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Wiring of point motors together


KPJunk

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Hi everyone, firstly apologies as I know it has been asked before but despite searching I cannot find the thread.

 

Can someone please remind me on how to wire 2 Hornby surface point motors (R8243) together on 1 dcc code so that I can minimise the

 

number of accessory decoders I need to install.

 

Many thanks in anticipation

 

Keith

 

 

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hi keith

connect the wires from both point motors together red to red etc,using a connector or solder if more appropriate. then connect to acc. decoder black is the common return red to plus green to minus

hope this helps

regards

steamfreak

 

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The connected up wires then go into the same decoder port. If you should happen to want to throw them in opposite directions at the same time, then connect green to red and red to green and put them into the same port.
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  • 2 months later...

Posted by Hornby Customer Care in May 2012.

 

Signal lights usually require a continuous voltages to operate, thus the accessory decoder used to drive them will be set to give a continuous voltage output. Hornby Point Motors use solenoids to physically

 

move the point mechanism. Solenoid Point Motors require a single pulse of electricity to activate. It is not possible to commonly connect light signals and Point Motors to the same accessory decoder.

 

Using R8247 Point and Accessory Decoders

Using

 

Hornby R8247 Point and Accessory decoders (PAD) the best scheme would be to run them as a pair. The pair will be programmed to the same address range. But, one unit will be set to output a pulse and will have the Point Motor connected; the other will be set

 

to give a continuous output and will have the signal light connected. When a point is accessed via its address both units will activate their corresponding ports, activating the light signal at the same time as the Point Motor.

 

Setting the outputs

 

of the R8247

The output duration, or “dwell time” of each port of the R8247 PAD is set by the value programmed into various CVs. Please note: in order to access the “dwell time” set up you will require a DCC controller which can programme and access individual

 

CVs. The Hornby Elite has all the features required to do this.

 

Also the default setting for the “dwell time” of the ports of the R8247 PAD is 100mS. This ensures that the unit will operate a Point Motor without further programming (other than address.)

 

It is not advised to set the “dwell time” any longer than 800mS, or damage to the Point Motor/R8247 will result.

 

R8247 - Description of CVs

 

CV513 or CV1 Group Address LSB 1-64 (when used with ELITE.. thus 252 Points.) Default 1

CV515

 

or CV3 Duration Output 1 0 or 1-255 Default 1 … Continuous or 100mS – 25.5Seconds

CV516 or CV4 Duration Output 2 0 or 1-255 Default 1 … Continuous or 100mS – 25.5Seconds

CV517 or CV5 Duration Output 3 0 or 1-255 Default 1 … Continuous or 100mS –

 

25.5Seconds

CV518 or CV6 Duration Output 4 0 or 1-255 Default 1 … Continuous or 100mS – 25.5Seconds

 

CV519 or CV7 Firmware Version Read Only Default 12

CV520 or CV8 Manufacturer ID Read Only Default 255 (will be 48) ******

CV521 or CV9

 

Group Address MSB When used with Controllers capable of addressing 511 Groups. Default 0.

 

******

NOTE: By writing any number to CV8 the unit may be reset to factory default. We usually recommend writing “8” (in line with our loco decoders.)

 

Switching

 

two points together

It is sometime desirable to activate multiple points at the same time; the user enters a single point address and two or more points activate in unison. This can be achieved by setting up two or more PADs with the same address i.e.

 

all PADs with a common address range will individually fire the same port when accessed. This practice is sometimes referred to as “Shadowing.”

 

The R8247 unit was designed to reliably activate a single point motor/point. However, in practice it was

 

found that there was enough “capacity” to switch 2 parallel connected point motors with a reasonable reliability. A practice adopted by some users is to use this ability when controlling two point back to back e.g. when passing from one loop of track to another.

 

 

However, the above technique can have its draw backs. We must point out that the “cycle time of the on-board CDU (capacitor discharge unit) maybe longer due to the increased load of two point motors together. When activating a series of points in this

 

“doubled up” configuration it is advisable to wait at least 6 seconds or so between each action.

 

Please note: In some cases it is possible for the on-board CDU to fail to activate two Point Motors/points connected commonly if the points in question

 

are mechanically “tight.” This can happen if the point is not mounted absolutely flat or is blocked in some way by landscaping materials. This issue is a case of experimentation to see if the R8247 can supply enough energy to activate the pair of points.

 

How

 

to connect Point Motors and Coloured Light Signal to the Hornby Point Decoder/Point and Accessory Decoder - R8216/R8247

When connecting the Point Motors and Coloured Light signals to the Point and Accessory Decoder R8247 (PAD), or the older Point Decoder

 

R8216 please follow the guidelines below.

 

The ports/channels of the R8216 and R8247 units are clearly labelled +, C and -

 

Please ensure that you observe the following wiring details. Please Note: the wire colour codes have different functions

 

in each case.

 

Point Motors R8014/R8243

 

Red wire = +

 

Black wire = C (common)

 

Green wire = - ***

 

*** R8014, it is possible that this wire may be Brown or White depending on when your point motor was manufactured.

 

Coloured

 

Light Signal R406

 

Red light = red wire = +

 

Common = green wire = C (common)

 

Green light = black wire = -

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They should handle any solenoid motor. That said, it is clear that higher current motors like SEEP are a struggle for them, particularly with repeated firings or 2 at the same time on crossovers. As you are only looking at sidings, these limitations, if

 

applicable to Atlas, shouldn't be a problem.

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