Kato Switch amperage

[Spaceman Spiff]

G'day,

 

I'm about to start building switch panels replacing the OEM Kato controllers.

 

Does anyone know how many milliamps/amps it takes to throw a switch?

 

 

Thanks

[katoftw]

0.45 amp on a single, 1.5 amps on the crossover.

[kvp]

It's pulse power though, so please use a capacitor discharge circuit for powering them. 1000 and 2200 uF capacitors connected in series with the coils to ground and the other end switched between 12V and ground would work. Simple spring loaded buttons and switches tend to be kept on for longer than a few msecs and may overheat and damage the coils.

 

The general rule is usually if you have a 2A 12V DC wall adapter, then it will work if you only throw one switch at a time.

 

If you use double pole double throw switches, then it's possible to have a complete route selection display on a track diagram made by daisy chaining the 2nd poles of each switch so strings of leds light up to show the selected route.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Thanks for the info.

 

 

Spiff