96RAF Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 ... as a way of getting the best of both worlds ...I like the sound of this. Here's how I did it. You can substitute any manual method in lieu of rotaries and push buttons and if you have the skills you can go for an electronic switch system in lieu of mechanical relays. /media/tinymce_upload/points.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I think that I might have to concur with Fishmanoz statement that Switch Pilot does not contain a CDU..--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Extract from the ESU manual - Section 9 Parameters of the Transistor Outputs. 9.3. Configuration of an output for PECO solenoid drives, If you wire a PECO solenoid drive to an output write the value 1 into the corresponding configuration-CV. This adjusts the overload (over current) protection to the higher values for PECO solenoid drives. If you would like to use PECO turnout motors you have to use an external transformer to supply the SwitchPilot with enough current. See section 6.5--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------.The above description is, in my view, not consistent with the electrical properties of a CDU being present in the electrical output circuit of the Switch Pilot decoder. It also supports Fishmanoz’s other statement “As the Switchpilot has no CDU, current draw during firing is high and the use of an external higher volt supply is a good idea.”.Granted it is Peco that is being specifically mentioned in the manual extract but the principle covered must be similar for other brand solenoid motors as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 RDS,In an earlier reply to me you wrote:.Thanks for your diagram. Unfortunately it contains more components than I had hoped I could get away with..There is nothing at all wrong with RAF's diagram solution, in fact the relays connected directly to the decoder part of it, is exactly what I have done myself. But bear in mind the component count and the cost of those components is now increasing exponentially. The relay boards I designed and constructed using relays cost me £17 per board to make, one board per 4 point decoder. You need two relays per port and that was using quite cheap relays at £1.60 each inc VAT..See link. http://www.rapidonline.com/electronic-components/te-connectivity-rz03-1c4-d012-12v-16a-spco-relay-rz03-60-1274.The pins of these specific relays (link above) are 0.1" pitch. This means that the pins will line up perfectly with the holes in standard 0.1" pitch copper strip board. It took me ages to find a suitable relay that had this particular pin pitch in the coil voltage (12vdc) and contact arrangement that I needed. Be cautious, because most of the relays I looked at during my research would not fit the standard stripboard hole spacing..Further to a previous post of mine regarding the 19V DC Laptop Power Supply. Now that it is highly likely that the Switch Pilot does not contain an integrated CDU, I would now replace my previously suggested 19 V DC Laptop PSU with a basic high current 16 VAC transformer. The output of which would feed both the Switch Pilot(s) and, if you pursue the manual over-ride option, a CDU power input for the manual switch overlay. A 16 VAC high current transformer will not come cheap, they are expensive. The transformer needs to be high current to provide all the current to fire multiple solenoids via the Switch Pilot. The CDU on the other hand only needs to have a relatively lower trickle fed recharge current..Of course, if you go with RAF's design, then the points will always be fired by the CDU whether via DCC or Manual control because of the relay interface. Thus, in that solution the 16 VAC current requirement is far lower and a much cheaper transformer can be used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Without copying in Chriss's text and pointing to various bits:Yes the relay count is huge if you have many points. I have 4 acc decoders firing 18 points so 2 relays per port means there are 32 relays - here's the board:/media/tinymce_upload/101_1892.JPGYes the CDU is the prime mover so switching is always reliable and it will trip off a 6-7 point route without fail.For a power source I use the AC Aux output from an old H&M2000 controller. I use the knob controlled output to dim my layout street and paltform lighting. Buying one of these new is incomparable with sourcing a cheap laptop PSU.The relays I used are Maplins finest 12V car headlight flasher relays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 This ones mine..... /media/tinymce_upload/100_0638.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 The similarity is plain to see Chris ...Your 'knitting' is a bit tidier than mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissaf Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 That comes from all the practice I had wiring and terminating cables in the comms industry. Seriously though, you can see why I was keen to source a relay that would fit into the holes on copper stripboard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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