# Remote Control Switches



## Dave S. (May 1, 2009)

I am new to G-Scale railroading and want to install my first electric switch.

What type of switch motors do people recommend as being the best? 

I have already purchased an an aristocraft switch machine #11298 and have already been warned that they are not the best.

Never the less does anyone know how to connect an aristocraft switch machine #11298 - there are five wires from the toggle switch, a red-black-green wire set along with a black-black and white set. The switch motor has six contacts named: cont A, Cont B, Common, Com., SW On (up arrow), SW On (down arrow). The directions are minimal. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Dave


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

There is a thread over in the Aristo general forum that covers this Dave, it will be 2-3 months back...
As I recall its Cont A, Cont B, & common R the 3 U want to operate the switch itself...
Paul R...


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

In my experience the LGB switch motors are rugged and extremely reliable


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The switch machines from Train-Li are likewise high quality, and water resistant, as tested thoroughly, believe me. 

I would not use the Aristo machines outside with any expectation they will last very long. 

I use air power, one moving part and no electrics. (but more expensive) 

Regards, Greg


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

I would ask how you control your power for your engines. 

If using the Aristo 27mhz system, they have a 55475 controller that can control up to 5 of the Aristo/LGB switch motors. 

There are other switch motors available and can be controlled by DCC or MTS, or Air. 

Tell us about your power and more specifc information can be given to you.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

The biggest question is which aristo motors do you have? 

Are they little square boxes with waffles on the top?


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

The LGB turnout motors are reliable and probably the most "user friendly" and best for "all around functionality."

I would not/could not use the Train-Li turnout motors without modification to my automatic operations electronics. The Train-Li turnout motors take several seconds to throw and the user _must continue to hold the "toggle switch" that throws the motor until the points are fully nested. _ This is not the ideal situation if you are doing automatic operations where these are pulsed by a reed switch for under a second. My automatic operations use 555 timer chips to pulse these motors for ~1.5 seconds, which is plenty for the LGB motors, but would not be with the Train-Li motors. 

Additionally, I have toggle switches on my control panel that throw numerous turnouts simultaneously to select different routes, or go back to the default settings (as many as 20 turnouts at a time). I do this with a 16.7 amp power supply (fused at 10 amps) and a capacitor that instantaneously discharges through the turnout motors. If I had to hold this toggle and power 20 turnouts for 5-10 seconds, I imagine that I would be continually popping fuses on this transformer.


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

take a look at the link to see if there is anything you can use 

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips3/interlocking_tips.html


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## 50-Cal (Nov 14, 2011)

Can you run air solenoids with REVO wireless switch device


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

What is a Revo wireless switch device? 

Do you have specs on the voltage and current it will handle? 

Air solenoids will need special precautions, but start with the current handling of the Revo unit. 

Greg


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## 50-Cal (Nov 14, 2011)

Thanks for responding Greg,Its Aristos remote switch device that controls five switchs,want to convert to air power and control solenoids remotely.Love your web site.


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## dbodnar (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 26 Nov 2011 09:44 PM 
What is a Revo wireless switch device? 

Do you have specs on the voltage and current it will handle? 

Air solenoids will need special precautions, but start with the current handling of the Revo unit. 

Greg 
Greg - I did a presentation on the switch controller at the ECLSTS in 2010 - my PowerPoint slides are here: Slides 

there is a video of the presentation here: Video from ECLSTS 


It uses the same type of Mosfet as the receiver and can handle several amps for a short time.... there is no heat sink on the devices so they would heat up if active at high load for an extended time.


dave


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The solenoids will need continuous current Dave, what is the Revo's rating? 

Greg


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## Mike Reilley (Jan 2, 2008)

Figuring you'd want to know what the pneumatics cost....well, tonight I ordered all the pneumatic parts for my layout. As Greg says, they're not cheap. I bought everything from Clippard as they are the biggest seller of this kind of stuff. Here's the price list for a system that controls my 17 turnouts. It worked out to around $20 per turnout...and I had the compressor already.







*Product Sku*


*Units*


*Price Per*


*Extended Price*


*1.*


3PS-1/2 - actuating cylinder



17


$7.92


$134.64


*2.*


TV-3S - air switch



14


$9.61


$134.54


*3.*


T22-2-PKG - 3 way barb coupler



1


$7.62


$7.62


*4.*


TT0-202-PKG - 10/32 to dual barb fitting



1


$10.09


$10.09


*5.*


11752-5-PKG - barb to screw fitting

5


$4.64


$23.20


*6.*


BTT2-12 - manifold



1


$12.25


$12.25


*7.*


PG-100 - pressure gauge



1


$8.75


$8.75


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## dbodnar (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 27 Nov 2011 10:52 PM 
The solenoids will need continuous current Dave, what is the Revo's rating? 

