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…........--- Sawmill Track Wiring Pt. 4 & Couplers ---

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This is the first control panel that I've built and as I write this not quite done yet so can't say if I'm happy with the results or not at this point. If you have come into the build at this point and ....

....... are interested in how it was designed and printed go ( HERE ).

The panel will use .......

..... a number of solder pads for wire connections. I like making these as the PCB material is cheap on eBay and I can get a lot of connections into a small area and it is easy and quick to solder wires the pads. I've found that it is really easy/quick to cut the isolation gaps with the right angle Dremel tool above with a diamond grit cutting disc. I then clean the cut up with the triangular file.

Servos and the servo controller I use have three wires from the panel to the $2 controller and on to the servo. The panel will control 17 servos but there are two locations where the toggle switch on the panel will throw 2 servos/turnouts. Across the top are 15 sets of three pads that the wires to the servo controllers will solder to.

The panel will also control track power to 4 sections of track where an engine can be parked and the power turned off.

Track power in to power the 4 tracks and power out to the tracks will solder onto 5 pads just below the row of servo pads. The toggle switches will only be controlling the power to one side of these tracks, which is all that is needed to make them dead or alive.

Above the yellow, blue and red wires are for the four on/off track power sections. With that wired I started wiring in all of the red LED's that will indicate if the route chosen is the divergent route of the turnout being controlled. I'm testing them as I wire them with alligator clips to the toggle switch and to one of the ground pads. Some of the other solder pads are 5v negative & positive pads used for the servo and LED wiring.

The round objects next to the toggle switches are on/off push button switches. You throw the toggle and the appropriate LED lights. Then you push the button switch and the turnout throws. I do this so that the servos are only powered while throwing. Cuts down of power needed and also I don't like the servos powered all of the time. The layout will end up with over 70 servo controlled turnouts so that would be a lot of servos powered at the same time.

I got a day (not 8 hours) into making the solder pads and wiring to this point. Probably two more partial days to finish.

While I've been doing this Ed has been also working. He normally comes 2-4 day a week in the afternoon for a couple hours.

I mentioned to him that I had a lot of couplers that need assembly. I showed him how to do it on a couple and struggled since it had been a couple years since I'd done it myself. I told him to think about it as he headed home for the day. I put 4 more together and finally got back into a rhythm but felt a little guilty asking him to consider doing this.

He came back the next day and said he wanted to try. He sticks with things. Pretty soon he was turning couplers out and came back the next day also and had 20 pairs (40 couplers) finished after two short days of work.

When I put some of these together a couple years ago I designed and printed the assembly aid above. It really makes the job easier by far. More info and print file links ( HERE ).

To be continued and a link to this whole build ( HERE ).

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