Berko/Eckon Three Aspect Signal Wiring Up DC Controlled Layouts

Decide where you want to site your signal alongside the track making sure it’s positioned so that it doesn’t foul any passing trains. Have a look at the real railways for ideas & reference as to where to site the signals on your layout.

Drill a suitably sized hole big enough to take the signal wires.

Next, if not already fitted on the common return wire on the signal, a resistor will need to be soldered to the common return wire. The resistor is normally supplied with the Berko/Eckon Signals. The common return wire on these signals is usually the white wire. Please read & check the supplied instructions that come with the signal beforehand.

Once the resistor has been soldered to the negative wire, feed the signal wires down through the drilled hole.

Don’t glue the signal base to the baseboard just yet!! The signal needs to be connected up & tested first before gluing the signal down onto the baseboard.

Run the two wires (+ Positive & – Negative) from the 12V DC power supply to a chocbloc connector. Strip the ends of the two wires & insert them into the chocbloc connector. Then tighten the grip screws on the chocbloc connector to securely hold the two wires.

Next, take the common negative wire (The one with the resistor on – Berko/Eckon signals it’s usually the white wire) strip the end of the wire & insert that into the chocbloc connector. The common – Negative wire goes on the opposite side to the – Negative wire from the transformer, as shown in the diagram opposite right. Then tighten the grip screw to hold securely hold the common negative wire from the signal.

The diagram opposite right shows the signal common return wire (shown in grey for clarity) with the resistor on, connected to the transformer.

As mentioned at the start, the two aspect signal is controlled by & operated by a three-way On/On/On Switch. Berko/Ekon EE3 three-way On/On/On Switch or use a three-way On/On/On toggle switch is used to operate the three aspect colour light signal.

Now we fit the + Positive wire from the 12v DC transformer to the switch. In this case, it’s the Berko/Eerko EE3 three-way On/On/On switch. On the side of the switch that has the single nut/screw connector on, attach the + positive wire from the 12v DC transformer to this connector.

Online models amongst others, do wire end tags for soldering on to the ends of wires. They allow for easy fitting of the wires onto the wire nut/screw connectors on the Berko/Ekon switches. Simply solder the wire end tag onto the end of the wire. Undo & remove the nut on the wire connector on the side of the switch. Slide the soldered wire end tag over the connector & refit & tighten the nut to firmly hold the wire in place.

These wire end connector tags can be found here:

(20) 8BA n/silver tags for lectralok switches – Online Models (onlinemodelsltd.co.uk)

The diagram opposite right shows the + Positive wire connected from the 12v DC transformer to the switch.

Next, connect the green wire from the signal to either the top one or bottom one of the three screw nut terminals on the side of the switch that has the three terminals. As mentioned in the section above, solder a wire end tag onto the end of the green wire prior to connecting the green wire to the switch.

On Berko/Ekon three aspect Signals, each wire is the same colour as the LED it’s connected to. This helps makes it easier to identify which wire is which. The wires for the three aspect signals is as follows:

• Red wire – Red LED
• Green wire – Green LED
• Yellow wire – Yellow LED

Now, connect the yellow wire from the yellow LED on the signal to the middle of the three screw nut terminals, on the side of the switch that has the three terminals. As mentioned in the section above, solder a wire end tag onto the end of the yellow wire prior to connecting the yellow wire to the switch.

Next, connect the red wire from the red LED on the signal to the last free remaining of the three screw nut terminals, on the side of the switch that has the three terminals. As mentioned in the section above, solder a wire end tag onto the end of the red wire prior to connecting the yellow wire to the switch. The diagram opposite shows the complete wiring for the three aspect signal.

Turn on the power supply to the signal, & test operate the colour light signal. 

Once happy that all is working okay, lift the signal up so that glue can be applied to the underside of the base of the signal. Then fit stick down the signal & that completes the install & wiring up of the two aspect signal to the Berko/Eckon Signal.