Andromeda

@Shazam12 I think as long as you make sure that each side is opposing you will be ok. i.e. I use another magnet in the same position, held in hand, to make sure that one side attracts; the other to oppose - tested from above. When the electrical polarity is changed, so does the magnetic pole, hence the mechanical motion... I did however cut some magnets and left them 'stuck' to my vice, when I came to remove them they seemed weaker... I then remembered a vague memory from my Grandad's teachings, and had to brush the dust off, about magnets needing a 'keeper'. This is usually a piece of iron/steel placed accross the poles to 'keep' the magnet, the magnetism flows... So I have revised my modded spindle to include a 'keep', bearing in mind that the original ogeL spindle magnets are AIO(all-in-one). I have included a length of paperclip bridging the magnets at either end. The result was a stronger magnetic field, strangely enough, even when just using it manually!

Nice job! My next project after the 12v point motor was going to be the very same...! I like the idea of LED's because of the low mA draw, but I like to run my lights on the 13V A.C. output to maximise what can be plugged into the transformer . I found the same filament bulbs on RS as Alainneke and have them on order. There's life left in the old 12v ogeL yet!

I am using recycled HDD magnets, Neodymium(about1-1.2mm), they are one of the strongest... I also had to dremel them to fit. The original ogeL magnet is very much like the fridge magnets in material! I have had a look, and by thickness the Neo's come out best for size... I found maybe this one, Q-07-06-1.2-G, might be suitable. Don't forget that by size, this seemed to be the best solution, and that you may need to 'whittle' it down! Have a look at the size within the manual switch rotary plastic, I used a digital caliper.

@Mark Bellis Ohms law... Ah I remember it well! Indeed you are correct about the sizing, and perhaps ogeL used 6W. Both mine and the original get equally hot, but then again it is a test environment i.e. they are the only devices connected! OgeL also omitted to put any cooling holes into the unit so I'm going to run with it for now. I visited your 'Brickshelf' today. I was impressed with your reverse engineering of the level crossing flasher unit. I may implement that into another future 12V train MOD, kudos ! Moving onto the main reason for replying.... I have, to some success, managed to house my above copy of the signal cct. I did, however, use a very old 2 x 3 black brick(so old it had 'Pat Pend' written inside!), primarily because it's walls are 1.5mm - not the modern 1mm. And because of this, there are no strengthening 'bridges' between the outer sides and the two tubular risers in the brick - in short easier to clear out the unwanted material! Without access to a milling machine I was unable to fathom how to remove 1.5mm from the entire bottom of the brick, to match the original. So I decided that a brick that ends up 1.5mm fatter was no big deal! The unwanted brick material was removed with a 10mm drill, drilled carfully close to the top of the brick, then chiseled out. The front was made from, not too shiny, black ABS plastic sheet. The cowling over the LEDs was four layers of heat-shrink tubing, shrunk to a 5mm drill bit, then cut to fit. Edit: I cannot find any sources for 7.5mm O.D./5mm I.D. black ABS tubing, anyone who knows of any, please let me know? Edit: My MOD appears on the LHS in each pic.

I forgot to mention that I made an ogeL holder for the switch whilst you open it. I got sore hands after opening three units so I made this: The 2 x 8 sticking out is to prise the top off, you can then push the switch motor top out of the holder. I also run the blade around whilst in the holder I would have uploaded the instructions but they are too big to attach, so I uploaded the LDD file instead ! . 12v Switch motor holder.lxf

Sorry Shazam, I did not take any pictures, I am modeling it in AutoCAD when I have time so I will let you know. My new wire arrived yesterday ! I have re-wound the unit that I made above, it now has an impedance of 53.3 ohms (original ogeL part=52ohms) and runs at 216mA, much better than 400!! I now have 6 more manual point motors open and I have 2 metal sheet pieces cut and ready to bend. Looks like I have a busy weekend ahead! I will try and remember to take pics throughout the build and post them later...

I wish it was a part to be bought! I couldn't even find a suitable sized coil former, so that was made by welding ABS plastic with MEK. The 'horseshoe' was hand cut and folded, and the coil was also hand wound... I'm awaiting some larger gauge(smaller dia) enameled copper wire. The wire shown in the pic is only an ohm per meter, and therefore draws 400mA from the supply. My electromagnet measures 27ohms, the original is 52. The new wire coming is 2ohms/m, so in theory should produce a higher resistance, and less current draw!

I found the same when testing remote switch motors, I plugged one into the train controller output and got nothing - even on full tilt. Shat meself then tried the end connection and phew!! The tubing was bought from www.hobbyholidays.co.uk. The sizes were 3.0 and 3.5mm, which fit inside each other nicely. I used both sizes on the remote switch point, see link above, and only used the 3mm for this project! Oh and if you are wondering about the flanges on the tubing, they were done by hand.

