it's in the far side. Thanks and talk to you later.

[Sullivanmd]

Jbrock27

Yes I'm using the MRC Tech II powering the switches and rails. Is that bad? Thanks

[jbrock27]

Sully, may I suggest then that you obtain a 2nd AC power source to run your switch machines and use the MRC pack for just running the trains; for this reason:  if hooked to one pack, you will notice when you activate a switch machine while running a loco, you will experience a slight drain of power to the loco.  The same effect if you have lights hooked up to the same pack, the lights will dim when you activate a switch.  The 2nd power source does not have to be elaborate or expensive, this is why I say keep the good one (MRC) to just running the trains.

Instead of a #56, you could also use momentary push button switches to move the turnouts from divergent to straight route.  You would need 2 buttons for each turnout.

You can find CAT5 from a business that has computer/phone system's they are renovating or it might even be something you can buy at a place like Home Depot or Lowes.  You would strip the casing (carefully)  to get at the individual wires for your usage.  You will also need small wire strippers for that gauge wire (also found at HD or Lowes).