Atlas O Turntable

Thanks for the info Bob.  I'm about to hook mine up.

John

Bob,

I finally got mine running smooth last night.  When I looked real close at the TT rails I noticed that on one side the outer rails had bits of plastic on them.  I disengaged the motor and mounted the manual turning piece on the center shaft.  As I slowly turned it manually I found that the outer rails were hitting the raised blocks at certain locations, causing it to stall or force the cog out of the channel.  I unscrewed the rotating top and lightly filed down the problem rails with a Dremmel.  While apart I lubed the gears and cog ever so lightly.  I then reassembled the TT upside down.  Several points here:

1. be careful to insert the small barrel connectors in the right spot.  One is a hare longer than the other.

2. if you are laying track to the TT it helps to use 6'' pieces screwed down for future removal and maintenance.

3. put a drop of CA or similar on the bottom nut the center screw fastens to.

4. use 5 or more light pressure clamps to keep the top and bottom together while inserting and tightening the center screw.

I found no way to reassemble this right side up because of the barrel connectors which must ride free.  These connect the outer and center rail to the power ring inside the TT.

I reassembled the motor and it worked flawlessly both CC and CWise.  It was really quiet.  I'm using a variable DC HO Tech transformer set at 5 - 6 vdc.

Hope this helps.

John

Thanks for the information! I'm going to be hooking mine up this weekend. 

I recall, a while back, someone posting some photos of a painted, weathered and detailed Atlas O TT that looked really sharp.

In that same post I recall that an old or stretched drive belt was quite often the culprit of poor performance.

We are installing a Atlas Turntable on the club layout.  Has anyone added a limit switch to the turntable to allow the controls to know when the turntable is in a locked position, half way thru it's rotation?

Hi there,

Thinking about the Atlas turntable myself, but the moving pit appearance bothers me. I remember old MR articles of Irv Schulz's St Clair Northern showing an Atlas HO TT with wooden decking added.

I know the practice was mainly older era, but what thoughts? 

Choochoopaul, I don't think a limit switch is needed.  The TT comes with a switch to control the direction and power shutoff.  There is a cog on the gear wheel which will enter a slot in the underside of the pit and cause it to rotate to the next stopping position.  At this point the cog exits the slot and rotates free of the pit until it grabs the nest slot and begins the rotation again moving the pit to the next track location.  It is at the point prior to the cog reentering the pit that you shut off the motor.  It's really a simple system that works well.  Obviously, the greater the power the faster the pit moves to the next location.  Hope this helps.

Firewood, I had the same feeling.  But when I did a search on Atlas turntable in this forum I found some interesting pictures you may want to see.

John

Thanks for the information John.

We are trying to make the turntable operation "Club Proof".