Hello. I'm new to this forum and I need help with my Lionel Fastrack switches. I have wired them for remote operation (removing the buss bar) and using a separate power supply and following the diagram in the manual and for some reason it puts the dedicated switch power into the tracks and my engines run with no control, speed, stopping ect. I'm at a complete loss trying to figure this out. Any help will be appreciated.
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Are the insulated pins in the right positions?
Larry
I was unaware that I would need to do that. The pins are almost welded into the rails. How do I remove them and where can I get insulated pins?
I have no skin in this game as I don't use FasTrack. That being said, insulated pins have traditionally been used in the outer rails to allow for anti-derailing turnout operation.
John implies the dedicated power source is somehow getting to the center power rail which is a different issue entirely (unless I'm reading this entirely wrong John....?).
There are no insulated pins for Fastrack. Do you have the power and ground wires switched?
Yes. The dedicated switch power is back feeding into the rail providing uncontrolled power to the trains. From what was posted above I guess I need to remove the center rail pin between the track and switch?
Your auxiliary power must be connected to the "AUX IN" post and the jumper removed between that and "TRACK JUMPER". You can use the "TRACK JUMPER" post as a power drop to the track.
Attachments
I have wired the switch as shown and removed the jumper.
OK, so the wiring is scrambled in the track switch (which does sometimes happen from the factory). Did it function correctly with the jumper on? Operating the switch motor with track power? If so, that means just the AUX IN and TRACK JUMPER posts are reversed and you would thus be able to power the switch with the TRACK JUMPER post.
The switch operated fine when I first got it. I followed the directions on how to remote wire and power it separately. Here's picture of how I wired them. Switch power uses white as the negative and yellow as the positive.