# putting power to a electric LGB switch



## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Hello All
I have several of the LGB electric switch machines but do not have a means to power them. I know that LGB has a little orange box they made specifically for this purpose but if I didn't want to track one down and I didn't want to pay the price they are going for can I make my own?
I would think they are little more than a momentary on switch but does it need a reverse circuit to throw the switch the other way? Are the LGB ones designed to be hooked up to their starter set handheld power pack? Does the power get stepped down through a circuit board? 
I have my holiday oval around the Christmas tree and it has 4 turnouts on it and I would like to power 3 of them. My electronic skills are limited. Am I better off buying a LGB device or can I make my own that won't burn out the expensive electric turnout motors?
Thanks for your input.


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## rpc7271 (Jan 2, 2008)

I use a 14 volt power supply ( the type you plug into the wall) with DPDT center off momentary switches for my LGB switch machines.


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## Trains (Jan 2, 2008)

I did the same as above but 12 volt dc.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

the orange box is nothing but a alternating switch plus two diodes. 

if you have any AC output between 12 and 18 volts (the black and white contacts on LGB powerpacks), you can make your own. 

two simple pushbuttons (bellbuttons), two diodes and some cable. 

connect one cable directly from the power to the White entrance of the switchmotor. 
to the other cable from the powerpack connect the two diodes. (one with the painted silver-ring to the powerpack, one away from it) 
to each diode connect one pushbutton. from the pushbuttons you can unite the two cables and run the united cable to the orange entrance of the switchmotor. 

that's it. have fun 

edit:

depending on the force of the powerpack you could hook two turnouts on the same pushbuttons. (then they would work together).
or you divide your cables between the diodes and the pushbuttons. (using two buttons for each turnout)


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

see link for two ways to do it, one of them is the guts of the LGB box which is indeed overpriced. 

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/lgb_1600.html#controls 

BTW, you can use a 9V battery and a switch mounted on a post with the version with the DPDT switch. Or you can go lower tech yet and use a broom handle.


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## bob7094 (Jan 3, 2008)

Broom handle? I can still get down on my knees and use my fingers. 

-- Bob Mills


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## stanman (Jan 4, 2008)

I can still get down on my knees - but I could never get back up...


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## Madman (Jan 5, 2008)

Posted By George Schreyer on 10 Dec 2010 04:35 PM 
see link for two ways to do it, one of them is the guts of the LGB box which is indeed overpriced. 

http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips1/lgb_1600.html#controls 

BTW, you can use a 9V battery and a switch mounted on a post with the version with the DPDT switch. Or you can go lower tech yet and use a broom handle. 



George, I was looking at the switch, on your website, where you used two motors to throw the points. I have a similar situation on one of my reverse loops. It's not clear in your photograph, how you powered the motor to the right of the track. From what I can see, it looks like you have the two motors wired in parallel.


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

The two motors are indeed wired in parallel with a wire pair going under the track.


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## Axel Tillmann (Jan 10, 2008)

I like to add that the more cost efficient way is to use a DC power supply and DPDT switches for each LGB turnout motor. This avoids the diodes for each of the turnouts. I admit maybe not the biggest expense, but also more simple at install. I found no price difference between SPDT and DPDT therfore I prefer the DC solution whihc is also much less work.

For LGB drives you need momentary xPDTs or (ON)-OFF-(ON) while other drives can live with ON-OFF-ON switches which allows you to also fire up dual color LEDs that can give you feedback of the current switch setting (green for straight, red for diverted).


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

DC is dangerous for LGB motors. If your pulse is a little too long, you will burn the motors up. You can get more torque, but at significant risk.


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## AppleYankee (Jan 3, 2008)

I have five of these circuits working around my layout.

Diodes and Switches were obtained at Radio Shack. 









For easy access components are mounted behind the hardboard 

Jan


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## Axel Tillmann (Jan 10, 2008)

George use the lower DC equivalent to the average DC you are getting with the diode method (roughly 50%).


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks to all for the info and diagrams. After considering my options to power these switches I had another look on Ebay and found a "lightly used" switch box with instructions #51750 for $25 plus $7 to ship. I was the only bidder and won it. I figured by the time I bought the rocker switches, the diodes, wire and then fashioned a little box to house it all it made more sense to buy the correct unit. 
Thanks again for the info.


