[Brian Considine]

I for one fall into the catagory of "wire & switches" for point control - I know of very few (friends & customers alike) people who use DCC for point/signal control. Don't know if this is the same across Europe - I suspect that a higher ration of people use DCC there for point/signal control.

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (72C @ 22 Oct 2007, 08:36) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Limited sucess? If you add Peco's microswitch, they are almost fool proof. The latest copy of RM provided some handy hints and tips on installation but it really is down to the ability of the person installing the motors (which applies to all motors)

If you add up the total cost of a Peco (PL10-W) point motor & the microswitch (PL15) you are paying virtua;;y the same as the cost of a csow action point motor such as the Lemaco or Fulgurex !

 

[Brian Considine]

IMHO there are two camps as regards point actuation, those that use solenoid devices & those that use motorised devices.

Ian says that he has used Peco points & motors for over 30 years with no problems, so he must have some equipment that is very old - I have an theory that its just possible that the tooling is now past its sell by date.
For example the Peco points on the "public" side of SL are some 20 years old & had been reused about 5 times by the original builder. They were actuated by Peco motors under the points & worked with a high degree of reliability - they were changed for Fulgurex because of the cost comparison when you allow for the extra switching required.
The storage yard was constructed using new Peco points, motors & track. Although very carefully installed we only managed around 90% reliability which is no good at all for automated loops. We tried using H & M point motors (they were brand new) & although the reliability was better we still had problems with the points themselves which made us think that there is some problem with the points themselves. We tried a variety of voltages from 12 - 24v DC & AC & a CDU fitted with extra caps.
All the points, motors & track on the storage yard has now been replaced by FLM profi & works with almost 100% reliability BTW when the FLM point motors actuate you hear a descrete click, not a clunk or a buzz.

Our experience is that older Peco points are fine, but later ones are not - does anyone else have any similar experiences ?

Regarding the reliability of the Fulgurex motors we had a test jig set up in the workshop using some automation which ran for 24/7 (Rocoline trackwork/Fulgurex motors) - it was 100% reliable over some 250,000 cycles plus.

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (Ian @ 24 Oct 2007, 01:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>You don't say exactly what the trouble you experienced with the Peco points. I presume the points stick and do not activate properly.
You say you changed p/motors and still had trouble which,as you say, points(whoops pun) to the points being the problem more than the motor.
You say newer Peco points give problems. This I do agree with as I have experienced new Peco points sticking. Not often, only the odd one. It is usually the tie (throw) bar sticking. A little bit of work soon fixes it.
RE age of my points and p/motors; some are 10yrs old up to 6months.
Always check resistance in each coil with DVM. If under 4 ohms chances are P/mototor will give trouble when activated. 3 ohms or lower will usually let the magic smoke out. If being operated with DCC the overload in accessory decoder will shut down. Resistance should be closer to 5 ohms in each coil.
Happy DCCing
Iansa

Hi Ian,

Yes, I should I said what the problem was - it was the points themselves sticking, sometimes the tie bar & sometimes the contacts fouling the underside of the rail. The H & M's worked OK, but I felt that the points and/or linkage would give before the motors !
Personally, I don't think that you should have to work on new products to make them work - certainly not with the ratio I had (about 12 out of 16), maybe I just had a bad batch, although they were a mixture of hands & radius.