How To Install SEEP/Solenoid Point Motors

How To Install SEEP/Solenoid Point Motors - Model Railway Tutorial

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Күн бұрын

A tutorial showing how to install SEEP solenoid point motors to your model railway layout!
Bonus Content: / @thatmodelrailwayguy
MERCH: shop.thatmodelrailwayguy.com
During my 009 Layout Build series I briefly described the process of adding point motors to the layout but it's definitely a topic that I felt was worth it's own video. In today's model railway tutorial I'll show you the basics of how to wire up the Gaugemaster PM2 SEEP motors and a simple way of installing these solenoid point motors on your layout.
Products Used:
Gaugemaster PM2: amzn.to/3UngSjo
Toggle Switch Bank: amzn.to/3XJoEH5
Toggle Switches: amzn.to/3Vx6RRy
Capacitor Discharge Unit: amzn.to/3ubiTEL
16v AC Power Supply: amzn.to/3XGcOxE
Wire: amzn.to/3ilJufB
Dremel: amzn.to/3gNPj58
Chapters:
00:00 - Intro
00:41 - Wiring Diagrams
01:50 - Testing The Solenoid
05:19 - Installing Point Motors on a layout.
Thanks for watching!

Пікірлер: 104

@ianjones6568 Ай бұрын

Top video Pal So easy to follow You seem to know what your talking about Nice one

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! Funnily enough if you found this one interesting you may also enjoy the video I have coming out tomorrow morning 😉 Thanks for watching 👍

@ianhughes-zf1ll 3 ай бұрын

Thanks a lot mate just come across this video and helped me out hell of a lot can’t thank you enough cheers

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 3 ай бұрын

My pleasure, glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃

@simonp1970 Жыл бұрын

At last, a video on youtube about point motors that I can actually understand!! Great job... thank you..

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Glad you found it useful Simon! I do try to make the videos as easy as possible to digest. Thanks for watching 😃

@briancollins6543 Жыл бұрын

Just found your channel. I'm just starting out on my model train layout building story. I have spent 22 years building and flying RC planes so thought I'd keep busy during the winter months. I have chosen 009 as a start and just purchased the 009 Peco track set. I'm paralysed (Paraplegic) so have to build everything from a seating position but see no problems. After all I've built some pretty big planes over the years! Thank you for the links in your videos. It makes buying the right product a lot easier. Keep up the super work! Brian

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

That's great to hear Brian! I wish you the best of luck with your own 009 layout, you couldn't have picked a better time to start really as there have been some fantastic narrow gauge releases recently with even more on the way. Let us know how you get on and thanks for watching 😃

@adam_fordham Жыл бұрын

That was a really helpful video, I always buy pre wired point motors but I've always wanted to wire them up myself but didn't know how, so this I found very helpful, thank you 😀

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Awesome, glad that you found it helpful Adam. I have to admit I've never used pre-wired motors but it's definitely not too tricky to wire them up. The hardest bit is definitely fitting any motor to the underside of the baseboard in the correct position to interface with the point. Thanks for watching 😃

@loispadgett6306 Жыл бұрын

This one has been the easier one for me to learn from. Some get to complicated and I get lost thank you for this one. GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

I completely agree Lois, you can get really complicated with this stuff but I definitely think there’s a place for more simple tutorials like this one were we just cover the basics. Thanks for watching 😃

@SilverGear_ Жыл бұрын

Another great video and topical for what my brother and I are about to do for our own little shelf layout! It is also worth noting that the kind of switch you want for this is a single pole double throw (SPDT) toggle switch with *momentary contact*, ie it'll only stay in the chosen state for as long as it's held there. These kinds of switches are noted this: (On)-Off-(On). This is important because if you had a latching switch, where you set the state and it remains so until it's changed again, you will likely burn out the motor. I don't know if the CDU protects against this somehow as part of the product, but as it's an optional item, using these switches also help prevent burning the solenoids out as providing a constant electrical supply just kills them.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it Tommy and that it's relevant for your own project! Yes I thought I had mentioned needing a SPDT switch in the video but looking back now evidently I didn't which is annoying. You can have latching switches if you use the CDU (which I would highly recommend using too) as that will protect against burning out the motor. Bearing in mind that a toggle switch is just one way of controlling the motors, push buttons and "probe and stud" to name a couple. Thanks for watching 😃

@laszlokaestner5766 Жыл бұрын

Your timing is impeccable. I've just bought some of these exact PM2's!

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Fantastic, glad to be of service! Thanks for watching 😃

@laszlokaestner5766 Жыл бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy 👍 I've actually started collecting all the bits I need in this exact order starting with the points because, as you say here positioning of the points is critical because you need to put the hole in the board. My layout is only small so I have three sets of points but the issue is that they are all quite close to the centre line where ideally I'd put a cross brace. Therefore I actually need to lay the track out first and locate where the points need to go before I put the bracing on the board in order to make sure I avoid a conflict. To some it may seem like complicated over planning but I'd rather avoid problems than have to work around them later!