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

Axle, AC is still a better alternate. When the motor is on with DC due to a stuck switch or other problem, it will just silently cook. With half rectified AC, the motor will buzz loudly so that it is obvious that something is very wrong.


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## JeffofSpace (Jun 10, 2018)

AppleYankee said:


> I have five of these circuits working around my layout.
> 
> Diodes and Switches were obtained at Radio Shack.
> 
> ...


 see above. Still new to how this site works.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

The diodes select the polarity that the EPL drive motor will see. The purpose of the momentary switches and diodes is to provide half wave rectified DC to the EPL motor in 2 different directions.


I have found the EPL drives work better when adding the LGB booster unit (5275/52750).


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## JeffofSpace (Jun 10, 2018)

Thank you. I am only running two switches off of 16v ac with a run of about 15 feet. Another question, can I gang on the second switch’s momentaries off of the incoming power to the first set (the wire coming into the momentaries before the circuitry)?

Thanks much, again!


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## LGB333$$$$ (Oct 11, 2017)

JeffofSpace said:


> Thank you. I am only running two switches off of 16v ac with a run of about 15 feet. Another question, can I gang on the second switch’s momentaries off of the incoming power to the first set (the wire coming into the momentaries before the circuitry)?
> 
> Thanks much, again!


Yes you can. I have two loops on my small indoor layout and two connecting LGB track switches at two locations where the locos can travel from one loop to the other. On both of the junctions, I have two switches connected to their motors so that the DCC (previously ran DC power and AC for all switches) command from my handheld wireless controller throws both track switches at the same time.


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## choochoowilly (Oct 31, 2016)

Todd, easy as burning toast, I would recommend using a laptop 120vac x 18vdc power supply you can get them any where a computer shop will probably give you a used one the wire as per diagram







, Bill


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## JeffofSpace (Jun 10, 2018)

I thought as per earlier posts in the thread that dc was bad for the epl. Could I run the switches off the same 18v as the track? (I do indeed have an 18v 4amp supply).


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

The switch motors in the EPL switches are DC motors, so DC is not at all bad for them. When AC is used, the controller uses diodes to essentially turn the AC into DC going one direction or the other depending on which button is pressed. Essentially, you've got two half-wave bridge rectifiers. 

With DC, you need to reverse the current via the reversing switch as illustrated above. 

When you ask about using the same 18 volts as the track, yes, that's fine. If you're using a commercial throttle, most will have a fixed DC output for lights and accessories and a variable one for power to the trains. If you're using a standalone power supply to feed a variable throttle, you'll want to tap the power off of the power supply before it goes to the variable throttle to supply power to your lights and accessories.

Later,

K


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

AC through a diode and puire DC are NOT the same!!!!! 

AC through a diode gives a 50 percent duty cycle and is approx. 40 percent of the power of pure DC.


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## choochoowilly (Oct 31, 2016)

How many batteries does the broom handle take and how long do they last???


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## krs (Feb 29, 2008)

Dan Pierce said:


> AC through a diode and pure DC are NOT the same!!!!!
> 
> AC through a diode gives a 50 percent duty cycle and is approx. 40 percent of the power of pure DC.



If you HAVE to drive an EPL switch motor using DC, when using a DCC decoder for instance, then make sure the output of the decoder is set for a one second pulse.


If you apply DC for a much longer timde than that there is a good chance you will burn out the EPL drive - depending on the DC voltage and when the drive was manufactured.
Older drives burn out easier than the newer ones.


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## mallard (Jan 3, 2015)

JeffofSpace said:


> I thought as per earlier posts in the thread that dc was bad for the epl. Could I run the switches off the same 18v as the track? (I do indeed have an 18v 4amp supply).


In the EPL guide it does say you can use DC with them (see the second paragraph and the last bullet point), so long as you don't hold the switch down for too long. The switching time is apparently 15ms.

I have always used DC in the past, but to be honest it's pretty easy using AC and diodes are 10 for $1 so there's barely any reason not to seeing as most controllers do have an AC out for powering exactly these kinds of things. IIRC AC fares better over longer lengths, although I'm not sure how much that would come into play at this scale.


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