Advice wiring two Tortoise machines for a crossover

Eliot, your supply is plenty big for a couple of Tortoises. Try making them work without the LED. The problem might be that you need a resistor in line with the LED. That's where my knowledge ends. The value of such a resistor is something that GRJ or someone else will be able to tell you.

How did you wire the LED? Did you use the contacts on the Tortoise itself?

Elliot,

Many thanks. I wired the LED in line with the tortoise contacts for the first switch and then wired the contacts on Tortoise #1 to contacts on Tortoise #2.

Yep 12 volts is a little much for an LED....   However it's OK for the Tortoise motor  (connections 1 & 8) Putting the 2 motors in series is even better for a nice slow switch point throw on the crossover..

This would leave connections 234   567 free for a lower voltage supply. It's actually a DPDT toggle.

I suppose you could use the same power supply but resistors would be needed..  connection 4 &5 would be the commons. 2 & 3 normally open or closed    . And again 5 would be the common   6 & 7 normally open or closed. Have fun.

It is common to wire LEDs in series with a single Tortoise motor. The resistance of the motor (usually) limits the LED current (not voltage) to a safe value. By hooking two Tortoise motors in parallel, the LED current doubled and that's what blew them up.

First off, disconnect the LEDs altogether and wire the two Tortoise motors in parallel, as you had done at first. Now they should throw just fine as a pair.

To connect the new LEDs, get a 1K ohm resistor (1/4 watt will do) and put it in series with the pair of LEDs. Then connect the LEDs directly across the two wires going to the Tortoise motors. At 12 volts the LED current will be limited to a safe maximum value.

If any of this is not perfectly clear, let me know and I can make a sketch showing the connections.

All the best.

Gregg and Bob, many thanks.

Bob, I am using one LED for the pair of Tortoise machines because both turnouts will throw simultaneously. Do I wire the single LED the same way I would wire a pair of LEDs? Please know I am an electrical know nothing and I am amazed I have gotten this far. My electrical skill was minimal and my soldering was non existent. Now, at least, I can actually solder small switches. I think I understand what you mean by "connect the LED's in series with the 1K ohm resistor" but I do not understand what you mean by connect the LED's  "across the wires going to the Tortoise motors."

I am using those blue "edge connectors" that I wire to and then slip over the Tortoise connector.

Scrapiron -

Most commonly folks use a pair of red and green LEDs to indicate switch Reverse and switch Normal. If you want to do that, use the top diagram.

If instead you only want a single LED turned on that goes off when you throw the switch whichever way you prefer, use lower diagram.

It may not be obvious, but when using a DPDT switch to reverse something, always feed the power on the end terminals as shown. Why? Sometimes a switch will throw one connection before the other one. When that happens, if power was fed into the center terminals, there could be a momentary short circuit across the power supply.

I hope this helps. All the best.

Forgot to mention - if you are using a bicolor LED with 2 leads, use the top diagram. These LEDs are actually a pair of LEDs with the two wired in anti-parallel.