@jeffreysutcliffe1139 Жыл бұрын

Excellent tutorial , easy to follow. Thanks

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Thanks Jeffrey, really glad to hear you found it useful and accessible. Thanks for watching 😃

@patlib2009 Жыл бұрын

You made this so easy even I can understand it. Now I can move ahead with my first layout

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

I love getting comments like this! Really glad to hear it's allowed you to continue with your layout Edmund. Best of luck with it and thanks for watching 😃

@willbreckinridge8010 Жыл бұрын

Nice tutorial! Very helpful for anyone like myself planning out a 009 layout :)

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Awesome, yeah it’s definitely a good way of controlling points for any gauge including 009. Thanks for watching 😃

@alastairwilson457 Жыл бұрын

What an excellent video, really clear. Thanks

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Thanks Alastair, glad you found it useful! Thanks for watching 😃

@andrewharrison5983 Жыл бұрын

Another great video, and some good recycling of track going by the solder on it 😉

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Thanks Andrew! I actually like to solder the feed wires to the underside of the rail before laying track so that’s why you can see some solder. There’s nothing to stop me from using this track again in the future though should I ever want to dismantle the layout. Thanks for watching 😃

@_RandomPea Жыл бұрын

Very interesting side of the hobby, not yet a need to learn this all but doesn't stop me watching and learning a little more. Thanks 👍

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

The electrical side is definitely a whole world of its own. I can definitely see why some people choose to keep it as simple as possible on their layout. Thanks for watching 😃

@_RandomPea 7 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuycan't believe this was a year ago! At least I now have the basics of my layout in place and now I'm considering whether to use point motors or not. Do you have any experience using Servos to control the points and/or what's your preference?

@_RandomPea 7 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuyif you've seen any of my vids you will see I'm using insulation board under the track, I'm thinking I can dig out a square for a clip below motor? Any idea?

@user-hv1pg8hr3w 9 ай бұрын

was thinking about buying the PM2 (they are a very reasonable price) as I have dead frogs. Wasn't sure about them but your vid has just given me the reassurance that they are the ones for me! great video!!!!

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 9 ай бұрын

Glad I could help! The PM2 definitely seems to be the easiest, no nonsense point motor out there in my opinion. Thanks for watching 😃

@middleportjunction 9 ай бұрын

Very well explained, thank you

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 9 ай бұрын

My pleasure, hope you found it useful and thanks for watching 😃

@Fluff3H Жыл бұрын

great video, about to do this myself! was struggling to find out if I could run motors off the controller alone, but thankfully with a CDU I can. I wont be using such a complex setup as yourself, Just 5 peco PL-10 point motors.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Awesome, really glad you found this useful Chris and best of luck with setting up your point motors. Thanks for watching 😃

@RowgateDale_Railway 6 ай бұрын

Very helpful thanks! Love how easy your vids are to follow

@RowgateDale_Railway 6 ай бұрын

Is there a way you know if to have a led light come on for which way the point is set using this method? On a control panel.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 6 ай бұрын

My pleasure, glad you found it helpful. To have an LED light up on an indicator panel I think you'd have to use the SEEP PM1 motors instead. They use the extra tabs that I didn't hook up in this video to allow the switching of a relay, either for frog polarity or for control panel LEDs. I think Gaugemaster have some wiring diagrams on this but I will also be filming a similar video that covers this method in the next few months as part of a new layout build. Thanks for watching 😃

@RowgateDale_Railway 5 ай бұрын

Hello again, I’ve a question to bug you with if you don’t mind, just wondering about the radius of points, a larger radius does this mean the point is longer which then would mean the train and coaches would flow more elegantly so to speak through the point?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 5 ай бұрын

@@RowgateDale_Railway Yes that's exactly right. The large radius points are also more realistic too since most model points are quite significantly compressed from their real life counterparts. That said, I used small radius points as a space saving measure on both this layout and Pitley Steam Railway and they work perfectly fine 🤩

@RowgateDale_Railway 5 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy thanks for clarifying this for me, I’m getting to the stage where I’m going to need to buy some points, but I want it to run smoothly through them😀

@TONY_FEZ Жыл бұрын

So glad i watched this video before buying these point motors. Now I know that this is def not something I'd be able to do! :)

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

A few years ago I would have felt the same so I can definitely feel where you're coming from. It does look daunting and maybe it's not the sort of thing to jump straight in on if you're not feeling confident but it's actually not too bad once you've got some basic soldering skills. At least in the short term you can save a bit of money though! Thanks for watching 😃

@davidsheriff8989 Жыл бұрын

Simple to follow...

