Double slip - strange point motor action

[Mountain Goat]

Yes, but the principle remains the same. The solenoid bars dont like moving at slightly different angles to the point tiebars is the possible cause. It may only be a small angle difference. They can be made to pull at angles if there is a low friction enviroment but in general, if one can ensure the angles are as straight as possible in both directions (Hornzontal and vertiical) so the solenoid bar has the same angle as the point tie bar (As far as possible) then it should be fine. Yes, the point tiebar does run on a slight arc and the circular movement of the solenoid core will allow for a give in the solenoid actuating pin (If you get my description correctly), which usually overcomes the slight arc of the tiebar... One thing to try is to push the point across by hand both ways of travel (One at a time) and feel if there is more friction in one direction to the other. It could be a tight tie bar or even a point spring rubbing on some plastic or something alonb those lines.

[Tricky Dicky]

With the P-11 I cannot see that alignment is the problem with side lugs that fit between the point sleepers and the motor fixed tight against the sleepers it is self aligning. Which brings it back to power, the under board motors require a peak current of about 3A, no idea what the surface mount require could be less. From you description it sounds as though there is not enough grunt (Oooomp) to overcome the point Spring hence the slight movement backwards, get a CDU, I can recommend the Gaugemaster one.

Richard

[RogerB]

I have fitted a CDU - it seems now all I have to do is work out how to alter the DCC30 accessory decoder CV's to send the power in a pulse rather than latch on, which is how they ship according to the blurb. Bit of head scratching at the moment as I cannot seem to write the main decoder code CV513 to "n" or put 2's for power duration pulses in CV's 515 - 518. Time to dig out the Elite manual. R-

[steel bat]

I've found that the PL11 surface-mounted motor only barely has enough power to change an ordinary point,- the extra blades of a double slip might simply be too much for it.
For my double slip I've use the usual PL10 motors mounted directly to the underside with a piece of thin card sandwiched between to hide sight of them thro' the sleepers
The holes in the baseboard are a bit of a chore to do and it does need a bit of clearance under the board for the motors and wiring.

[Ron S]

Unless your direct power supply is around 16v 3Amp,, then a CDU is required,

Peco coils & I would guess Seep, are approx 5 ohms so it needs plenty of current to get a good movement

[Ron S]

I've found that the PL11 surface-mounted motor only barely has enough power to change an ordinary point,- the extra blades of a double slip might simply be too much for it.
For my double slip I've use the usual PL10 motors mounted directly to the underside with a piece of thin card sandwiched between to hide sight of them thro' the sleepers
The holes in the baseboard are a bit of a chore to do and it does need a bit of clearance under the board for the motors and wiring.

I use side mounted solenoids on my Peco double slip & have no problems but then then I use a CDU that gives a 19v kick

[RogerB]

Thank folks for the responses. After an afternoon on the phone yesterday with Gaugemaster and several attempts at sorting this out we have concluded that both DCC 30's are defective. Hattons have agreed a full refund.

On the basis that this experience might be helpful to others these are the issues I encountered when trying to set up and use these two boards. As background I point out that it is necessary to change CV's 513, 515, 516, 517 and 518 (514 is not used) to get the port ID you want to use and the pulse duration you want for reliable operation.

• Whilst Railmaster was indicating that the CV's had been written correctly (green confirmation characters) it seems nothing happened. This was on the programming track and RM was changing CV's on other decoders correctly. Decoder Pro seems to have removed itself from my laptop and now will not load - a task to sort out another day.

• Even though I had removed the link wire on the decoders, which is what should change their behaviour from latched (constant on/off power) to pulsed (where you set duration) the output was inconsistent. A single firing of a port would give a pulsed output the next firing was constant. Unfortunately this was not evident until the motors started melting. That cost me one PM-01 and two PL-11's. I eventually discovered the inconsistency by using an LED instead of a motor.

I might just add that Gaugemaster gave me some fantastic support (thank you Greg if you are reading this) and Hattons were very understanding (thank you Rob if you are on here). Thanks also to our Rob (RAF96) who assisted off piste.

R-

[RSR Engineer]

How about an SM3? A bit clunky and old-fashioned but no shortage of oomph.

[RogerB]

Sorry RSR, what is that? R-

[RSR Engineer]

Oh, sorry, Roger, the S.M.3 was a point motor produced by Hammant & Morgan from (I think) the 1950s till late in the century (exact date unknown). It consisted of the classical double solenoid with locking mechanism, plus a single-pole two-way break-before-make switch; you also got a spindle-mounted bell crank for below-board mounting. These things would survive Krakatoa. You can still get them on eBay. I also still have one of their Powermaster controllers that I bought ca. 1965 - indestructible.

Cheers,
Artur