Check hole

Double check that the hole is centered on the switch and the rod is centered in it. Be sure the rod is not catching on anything. That is usually what has caused this when i did some installs. 

Sounds flippant, but it ain't

David,

I'm confused by your point #3, about "the switch" works under power in your hand. Do you mean the Tortoise switch motor? "switch" can also mean the turnout - the track thing with a throwbar.

The throwbar on the turnout moves in a straight line. The end of your piano wire should move in the same line. You mentioned moving the tortoise forward and back and left and right, but what about twisting it to make the line of travel correct?

Now for the flip: When the Tortoise is mounted below the track, its wire sticks up thru the throwbar. Mark the wire where it first appears.Now put the Tortoise upside down on top of the track of the turnout. Add shim blocks to make the mark on the wire just disappear under the throwbar. Apply power to the Tortoise and adjust alignment until the points move correctly. This should help you feel good that the thing can work. Then go back underneath and replicate that correct alignment.

When you first poke the wire into the throwbar are you doing it with points and wire centered, as in the post from Alco_nut? Move the motor by hand to the center position and center the points with toothpicks.

Hope this helps,

DrJolS

AHA!

I'm going to try the switch motor on top with toothpicks centering idea. Yes, the Tortise itself moves freely and correctly when held in my hand. The turnout clicks from side to side with a flick of the bamboo or my finger and "locks" against the outside rail depending on which way you "throw it."

I'll double check the hole again but it is slightly larger than the recommended size supposedly required. Since I am trying to install this single handed, that may be part of the alignment problem which is why I was moving the entire motor body to make small corrections and flipping the toggle switch to see if it worked.

Worse comes to worse, my wife will have to suffer my instructions while I'm underneath the layout.  Many thanks for the suggestions - keep them coming if you have other ideas.

I have had the same problems

With some of the turnouts on my layout. It seems that the wire had to be much heavier than I thought, the hole much larger and I had to be very careful with both the left/right orientation and the front /back. I don't think I'll ever attempt to put another one in without someone helping from the top.

Don't even get me started about the tiny screw mounting method.....I totally gave up on that. By the way, are you using turnouts with spring closing action like ME? My last layout used Shinoharas without springs and I didn't have any trouble like I had on this layout with Micro Engineering sprung turnouts........although I do love the look of the ME turnouts.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDG80

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TDG806-Tortoise-Drill-Jig-Installation-Tool-by-BVI-Rail-Tooling-/291173714917?hash=item43cb4e4be5:g:sDYAAOSwo8hTpHyj

This tortoise jig is worth its weight in gold. Proper alignment is simplified. Care must be taken to get good orientation to get the movement of the wire parallel to the throw bar. Its almost dummy proof. 

Is the turnout a Peco? I have

Is the turnout a Peco? I have had to remove the spring out of the Peco turnout to allow the tortoise to work correctly.

I am with Alco_nut on alignment.

If a new switch, mark the center of the throw bar and use a drilling template #800-6190, drill throw bar and four holes from the top of roadbed. I use a set of hemostats and trap the wire (leave the wire long until all is working) above the rail with it. That way I can crawl around under the layout and align the two screws diagonally to test operation of the tortoise. Have a cord less drill motor with a rasp bit to elongate the throw bar hole if needed. Power off the rail or run the risk of frying the controller and decoders, been here no fun! If the hole gets way too big, cut a piece of styrene the width of the track and make the slot for the throw bar in the middle. Paint it to match the roadbed and slide it under the throw bar, glue it down, ballast over it.

Good Luck RJ

Check the throwbar-to-roadbed clearance

Make sure you have clearance beneath the turnout throwbar.  Lift up on the throwbar end of the turnout slightly while cycling the Tortoise.  If it works with the turnout lifted slightly, the throwbar is dragging.  Even though you can cycle it manually with a bamboo pick, your hand applies much more force than the wire on the Tortoise can.  

Prior to mounting my 40+ powered turnouts, I filed or sanded a narrow groove in the road bed where the throwbar would lay.  This is particularly important later when you start to ballast.  You should not ballast near the throwbar, but inevitably some ballast glue will migrate under it.  Apply light machine oil around the throwbar prior to ballast gluing.  The oil, and the clearance created should keep the throwbar action free.

Sounds like an alignment

Sounds like an alignment issue. or a splinter of wood in the hole. If the motion is not spot on it will bind. the fact that it works in one direction and not the other strongly suggests this. An easy way to get your marks lined up for the line of travel is to from the top with a very small drill drill a hole at each end of the throw bar. The holes should represent the center at the ends of the throw bar. You can draw a line connecting them. You will now have a straight line on the bottom of the layout to indicate the path of your throw bar and should be able to position the hole for the wire and the tortoise accordingly.

I made some jigs to align mine.

This thread describes some Rube Goldberg contraptions I built to help install tortoises single handed. There are also several good suggestions to deal with the problems.

pqe

Remember...

Micro Engineering turnouts have an over center spring that needs to be removed when using a tortoise switch machine. It can be removed after the turnout is laid by pushing an exacto blade straight down from above. Locate the spring at the throw bar, insert the blade directly on the spring and simply push down on the spring and it will pop out.     John