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching 😃

@tagsdm Жыл бұрын

Terrific tutorial, That Model Railway Guy. Have you ever seen or heard of "Tortoise" switch machines? They, at least, were popular in the States for a time. They gave a slow movement effect to the points, similar to a real point arrangement. I think they used a motor rather than a solenoid to move the points.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Yes we have the Tortoise motors over here too, although they tend to be a more expensive "premium" product. You can get slow movement by using servos motors like I did on the modular layout just by removing the springs from the point. The servo motors are much cheaper but of course you need a way of controlling them. Thanks for watching 😃

@railfanpolska Жыл бұрын

Great job 🆗

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks for watching 😃

@mountainfish87 7 ай бұрын

Loved the tutorial! It really motivated me to add point motors to my train setup, which is now almost complete - something I was hesitant about before watching your video. Quick question: does anyone have tips on the best way or place to install or mount those switches?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 7 ай бұрын

Awesome, really glad top hear it helped you! For me, I mounted them in a small control box which I then connect to the layout during operation. If you check out the full series on building this 009 layout I'm pretty sure I covered it at some point in those videos. Thanks for watching 😃

@MrGrahamcooper Ай бұрын

Could I use a bus wire for power on the points? Many thanks please keep up the good work with videos

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Ай бұрын

Hi Graham, there isn't really a simple answer other than to give you a safe no. While I think it technically would be possible using rectifiers or other converters generally it's best to have a separate power source for your points. The exception to this would be if you're using point motors specifically designed for use with DCC. Hope this helps and thanks for watching 😃

@jamesv8063 Жыл бұрын

Where did you get the multipin connector? Great video. Thank you.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Hi James, I found them on Amazon - they were pretty similar to these ones: amzn.to/3JcI6qw Thanks for watching 😃

@davidharle952 Жыл бұрын

Thanks, that's just what I was looking for. But one question, I have 6 points across my layout, how many CDU's will I need?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Just one! CDUs can throw multiple points at the same time. Unless your intending to switch all 6 points simultaneously from one switch one CDU will be plenty 👍 Thanks for watching 😃

@gersonfer 11 ай бұрын

A helpful video, tks. What about reverse polarity ?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 11 ай бұрын

Glad you found it useful. With reverse polarity do you mean switching the polarity of the frog or changing the polarity for a reverse loop? Thanks for watching 😃

@gersonfer 11 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I mean switching the polarity of the frog.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 11 ай бұрын

@@gersonfer So for that you would use the Seep PM1 instead and that's where the extra solder pads come into play. Alternatively some people prefer to use microswitches or frog juicers for switching the polarity so there isn't really a standard way of doing it, it's whatever works best for each individual ☺

@Just_S.A.M. 4 ай бұрын

Very helpful video, Though I seem to have the opposite issue with the tall motor rods, my baseboard is about 10cm deep (5cm wood, 5cm foam board). Is it possible to extend or replace these motors rods to be the length I’d need? Or would I be better off just going with surface point motors?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 4 ай бұрын

You could possibly extend the rods using stiff piano wire (or similar) attached to the existing rods but I would be worried it may start to flex and not throw the point properly. Some people in your situation embed the motors into the foam just under the point to avoid this situation but obviously it does make things more complicated if you ever need to get to the motor for repairs/maintenance. This is actually one of the reasons I personally don't tend to use foam on top of the baseboard surface. Hopefully that's given you a couple of options but best of luck and thanks for watching 😃

@Just_S.A.M. 4 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy thanks for the reply, unfortunately the table has planks of wood glued to the sides to stop trains from falling off (from when I was a kid 😅), my grandfather was the one who built it, hence the compromise of using foam board to bring the surface of the table up to the top of the barriers, instead of pulling apart the table 😅. since the initial question I think I’ve found a sound solution, essentially I get a length of piano/hobby wire of the same diameter as the motor rod, and a piece of brass tubing that the rods/wires fit in tightly. I put glue on each rod, and put both rods into the brass tubing. Hopefully this keeps them tight and doesn’t allow for any flexing in the extension when switching. Thanks again for the help 🫡

@user-kr1id4pz4m 8 ай бұрын

after installing your first motor how do you connect up the wiring on future points

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 8 ай бұрын

Take the positive from the CDU and run that to each switch. The common from the CDU then connects to every point motor using the C solder pad. Then just hook up each switch to its corresponding motor using the A/B pads. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 👍

@ianhughes-zf1ll 3 ай бұрын

Hi again I’m trying to find your video of that brightly coloured connector cable you said about on the fitting seep motors video if you could help thank you sorry for being a pain

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 3 ай бұрын

I believe it was Episode 2 of my 009 layout build series: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/bNtjfsujv9q6oJ8.html Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@darkfrag83 Жыл бұрын

On the finished layout, did you wire the common to each switch? I have used the same switches and have just wired the common to the terminal on the side (I think) as the bank of switches are on a common feed on the pcb....

