Model Railroading > Servos for Turnouts

I have been considering using servos to throw the points for Turnouts.  Servos have been used for Radio Control applications for quite a while.  They only run around $5 each, but do require some type of driver board/circuit; which increases the cost.

Tam Valley offers their Octopus that drives 8 servos:
​[url=https://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/octopusservodriver.html]https://www.tamvalleydepot.com/products/octopusservodriver.html[/url]

Barrett Hill has a quad and 8-pack version:
https://www.berretthillshop.com/store/products/panel-package-8-servo/

There is also the option of using an Adrino (micro computer) to drive servos, but I'm looking for something without computer code to debug.

For those that have used servos for their Turnouts, please describe the components used.  

Thank you in advance.  :-D

Dave

Walthers has a plug-and-play servo-based turnout control system. DCC controller built-in, but can be used with any "traditional" control system. Sure, a servo is cheap by itself. But there is all the other stuff needed before you can install a turnout. Walthers is pricy, but the engineering is done. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/23 09:01 by Lighter.

I went all in on the Walthers servo based turnout control system over the past 2 years. I really liked the ease in which it went in, DCC availability, vertical and horizontal mounts. Now however, I'm replacing them all with the good old Tortoise (and SMAIL-DCC) devices. I've talked with Walthers support and they are seeing quality issues with their devices. They are more than happy to replace any defective ones, but after about 30 cycles, some are failing. 

Servos I do know come in different quality and range of products. If you buy the cheapest ones, I'm thinking that you should expect a low cycle number. Turnout motors need to be in the tens of thousands of quality cycles. You don't want to be replacing turnout control devices on a weekly basis around the layout. 

Also, if you want to use the Walthers power board and power it DCC, tech support didn't even know how it works with the feedback option. You're supposed to be able to wire up a couple of wires to the board and get feedback from all 8 connected devices. Would save a lot of wiring. After running a pair of wires to every turnout board, I'm still getting inconsistent results. The second reason I'm dumping all of them for the 'old reliable' Tortoise brand. 

This is just my current experience sharing what I have been going through. Your results may vary. 

Mike ONeill
Parker, CO

I have somewhere around 40 of these installed in both horizontal and vertical formats.  I, too, found a number that were defective and failed after only a couple of cycles.  In my case, I was able to identify that specific servos were the root cause, which Walthers later confirmed, and replaced all of my defective units free of charge.

I am powering mine from a track bus using NCE DCC, with no feedback.  I've read as much Walthers documentation as I could locate, and don't think there is a supported feedback mechanism that relies on the power distribution board because that it simply a distribution board. You would need to use the relay contacts on the turnout machine itself and wire that back to something like an NCE AIU.  

mcdeo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I went all in on the Walthers servo based turnout
> control system over the past 2 years. I really
> liked the ease in which it went in, DCC
> availability, vertical and horizontal mounts. Now
> however, I'm replacing them all with the good old
> Tortoise (and SMAIL-DCC) devices. I've talked with
> Walthers support and they are seeing quality
> issues with their devices. They are more than
> happy to replace any defective ones, but after
> about 30 cycles, some are failing. 
>
> Servos I do know come in different quality and
> range of products. If you buy the cheapest ones,
> I'm thinking that you should expect a low cycle
> number. Turnout motors need to be in the tens of
> thousands of quality cycles. You don't want to be
> replacing turnout control devices on a weekly
> basis around the layout. 
>
> Also, if you want to use the Walthers power board
> and power it DCC, tech support didn't even know
> how it works with the feedback option. You're
> supposed to be able to wire up a couple of wires
> to the board and get feedback from all 8 connected
> devices. Would save a lot of wiring. After running
> a pair of wires to every turnout board, I'm still
> getting inconsistent results. The second reason
> I'm dumping all of them for the 'old reliable'
> Tortoise brand. 
>
> This is just my current experience sharing what I
> have been going through. Your results may vary. 

Greetings Lighter, Mike & JUTower!

Thank you for putting the Walthers servo controllers on my radar. 
Glad to know Walthers stands behind their product warranty.
I don't see anything on the Walthers website when searching for "servo", so I assume the poor track record resulted in them pulling them from the website.  

I did find one by ESU (the LokSound folks). 
They call the servo controller SwitchPilot 3:
https://www.esu.eu/en/products/switchpilot/switchpilot-3-servo/

They also sell servos in 2 flavors:

Plastic gears (less torque)
https://www.esu.eu/en/products/switchpilot/precision-servo-motor/

Metal gears (more torque)
https://www.esu.eu/en/products/switchpilot/precision-servo-motor-metal/

Another option is the Arduino (micro computer) which can control servos directly from 6 of its Output ports, which are capable of generating the required PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal.  

Take care and God bless!
Dave

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/02/23 22:13 by tmotor.

> I don't see anything on the Walthers website when
> searching for "servo", so I assume the poor track
> record resulted in them pulling them from the
> website.  

Try "switch machine" or "walthers controls."

Here is a good link to Walthers' Layout Control System (turnout controls)

https://www.walthers.com/products/walthers-control-system?productListFilters=https://www.walthers.com/products/walthers-control-system?productListFilters=

So far, I've got ONE in (yes yes.. slooow "progress" here), and it seems to work well.. tons more to do.. 

Cheers,
Harry
 

Greetings Harry and Lighter:

I didn't realize Walthers not only has a servo-driven turnout control, but an entire "system" they call the "Layout Control System".

I know that servos require PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) as an input signal.  Their instructions do NOT specify a PWM signal as an input, so I assume they have an on-board circuit to handle that.  Nice!
It also is a DCC accessory decoder, so it can be thrown from a hand-held DCC throttle.
On-board relays for activating LEDs or frog points.
Plug-on connectors, more convenient than soldering or screw connectors.
Seems like a well thought-out system.

Take care and God bless!
Dave
 

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