12.11.2011

Minitrix Point Motor / Switch Machines Manual

Some months back, one of the readers of my humble blog had some questions about Minitrix switch machines (or point motors).  At the time I thought it might be helpful to post the manual that comes with the switches and switch machines to help others.  So finally, after much procrastination, I finally scanned in the manual and am posting each page below.

The pages are not numbered, and the order can be a little confusing based on how its all laid out, so I've taken the liberty of attempting to put each page into what I think is a logical sequence!   All of the diagrams and illustrations have German text, but translations in English and French (found on page 7) and Dutch and Swedish (found on page 8) explain those diagrams in those languages.

If this was helpful to you, please leave a comment so I can understand if posting this information was valuable to someone!

Page 1 (German): 
Shows the electrical connections of the switch machines/point motors;  How to remove the contact springs to eclectically isolate  each arm of the switch and how to isolate and power sidings

Page 2 & 3 (German):
Shows the different combinations of Minitrix track pieces for various switches/points/turnouts.
Page 4  & Page 5(German):
Shows connecting track pieces for combinations of Minitrix's curved turnouts:


Page 6 (German):
Although technically the last page, this contains the last of the 7 different sections described in German.  This page shows how to attach and remove the switch motor from the turnout (for both regular and inverted use):
  
Page 7 (English and French):
Translation of sections 1 through 7 in English and French.

Page 8 (Dutch and Swedish):
Translation of sections 1 through 7 in Dutch and Swedish.
Page 9 (German):
Illustrations and warning about proper use of the polarized frog:

Page 10 (English, French, and Dutch):

Translation of the above page from German concerning the warning about ensuring that the polarized section of the frog is always powered for the direction of travel or damage can occur:

7 comments:

  1. Hello Jerry. Are you satisfied about Minitrix points? Did you ever to meet many operating trouble? Thanks, bye.

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  2. I have to say, I have had some mixed results. The problem could be in some of my wiring. The switches themselves are mostly pretty good, although I have had one or two where the 'polarized frog' function stopped working. In the future I would probably go with servos, they seem to be much more reliable. My Kato switches are still better performers.

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  3. Well, thank You. Now I've got the good Kato switches but they're too much long for a zone in my layout where I've to save space. Maybe I can buy some cheap Trix points and I'm interested in Your experience.

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  4. Thanks heaps for this.

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  5. Hello, I have a problem. I attached the motor of the switch in inverse mode and then did all the wiring correctly... I hear the buzz of the motor working and I can see the motor moving. Yet, it cannot move the red lever all the way to the other side to allow the frogs of the turnout to change direction... do you know why is that and how can I solve this problem?

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  6. Hello, I have a problem. I attached the motor of the switch in inverse mode and then did all the wiring correctly... I hear the buzz of the motor working and I can see the motor moving. Yet, it cannot move the red lever all the way to the other side to allow the frogs of the turnout to change direction... do you know why is that and how can I solve this problem?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Anonymous! I tried to give you a longer explanation on another post:
    http://www.quinntopia.com/2011/01/minitrix-turnouts-switch-points.html

    But another think you might to try is to remove the motor and just move the red lever back and forth several times to ensure that is moving easily and nothing is blocking its movement? While the motor might be the problem (bad motor, not enough electcrity, not attached all the way) maybe the switch itself is bent or blocked or something?

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