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

I daisy chained all the sockets for the common together then ran one common wire to the layout which fanned out to each motor. A lightly more complicated way of doing it but achieves the same effect. Thanks for watching 😃

@darkfrag83 Жыл бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I thought you had when I watched the 009 video...... I went to try thr same method then realised there was no need to daisy chain the commons together as they are connected on the pcb

@massmike11 Жыл бұрын

Would you not want to use a momentary contact switch to keep from burning out the coil?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Hi Michael, these actually are momentary switches. They return to centre when released. However, with a CDU in the chain it doesn't matter whether you use a momentary or latching switch as that discharges a short burst of power to move the point and stops it from accidentally burning out. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@sevensprings460 8 ай бұрын

They are momentary switches but not elaborated on in the video. Latching switches will short out the CDU and coil.

@ianhughes-zf1ll 2 ай бұрын

Hi watching this video again wired up that row of switches just one but it goes once and not back what do you think I’m doing wrong if you could help would be great thank you

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 2 ай бұрын

Without seeing your setup it's hard to diagnose the problem but my initial thought would be to confirm whether the issue is actually with the motor. Is this happening while attached to a point - if so, remove it and test in isolation to see if that make any difference as sometimes the way it's installed on a layout can restrict the movement in one direction. Thanks for watching 😃

@ianhughes-zf1ll 2 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy not on a point just testing to see if it worked tried to find videos on it but even on there wed site there’s no information but thanks away cheers

@thesudricmerman3318 Жыл бұрын

Do you just need one Gaugemaster CDU Capacitor Discharge Unit for multiple set off points or would you need to by multiple off them

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

You only need a single CDU for the layout... unless you have a ridiculous amount of points. Thanks for watching 😃

@thesudricmerman3318 Жыл бұрын

@That Model Railway Guy about 7 point I be using

@nigelcole1936 Жыл бұрын

Really great video and an excellent tutorial, I picked up some good points there - many thanks

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it Nigel... was the pun intentional? 😉 Thanks for watching 🤩

@insomniacbritgaming1632 Жыл бұрын

how many CDU's do you need per layout? I have around 16 points to wire up ha

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

It depends how many points you want to switch simultaneously. A single CDU will be more than capable of controlling all 16 points if no more than 2 (maybe 3) are being switched at a time. If you have a ladder of points in a fiddle yard though you might be best having a few to spread the load. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@WillSimpson-jq5qq Жыл бұрын

If I was to use electro frog points on an analogue OO9 layout, would I just need to add a frog wire between the point motor and point?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Firstly you would need a solenoid motor capable of switching the frog polarity which these PM2's can't do. In addition to the wire from the frog to motor, I believe you also need a positive and common feed from your track power connected to the motor to actually supply power to the frog. This is all assuming you have the isolations setup correctly for electrofrog points as well to avoid any short circuits. Hope that helps and thanks for watching 😃

@WillSimpson-jq5qq Жыл бұрын

Is there any plans to make a video turning your suitcase layout to DCC or make a bigger layout that is DCC using the method you’ve just mentioned? My 009 layout is going to be 7FT x 4FT.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

@@WillSimpson-jq5qq This suitcase layout already runs on DCC (it can run as both really but all my 009 locos are digital). At the moment my focus is on finishing the 00 Gauge modular railway so if I did do a larger narrow gauge layout it wouldn’t be until after that is done at least.

@rustyc521 Жыл бұрын

What brand is the track and points on your railway?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy Жыл бұрын

Generally I use PECO track and points 99% of the time. Thanks for watching 😃

@neilbruce6132 10 ай бұрын

hi there,where did you get the switch bank from?

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 10 ай бұрын

There's a link to it in the description 👍

@neilbruce6132 10 ай бұрын

@@ThatModelRailwayGuy I don't see where sorry

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 10 ай бұрын

@@neilbruce6132 Under the video where it shows the number of views there's a button that says "...more". Click that and it'll open up the full description which has a list of everything used in the video and links on where to get them.

@neilbruce6132 10 ай бұрын

Found it 👍

@gfydxfyh8890 7 ай бұрын

I would like to install the solenoid next to the point and not underneath the board (i don't have one due to lack of space), have you tried that before? thanks.

@ThatModelRailwayGuy 7 ай бұрын

I haven't tried it myself but it would be fairly simple. Obviously you'd need to use one of the surface mount point motors, some of which I believe have the wires already attached. Thanks for watching 😃