Greg 
Greg - I don't believe that Aristo has ever posted a current capacity for the unit. A bit of research on the chip (a Fairchild FAN8082D) indicates that the limit is 0.8 amps. 

The Aristo unit is also NOT designed to keep power to the switch motor as typical systems only require a short pulse to throw a switch.

To use the Aristo switch machine with the solenoid system you could use it to toggle a latching relay and connect the output from the relay to the solenoid.

dave


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Mike's analysis is pretty much the same as my experience with Sunset Valley's pneumatics. I have 22 switches and the total price ran a bit over twenty bucks each. Since I started my layout two years ago with a full NCE system, including a few of their little accessory boards, I compared them with the pneumatics and the NCE's were within a buck or two of SV air. I've had the NCE boards buried for two years and they still work flawlessly. It came down to which system I liked, and where I liked them. The 22 switches are in a fairly confined area of my new rail yard with a permanent control panel 









so pneumatics were my choice while the NCE units are out on the line where I don't want a central control point. Given that the costs are fairly close, it's nice when you can do what works best for each situation. 
JackM


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Jack.... That's a very nice installation and contol "post". 


In support of Dave's slide show and write up, I run 2 of the Aristo-Craft Remote Switch Devices contolling 6 sitches with one device and 5 with the other... Each of the outputs are in the "fast" mode.

On device number 1, one switch each is controlled from outputs 1-4 and 2 swtiches are controlled from output 5. 

Device number 2 operates 2 switches from output 1, two from output 2 and one from output 3. All dual operated switches are used for crossovers which throw at the same time when swtiched. 

I started many years ago with LGB 1201 motors, then switched over to air. I was quite happy with air operated switches until the pack rats that we have here in the high desert found that they just loved the taste of the tubing. They ate through so much tubing, I was constantly repairing it. The only time they didn't chew on the tubing was when our friendly King snake would arrive and clean them out. However, when the King snake was around, Kay didn't go out to the railroad and she still doesn't go out when he arrives.









When the RSD became available it solved the "pack rat" problem, so I sold all the air products and installed the LGB 1201's again and have used them with the devices quite successfully. 

Now I can opeate any of the switches from anywhere on the layout using the REVOLUTION TX.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

It's almost unbelievable that Aristo does not specify the continuous current capability. "Stall type" switch motors are common in the world of trains. 

I'd be leery of using a product with insufficient information. 

If you want to use the Revo, I think it's a ridiculous situation where you have to add a latching relay. 

Dave, are you REALLY saying that there is no continuous output specification on the Aristo switch machine controller? 

The current used on the solenoids I use is around 100 ma, if I remember right, but they are 24v solenoids, and of course I put a back emf snubbing diode in the wiring. 

I run the air solenoids directly from Digitrax DS-64 controllers, controls 4 switches for about $45. 


Greg


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## dbodnar (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Greg Elmassian on 28 Nov 2011 08:42 AM 
It's almost unbelievable that Aristo does not specify the continuous current capability. "Stall type" switch motors are common in the world of trains. 

I'd be leery of using a product with insufficient information. 

If you want to use the Revo, I think it's a ridiculous situation where you have to add a latching relay. 

Dave, are you REALLY saying that there is no continuous output specification on the Aristo switch machine controller? 

The current used on the solenoids I use is around 100 ma, if I remember right, but they are 24v solenoids, and of course I put a back emf snubbing diode in the wiring. 

I run the air solenoids directly from Digitrax DS-64 controllers, controls 4 switches for about $45. 


Greg 
Greg - The unit I have does not give an option for continuous power - that said, it could be added with a software upgrade if enough users wanted that change. 


Note that you can set the time that each individual switch motor receives power - this can be from a brief impulse up to 5 seconds. I have tested this with the Tortoise switch machines and they work very well and it is likely to accommodate most "stall type" motors.


dave 
[/b]


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## Jim Agnew (Jan 2, 2008)

50-Cal, here's another way, if you haven't already invested in a Revo:


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Yeah, I would have recommended DCC myself, and shown all the hardware (much cheaper than Airwire and less hardware), but the poster asked for Revo. 

Well, not ragging on Aristo, but shows that while the basic system is cheap, you seem to have to buy more and more add on hardware. 

If I was wanting to do sophisticated things, the Aristo Revo system is not where I would go, proprietary, and limited in function and capability. 

You can buy accessory decoders to run switches from many different manufacturers in DCC.... Also, for Airwire, I wonder if there would be a cheaper solution, since you don't want to buy those 2 boxes for every location that uses 4 switches... 

Ahh, but these comments will open a can of worms... best I (we) stick to what is being asked....









Greg


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Well I know when I got into DCC hooking up switch machines is a lot simpler than using a Revco. And not a lot of stringing wires. Later RJD


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## allisonmyl (Dec 1, 2011)

Hmm. I guess you do some control on the power for your engine.


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