Anyone else experience Lionel Switch malfunctions and breaking?
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There have been isolated reports.
5/6 brand new fastrack switches (plus 1 replacement switch) I've bought from Lionel since November 2019 have been that way, plus other problems. As well as 2 malfunctioning power units (GW-180s). Pure Junk. I've already switched to Atlas and MTH and will probably never buy another piece of Lionel equip again. Immensely disappointed in their lackluster, non-existent, quality control.
Yes, I had one and returned it. I have read this is an issue with some of the 048 switches. Go figure. I have another one acting up lately and it is in a very important area in my mainline loop. I am not going to return it as it has been 30 days and I would have to send it to Lionel for repair. I will move the points with my finger. It's anybodies guess when I would get it back. So I decided to go with all manual 036 switches in my yard rather than remote. Much more economical and simple. My finger has had no issues yet. LOL.
I had similar issues a few months back. I managed to figure it out, in all I had 4 switches that did not work. I was able to get 3 fixed and had to replace 1 from my local hobby shop. Here is a link to my post .
I have had over 50% failure rate, maybe 70%. Lost track of actual count since so many switches failed. Looking back they were all 048 Switches. Had to throw some out since I tried to fix them myself and then voided the warranty and could not return them. Returned at least 6 maybe more switches to my dealer. Yesterday another one froze and Lionel issued an RA number with no real questions asked. I guess they know they have a manufacturing problem. Spoke to my dealer and he got acknowledgement from the distributor their are problems with Lionel Switches.
Have had issues with the O36 switches. Have disassembled almost everyone I have - approximately 8. My issues seem to focus around the pinion gear on the micromotor and the rack gear it drives. The pinion gear, IMO, has either a design issue or manufacturing issue. Pinion gear teeth are rarely perfectly straight , always seem to have a slight deformity. Thus gear doesn’t mesh well with rack. I’ve also found bits of plastic wedge in the rack/pinion teeth. Looks like flashing from plastic as it’s usually gray - same color as switch internals. My sons does quite a bit of work with Chinese manufacturers and he has to constantly keep an eye on them regarding QA. (No slight intended just stating facts. And let’s not start a flame war regarding where items are manufactured.) The irritating part about the O36 switches is there are 11 screws to remove to detach the metal base. Time consuming for something you shouldn’t have to fix in the first place.
Steve
I have 12 FasTrack switches on my layout, eight O-72 and four O-48. One of the O-72's had a loose wire when I bought it new in 2018. Other than that, they've operated flawlessly for two years.
My experience with FT switches has been very positive. I have 21 switches ranging from O-36 to O-72 that I've purchased from my LHS over the last 3-4 years and, other than one switch that had physical shipping damage, they have all worked great.
The screws are a PITA but, if I've ever needed to open a switch, I have a small electric screwdriver that does the job efficiently.
I have one O36 and eight O72 remote Fastrack track switches that have been in daily operation for three years on the PER. They get a workout because switching Pike and I have had just one problem. I had to tweak the O36 switch because it presented with the jamming-pinion problem. A new motor hold-down bracket and careful seating of the motor solved the problem and it has operated flawlessly for two yers hence. Several of these switches were purchased used and had obviously seen service because of the typical slight wear markings on the center rail between the point rails.
Besides flawless tracking (I have never had a derailment on the PER) my favorite thing about Fastrack is the correct tie width and spacing. I could wish for T rail but oh well.