I did not insinuate that I was drawing 800mA, merely that 800mA was the Max.! Read the bottom of the Transformer, Output II is listed as 12v @ Max. 0.8A(800mA). When measured under NO load it is 14+V. I only had two LED's running at one time, both through 560R resistors that got hot, ow(bloody ow) hot...! Edit: Measured voltage with nothing attached (side power)14.49V but signal switch(pass through), with both signal lights(originalx2 and orig + mine) is 13.42V. Side power with nothing at all connected is 14.49V. Normally Transformers read higher than stated voltage under no load.

I used 3mm brass tubing, funnily enough from a train hobby shop! It works well on the point switch Repairing 12v remote point switch because of the continuation, flanges and there being a solid plastic chassis to mount to. I think I may 'split' the rings in my signal design to match the original, mainly because it is a tight fit, and the lack of mechanical strength by being only soldered to the board. I did note the the 560R resistor got quite hot on both units whilst taking pics. A volt reading of the Transformers' side 'switch' connection showed 14+V, okay when running several lights, I think up to 800mA max draw.

Hello All, I've been busy again. I've managed to copy the inside circuit from a 12v signal 2 x 3 brick, onto strip board. I've got some thin 1.5mm black ABS plastic sheet lying around, so I'm probably going to butcher a black 2 x 3 brick at some point. In the mean time here are a few pics of the circuit: And working side by side: Thanks for watching!

Thanks! I got a little bored last night and decided to go the whole hog! I retrofitted an electromagnet to a manual point switch: And managed to get the holes nearly right, in the outer box(Right box is real):

From underneath I run a thin blade around the join to break any ‘side’ weld, it sinks in about 4-5mm, careful not to lever or push too hard as you’ll leave a line visible in the outer plastic. Then I use a right angled tool in one of the four holes to ‘carefully’ prise it open, and work around the other holes too. There are four weld points each side, and two at each end. With a remote switch you have to be careful not to cut any of the turns of copper that make up the electromagnet(plug end), or to break the soft magnetic part on the spindle at the other end. With the manual point motor you can be a little less careful!

I recently bought an electronic point control from 3bay knowing it’s vertical axel was snapped off at the box level. I thought it was fixable by bonding an old axel piece to it…. The box already had a small nail inserted, which I thought to remove, whoops I sheered another piece of black plastic from the spindle. But a separate part of the spindle is a magnet… I had also opened a manual switch to see the difference. The same part of the spindle as above was just a plastic, and AIO. I got to thinking that maybe I could modify the manual spindle…. Checking with another magnet on the original remote spindle, showed that each end was opposed, i.e left top was north, right top was south. I had some magnets from some dismantled hard drives so… I dremel’d two bits to fit, and voila…. Edit: I have since Modified a manual point to be automatic, please read below if you are interested....

I've used the knife method but it is messy, even if you take the time. I've read about using something that fits in the top 12v plug holes(small screwdriver), either side where the contacts go, putting it in a vice and giving it a whack. I have not tried it but having used the above first mentioned method, and I can see why it can work because of the coductive/weighty metal lumps either side, which should pass the force downwards. I think i'd firstly use the exacto carefully aswell , just to break any of the glue that has run up the sides. The bond points are similar to the below picture, except they are each side of the wheel, and as below, two at each end. I'm experimenting with 12v remote switch motor opening at the mo. Again they are as fickle, they have a similar flange to the engine motors. The construction is also similar, see pic. http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/1834/12vmotorswitchfixings.jpg I use MEK(Methyl Ethyl Ketone) to bond broken bricks, I think it's the base for polystyrene cement and plumbers pipe weld. Clean breaks can be bonded with pure MEK on both sides, wait a few secs and press together. Older breaks you can dissolve some shavings from a same colour donor brick into the MEK to fill any gaps. This is what I also use to bond the above. With the conducting rails - usually they're filthy: If they are corroded, I use Silvo, the wadding type, it is less abrasive but enought for the job. To clean up afterwards I wipe down with IPA(Iso Propanol). If just mucky then hard rubber and IPA - although when lazy a light silvo rub as above works well... Any thoughts or q's....

That's harsh man for a toy that can be 20 plus years old, esp when Lego remote 12v Train has been retired and is so damned expensive to replace...! I have 'glued' a 6x24 plate, and been able to flex it the same as an unbroken piece! Peace.

I don't have any Bionicle pieces, but if they are made of the standard Lego©® ABS plastic, I have found that using MEK works a treat! MEK(Metyl Ethyl Ketone) is the base for pipe and polystyrene cement(airfix glue)/weld. In the past I have used pipe cement/weld. Since then I have used MEK with excellent results. If it's a clean break then I use pure MEK on each part, wait a couple of secs then hold together. Regular bricks are easier as you can fix them to a another old brick. If you have an old break that has rounded in the 'general population', then I find a really broken doner of the same colour, shave a few bits off and dissolve it into the MEK to make more of a glue.