Adding Point & CDU Wiring - Update Part 2

[@peterwrigglesworth7302]

Some very clever ideas there. Totally agree with you a CDU is a must and will save you a lot of grief from having to replace point motors. Lovely layout be the way ... cheers .... Pete

[@cheekytek]

Cheers Pete, certainly sound advice using CDU.. many thanks for your great feedback.. All the best Garry

[@ChapelEndJunctionUK]

Great idea with the point arm bent over , when I changed my point motor switches from Hornby to Peco I fitted a CDU and they work a lot better now . Well demonstrated video . Cheers.......Peter

[@cheekytek]

Thanks Peter, certainly a great fix to a little problem.. CDU is a game changer when running points.. Look after yourself mate All the best Garry

[@WestBlythMPD]

Hi Garry, Very well done with the point fix, the layout is looking great as always. Good to see that you have got yourself a CDU they really do make a huge difference to point control. Looking forward to your next video Take care Garry All the best Michael

[@cheekytek]

Many Thanks Michael, god yeah a huge difference.. thanks too for your video on point installs as to the lining up.. 👍 cheers Garry

[@thescrapline4905]

Brilliant result Garry.. and getting over the timber battons you nailed that! Do love the simplicity of the mcdu and good to see it working.. glad I pointed the eBay listing to you on that!! They don't pop up for sale often. Mines still boxed along with 30 motors lol. Tim

[@cheekytek]

Hi Tim yeah your timing was impeccable seeing that on eBay.. Since I’ve used everyone keeps asking where to buy them.. lol You would think gaugemaster would do a revised version as the concept is very popular.. I call the batten issues an engineering fluke lol.. but totally successful.. cheers again my friend.. Garry

[@NewcastleCentralOOGauge]

Great work on the additional point motors. I chickened out and used a few Peco surface-mount PL-11s rather than trying to chunk away on my back under the layout! I often wish I'd made the layout more the height that you have, especially for things like this! Interesting CDU, too. Definitely makes a difference! Iain

[@cheekytek]

Hi Iain, lol I too considered using surface points, but in true garry style plunged in screaming.. 😂😂 to be fair it wasn't as bad as seems, again after my second layout i lost bench space so this layout was always going to be at this height of which has proven very useful. The MCDU of which is a mains CDU really but has the ability of running 30points.. I think cobolt dcc concepts make a close version COBOLT CDU-2 as i believe.. My MCDU is fab though, just switch on an thats it really.. 👍 Garry

[@Finnertoncentralmodelrailway]

I like how you overcome the point issues will remember that one .

[@gs425]

Hey Gary. Here's the easy way for point motors at a batten. Drill a large hole with a flat bit horizontally through the batten where you need motor to be. Drill it so the top of the hole is a few mm below the edge of the batten. This keeps the strength. You can then poke the edge of the motor into the clearance given by this hole...and use a spacer to screw the motor square under baseboard. Simple!

[@cheekytek]

Many Thanks and yeah that would work really well, but unfortunately my beam was the other way around for the point motor to perform correctly but we got it all running in the end.. Cheers for the great tip. I keep that in case it happens on the others .. 👍 All the best Garry

[@greghale9972]

Hi Gary, excellent video, just goes to show if you have the will you will find the way. Looks a tad cool in the shed. Cheers Greg

[@cheekytek]

Greg, I was looking everywhere for, I will... then the easy Way happened lol.. Always a another solution somewhere, its just knowing what it is.. 😁 cheers my friend..

[@georgewyatt6712]

Hi Garry great video on how to adapt things to make it work when other things are in your way nice work Cheers George

[@cheekytek]

Thanks George, tapping in to an engineering solution was a good fix.. it certainly had the old brain cells firing lol.. Thanks again Garry

[@TONYNORTHEASTERN]

Hi Gary, playing catch up on your videos mate, capacitor discharge unit are the way to go when you have two points using one switch, thanks for the tip...all the best Tony

[@chapelfield7318]

Great solutions there Gary with the point motors...Rog

[@cheekytek]

Many Thanks Rog, it was baffling at the time but another engineering success.. 😉👍 Garry

[@johnbryson3348]

Good idea Gary thanks for the tip I will try a similar trick to solve my point sighting problem

[@cheekytek]

Many Thanks John - Hope it helps 👍 All the best Garry

[@SimonLivertonCentral]

Hi Garry, brilliant part 2 to your "how to", love the way you used the 1mm wire and how you overcome the fitting of the point motor under the platform...Simon

[@cheekytek]

Thanks Simon, with the point arm bent down and a rod added to connect together, it was really easy to set the point in to position, so it was a result good fix.. Cheers again.. Garry

[@johnbryson3348]

