Is there a way to fix a Lionel 153C contactor that doesn't work, or am I better off buying a new one?
Thanks.
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I have serveral 153C contactors and some of them work and some don't. I decided to take a closer look at them. They are quite simple. If you take the horseshoe clip off you can lift the top part off. Once you do that, look under the first contact point and see if there is corrosion or anything that would prevent it making contact. I found green material I guess to be corrosion buildup. I cleaned that away and cleaned the whole thing up. I checked the spring and everything was ok. I put it back together and it worked fine. Just play with the adjustment a bit and get it fine-tuned. It should work.
@RailhammerJohn posted:I have serveral 153C contactors and some of them work and some don't. I decided to take a closer look at them. They are quite simple. If you take the horseshoe clip off you can lift the top part off. Once you do that, look under the first contact point and see if there is corrosion or anything that would prevent it making contact. I found green material I guess to be corrosion buildup. I cleaned that away and cleaned the whole thing up. I checked the spring and everything was ok. I put it back together and it worked fine. Just play with the adjustment a bit and get it fine-tuned. It should work.
This is very helpful and makes perfect sense. Cleaning it this way may obviate the need to replace these contractors unless they are located where they are inaccessible.
If inaccessible, then, another activation device that requires no periodic adjustment like an insulated outside rail may be the way to go.
I'd consider something like the Lionel 153IR, reliable and doesn't go out of adjustment.
If you're of a mind for a build project, we had a project for creating an Ultrasonic sensor for controlling track signals project. It works very well.
