Turnout Wiring - Manual Ground Throw
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rreitz@...
I was reading this interesting option for making a powered frog switch which looked like something I would like to do for my small n-scale switching layout: Turnout Wiring section - RECOMMENDATION #2-22: Manual Ground Throws: Power Routing Your Frogs. The description in that section references a microswitch from www.mouser.com #540-DB3C-B1LB and states that it is a 1A microswitch. However the Mouser website states that the current rating is 100 mA. Would this be sufficient for power routing a frog in a DCC setup? Thank you.
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wirefordcc
Good catch! I don’t have any N-scale locomotives to test. 100mA might be enough. If you go this route, go with the switch from Digikey, just to be safe. I’ll change the website.
But you have a bigger problem that probably can’t be solved with using a micro switch. The problem is that an N-scale turnout probably doesn’t have enough throw to flip the micro switch. We had a devil of a time getting it to work in HO.
I stopped using micro switches once I discovered Frog Juicers by Tam Valley Depot. They cost more than a micro switch, but you don’t have to fabricate any mounts and fidget with them to get them aligned and working. Just take 5 minutes to wire up a Frog Juicer and you are off and running. I have over 60 of them in my new layout.
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rreitz@...
Yes - I can appreciate the additional challenges going to n-scale. However I'm a tinkerer by nature and take this as a challenge. Also when considering all the add-ons necessary to get one switch installed and working you could be anywhere from $60 - $80 per unit (maybe more). I'll have over 30 of them in my small n-scale experiment I am working on - that could be over $2000 just in turnouts. I'm scratch building them all with code 40 rail and wood ties. I was more interested in the microswitch as a starting point and designing a different throw mechanism. I enjoy your enthusiasm! Richard Reitz ----------------------------------------- From: "wirefordcc"To: w4dccqa@groups.io Cc: Sent: Saturday December 12 2020 11:01:47AM Subject: Re: [w4dccqa] Turnout Wiring - Manual Ground Throw Good catch! I don’t have any N-scale locomotives to test. 100mA might be enough. If you go this route, go with the switch from Digikey, just to be safe. I’ll change the website.
But you have a bigger problem that probably can’t be solved with using a micro switch. The problem is that an N-scale turnout probably doesn’t have enough throw to flip the micro switch. We had a devil of a time getting it to work in HO.
I stopped using micro switches once I discovered Frog Juicers by Tam Valley Depot. They cost more than a micro switch, but you don’t have to fabricate any mounts and fidget with them to get them aligned and working. Just take 5 minutes to wire up a Frog Juicer and you are off and running. I have over 60 of them in my new layout.
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