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 Posted - April 09 2016 : 7:20:06 PM
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Those of you who are familiar with Tyco's operating accessories are probably also familiar with the "Prestomatic" push button, the iconic controller which put "action" right at the operator's finger tips...
To me, that red button just screams to be pressed with the promise of an immediate action taking place on a remote location on your model railroad empire.
Well in theory at least.
Sometimes the accessory will work, if only sporadically; other times there will be no action at all. Frustrated operators often times assume that the accessory is malfunctioning but the real problem is likely to be much closer at hand. The Prestomatic button controller is not what I would call "first rate engineering", the phosphor-bronze clip that is used to close the electrical circuit inside the box is just too flimsy to work reliably. That being said, operating a Tyco accessory without the Prestomatic would just not be the same.
Fortunately it is relatively easy to replace the flimsy parts found inside the Prestomatic with reliable electronic components. If your interested in improving the performance of your accessories while retaining the Prestomatic control boxes, read on....
The first step is to remove the Prestomatic control box cover, I have found that the blue box covers are often times glued to the base and may need to be cut off with a razor saw. The green box covers on the other hand usually just pop right off.
Once you have the cover off, gently dismantle the Prestomatic's working parts, the only part that will be discarded is the diamond shaped phosphor-bronze clip.
To replace the phosphor-bronze clip you will need a Radio Shack part 275-1547 Single Pole Single Throw Momentary Pushbutton Switch...
The first step, modify the buttons; remove the cap and "cap nipple" from the Radio Shack button and then hollow out the original button from the Prestomatic...
Next, install the Radio Shack Button on the Prestomatic's base, this will require removing the spring seat from the base with a razor saw.
Once the spring seat is removed the Radio Shack button will nest right into the existing hole in the base. To secure the button, simply bend back the soldering contacts and wrap them under the Prestomatic's base...
After the Radio Shack button is seated, solder jumper wires from each of the new button's soldering lugs to the existing Prestomatic's metal contacts...
After attaching the jumper wires from the Radio Shack button to the Prestomatic's metal contacts, you may then add the wires that will lead from the control box to the accessory...
When your soldering is done, seat the original Prestomatic spring on top of the Radio Shack button and then reassemble the Prestomatic control box...
That's it, you now have a Prestomatic button that works reliably , install the rebuilt control on your layout and enjoy the improved performance.
Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016
Edited by - Srenchin on April 10 2016 9:48:47 PM
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bnsfIA
Big Six
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Posted - April 09 2016 : 8:21:11 PM
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Excellent write up!
Will try this out soon.
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Posted - April 10 2016 : 09:59:40 AM
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That weird, flimsy contact seems to be designed so that if you gently press the button, contact is made, but if you sat on the button or something, the connection would open up again and your accessory would not overheat and burn out. In short, they're protecting you from yourself. In practice, I've found those things to be frustrating and replaced them with a more positive button.
Carpe Manana!
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Posted - April 10 2016 : 5:12:08 PM
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quote: quote: That weird, flimsy contact seems to be designed so that if you gently press the button, contact is made, but if you sat on the button or something, the connection would open up again and your accessory would not overheat and burn out. In short, they're protecting you from yourself. In practice, I've found those things to be frustrating and replaced them with a more positive button.
Originally posted by scsshaggy - April 10 2016 : 09:59:40 AM
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That's an interesting observation, I wonder if the Prestomatic was intentionally designed to protect the system against abusive button pushers or was the "cut out" feature just a happy accident? At any rate, I think adult operators can be trusted to not fry their accessories.
Originally posted by Srenchin - April 10 2016 : 5:11:20 PM
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Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016
Edited by - Srenchin on April 10 2016 5:16:34 PM
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Posted - April 10 2016 : 5:45:57 PM
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Useful thread. I got a log dumper, and sometimes the
throw isn't long enough, so this might be just the
ticket.
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