Good idea Gary thanks for the tip I will try a similar trick to solve my point sighting problem

[@daviemaclean61]

Good application of engineering to get around the awkward positioning of some of the seeps. I have been very lucky (so far!) that none of my points are over support beams. It's not been by design. Cheers

[@cheekytek]

Thanks Davie, Lol. You created an engineering success 😁 Mine was dremel and bodge it.. lol.. All is fab now though.. cheers Garry

[@daviemaclean61]

The wonderful Dremel - what did we do before they were invented! ;-)

[@cheekytek]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 👍

[@diblingtonvale6499]

Great video Garry. The CDU really makes a difference. I am still in planning for my layout and although I will not have many points, I will definitely be looking at CDU's. Ian

[@cheekytek]

Thanks Ian, most certainly a must for seep points. And you only would need one to run the lot.. I have about 19 points and 1 CDU that drives them all.. This being your N gauge I believe... you have more patience than me at that scale.. Cheers again Garry

[@diblingtonvale6499]

Time will tell on that one Garry, lol

[@Finnertoncentralmodelrailway]

I do agree garry a cdu is a must and on my to do list.the buzzing noise is annoying.

[@cheekytek]

As echoing from everyone, yeah Brian is will sort that out a treat.. From looking they are around £13 , I was very lucky to grab my mains one on eBay that same day.. cheers again Garry

[@Finnertoncentralmodelrailway]

Will look out for one.

[@ef7480]

Superb! Result!

[@cheekytek]

Many Thanks buddy.. 😁

[@GalgormHall]

Hi Garry, clever solutions there to get around retro fitting point motors to the layout. Unlike you, I can't say I enjoy the point motor installation process - only another 8 to go though! Paul

[@cheekytek]

Lol Paul just been watching your Jan update.. absolutely loving it.. Yeah the retro engineering was a life saver lol.. Yes I am very sad to admit I really love installing points, maybe this could be my new million dollar business adventure, as I must be the only one 😂😂😂😂😂 Thanks again mate.. thinking of the pain your enduring with the last 8 points.. 😉 All the best Garry

[@GalgormHall]

I'll be your first customer then!

[@MrChrisprat]

I have looked everywhere for a MCDU no one sells them so what is the difference between a CDU and a MCDU? Excellent video some good ideas to keep in mind. Like the plastic idea to hold the wire up I was gonna use screw in eye hooks and feed the wire though.

[@cheekytek]

Cheers Stephen, Gaugemaster have stopped making the MCDU of which is standard CDU but has mains power.. that is the only difference.. just buy a CDU and power it via a 16v - 24v ac outlet as stated on the with discharge units.. I was lucky enough to get my MCDU on fleBay the same day.. Cheers Garry

[@pierre-de-standing]

Intrigued that you didn't use motors with switches. What have you done to keep the frog alive and also to avoid shorts? I found PM1s at 3.99 each at Rail in Sheffield - not bought them yet so don't go hoovering them up now! Another thing, I had wondered if a CDU could be used as a feed to all your points, a busy layout with loads of points might be a challenge for a single CDU, but if you only have a few points going off here and there, a single CDU could handle that. Nice to see some lateral thinking about extending the pins etc. Great stuff as usual Garry - Pete

[@cheekytek]

Hi Pete thanks for dusting off the archive of videos.. 😄 I used not switching seeps as the frogs are insulated or dead.. at the time these were cheaper and fit for purpose. The points are peco of which I added a small wire to the centre arm and wired up in the correct fashion for DCC use. Brian Lambert has a site that covers all this info.. As to the power unit, I have a MCDU basically a mains powered CDU, these are like rocking horse poo to find but I believe DCC Concepts have just brought out a very similar unit. My MCDU will happily run 30 points bearing in mind most people run two points at a time. To use a CDU you would need an additional power source, ideally each unit recommends around 6 points per unit.. Hence a little costly. As to shorting out.. I had a few older loco’s causing this but since replaced a lot of my stock to newer styling. running is pretty hassle free.. Hope this helps.. by the way I’ve bought all the 3.99 seeps 😁 Only joking mate.. 👍 Garry

[@davemarson7241]

Hi Gary, just a quick question for you. The CDU, what sort have you used ?

[@cheekytek]

Hi Dave, I was lucky to get a gaugemaster MCDU on eBay but these are like rocking horse poop.. this is a mains powered CDU that runs about 30 points alone.. where current units only run about 6 points from a powered source.. I do believe you can now but a similar unit from DCC CONCEPTS Cobalt CDU-2 it’s about £35. And dose the same as the old Gaugemaster MCDU.. Hope this helps Garry

[@davemarson7241]

Cheers Gary, that is a great help, so i'm on the look out for one of those.