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SEEP

Prompted by comments in this group I have bought some SEEP point motors and fitted them in some of the more troublesome locations on my layout. Results so far are excellent: 100% operation with only one troublesome one that turned out to be down to a point having an over- strong spring. Yes, you have to prepare the motors by soldering direct to the PCB (and I also slot the mounting holes and drill through the PCB solder points to give a more robust mechanical connection for the wires), but the time to get the thing fitted and working is much shorter than for either of the methods used for Peco motors.

Oh, I also built a motorised level-crossing, for my son Pete. It's powered by a Tortoise and the action is transferred using a brass bar, piano wire and quadrants I made with wire, brass tube and a bit of spare brass from an etched component. It works rather well and Pete is very happy. I'll do some pics when I have a minute.

-- Guy

Reply to
Just zis Guy, you know?
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I've installed SEEP motors on all my points, and in several cases had to adjust the spring. With PECO points, you can usually just push the plastic cover holding one end of the spring a little closer to or farther away from the tie bar. Occasionally you may have to remove the cover by bending up the metal tabs, very carefully remove and adjust the spring, then replace it and the cover without having it ping away across the layout. It can be tricky to bend the tabs back so as to hold the cover as firmly as before.

Hornby points are another matter. If you remove the small plastic piece that holds the spring and the point blades to the tie bar, or it comes loose on its own, it can be very difficult to get it back in place and restore the point blade alignment. For a pound extra, you can buy a self-latching SEEP motor and obviate the need for fiddly point springs.

Reply to
MartinS

"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote in news:1ecc5717- snipped-for-privacy@z28g2000yqh.googlegroups.com:

I use them almost exclusively with only the staging area/fiddle yard fitted with Peco motors - what I do do though is add a homemade washer of plastic card to the underside of the SEEP motors. That way they can be fastened tight to the board without distortion of the PCB.

BTW My then 10 year old help me solder up a few dozen of them supplied by JT a few years back - not one failed joint yet, so a hole may be a bit "belt and braces".

Reply to
Chris Wilson

Of all the seeps I have used only one has ever had a problem, and that wasn't the point motor itself but the built in switch that had a permanent short from one side of the switch to the permanently connected side of the point motor. This caused all sorts of funnies (including loss of power and loud buzzing) with my Gaugemaster four track controller which supplies power to both track and points. It took a long time to trace the fault and I was lucky that the controller was robust enough to survive unscathed. The Seep is still in service but in a location where the built in switch is not required.

Reply to
Tinkerer

Have you considered using a Tortoise to operate your points? I often wonder (from the other side of the world, and the other hemisphere) why slow motion machines are not used in the UK. I haven't used a solenoid device for fifteen years at a guess, replacing all mine with either a Tortoise or a Switchmaster...

John

Reply to
John Dennis

John Dennis wrote in news:55363687-b7a1-4ec1-8c80- snipped-for-privacy@q21g2000prm.googlegroups.com:

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Price ...

Reply to
Chris Wilson

Yes, please.

Reply to
Christopher A. Lee

Ah - always a good reason...

John

Reply to
John Dennis

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