M.T.H. Crossing Gates

MTH Crossing gate.  Red hooked to the center rail.  Black outside rail common.  Blue Yellow and White are a switching circuit.

Touch the yellow and blue together, the gate should go down and stay down.  Lights will also flash.

 Touch the white and blue together the gate should go up and stay up.  Flashing lights off.

There are up and down limit adjustments on the back of the gate control panel.

If the gate works, continue testing with your activation device.

Mike CT. 

Hi Mike,

I tried the adjustment screws and was able to get the gate that I heard the motor make noise to work. Thank you for letting me know about the adjustments that can be made.

The second gate that starts blinking as soon as power is applied will not work. I don't hear anything when I touch the yellow and blue wires together. I am guessing there is a problem with this gate because the lights blink and there is no movement with the gate.

My question is how do you hook these up to an insulated track section?

Ron

I don't know how to use an insulated track with the M.T.H. Gates. I am using a Lionel IR device to activate the Gates. Only 1 of my gates are working. With Ron's help I was able to get 1 of the 2 working.

PRRronbh posted:

My question is how do you hook these up to an insulated track section?

You need a relay.  Just a few dollars in parts if you don't mind soldering and working with components...or about $10 for a relay module with screw-terminals.  There have been dozens of OGR threads showing everyone's favorite method so there's no single answer.  Here's a relay module from Azatrax which I recommended in a recent thread.

Gunrunnerjohn is close to releasing a relay module which would also work and has some additional features.

Tomorrow I will call M.T.H. service department to see if there is a fix for the Gate that does not work. In most cases i find it is less expensive to buy a new item than to pay to fix the original item. 

stan2004 posted:

PRRronbh posted:

My question is how do you hook these up to an insulated track section?

You need a relay.  Just a few dollars in parts if you don't mind soldering and working with components...or about $10 for a relay module with screw-terminals.  There have been dozens of OGR threads showing everyone's favorite method so there's no single answer.  Here's a relay module from Azatrax which I recommended in a recent thread.

Gunrunnerjohn is close to releasing a relay module which would also work and has some additional features.

Thanks so much.

Ron

Mine have a more unusual quirk, wired as instructed using either a Lionel or MTH ITAD the lights flash and gates down, then when NO the gates rise as expected but lights keep flashing (although dimmer) No idea why? Is there something I am missing that the relay brings the gate up but not turning lights off? The purpose of the blue wire also eludes me.

Take a look at this OGR thread where I posted the following:

When the gate is up, it mechanically closes a limit switch which turns off the flashing.  There is a gate top adjustment screw that alters the angle of the up position.  If the gate never hits the limit switch, the flashers will always be on (as long as power is applied to red/black).

The blue wire is the common to the relay's NO/NC outputs.  If you are using an MTH ITAD or Lionel 153IR you don't need the blue wire since the ITAD or 153IR internally connects its relay common to power. As shown in schematic, for the unit I disassembled (Revision 6), the blue wire is the same as the red power wire.

You use the blue wire if you have a 153C-like contactor/pressure-plate to trigger the gates, or a SPDT toggle switch to manually control gate up/down, or an SPDT relay if using insulated-rail triggering.   

Wow, that helps, I will try to adjust the upper gate position/limit switch.  These certainly are a bit more electronically complex than a block signal!

Well that totally fixed it!, you guys Rock!  Unless I missed it, MTH's instructions do not seem to discuss anything other than wiring?

When I originally called MTH they never mentioned the adjustments that could be made. Thank you for the update.

Perhaps the adjustment screws were (meant to be) a one-time factory alignment?

I suppose one could rationalize how two screws might affect the up and down angle of the gate.  But until I opened it up and drew out the electrical schematic, it was not obvious how/why a mechanical screw would affect the flashing behavior.

Thanks again, my journey into model railroading is certainly upping my knowledge of relays and circuitrty.  I am quite fond of railroad signalling and use both MTH and Lionel ITAD's as they look good and are simple.  Having said that I have had a couple of the Lionel one's fail over the years for unknown reasons (they just start to do some wierd random clicking thing and dont work as they originally did?).  Any other options besides MTH and Lionel for these? Preferences?

@DMBX posted:

Any other options besides MTH and Lionel for these? Preferences?

Azatrax.  D2T-DS  For the price of 1 Lionel 153 I.R. You get a control board and 2 pairs of IR sensors that read across 2 tracks, detecting trains in either direction.  Far less obtrusive, works flawless. No added relays needed.

I discuss details on the first 4 minutes of this video:

Thanks, will look into it, nice to have options.👍