Lionel 153 IR controller issue

Jerry,

Hate to tell you that I have the same problems with mine.  That part seems awful twitchy.  Even the slightest adjustment seems to make large changes in the timing, and even that seems to change by itself after awhile.  If I'm not mistaken, Gunrunner John has a replacement part that works much more reliably.  If I ever get around to it,.....

Jerry

There have been revisions to the 153IR over the years so this may not be exactly what you have.  But it's likely you have a defective potentiometer control.  For the Delay control that would be the right white-knob component.

There is a rotating "wiper" on the bottom which slides against a track of resistive material which varies resistance which varies the delay.  This is an unsealed component so gunk or what have you can deposit onto the wiper or track giving intermittent or flakey behavior.  With the aid of the photos (so you see what's under-the-hood), you might be able to squirt electrical-contact-cleaner (the yellow tube in the photo) into the bottom of the component in the gap above the circuit board without dis-assembling the entire contraption.

If cleaning does nothing and you have to replace the control knob itself, it is fastened to the circuit board with 3 solder joints and is replaceable if you are comfortable with a soldering iron.  I don't know the part number or where to get it but the part should be less than $1.  If you reach that point, and no one else comes forward with the part info, I can probably figure out what it is.

 thank you very very much for your help. I did try to spray electrical parts cleaner but did not take it apart. If I could get it to trigger within a 30 to 30 second time frame I would be happy. If you could help with the part number I would appreciate it much.

Thank you again and everyone have a very nice Christmas, Jerry

Let's see if GRJ comes up with a better replacement part as the other Jerry suggests. 

Meanwhile, if you know you're going for a ~30 sec time delay, here's an idea.  On the 153IR I have, two of the contacts are shorted together by a wire-jumper.

So with contacts 2 and 3 shorted, the control is simply changing the resistance between 1 and 2.  I measured the variation as 0 to 100K ohms.  So this appears to be a 100K variable resistor. 

So here's the hack.  In virtually every timing circuit I've seen, increasing the resistance increases the delay simply because there's a resistor and capacitor with time proportional to the "RC time-constant" or the product of the two values.  That said, it appears you're getting 1 minute max - which I'm speculating is when the control is at 100K.  Hence, if you're after ~30 sec, why not just remove the 100K variable resistor and install a 47K or 51K (some standard value) fixed 2-cent resistor between 1 and 2?  That should get your railroad back in business.  Then you can separately choose (or not) to bother with tracking down the variable resistor.

Hi all,

I took it apart and cleaned it with an electronic cleaner per your suggestion and your photo graph and it seems to work fine now. Much thanks for the information. In the meantime I sure would like to know what can be used if the pots is no good and where to get them

I don't have any replacement ideas for this pot, though I suspect one can be had.  I'd probably have to do what Stan is suggesting, troll my favorite parts sites for the proper sized and resistance pot.

I spent a few minutes trying to find it but no luck finding the exact part from a "retail" seller where you can buy just 1 or a couple.  I think your best bet is to search on  "8mm trimpot" to narrow the field to something less than a zillion hits! 

On the 153IR I have, the hole spacings are 5mm and 10mm.  For example, here's one from the Alibaba site that has promise - note you can specify the knob/shaft length "L" as the one in the photo looks short for the 153IR.  Problem with Alibaba are minimum order quantities in the hundreds or thousands.     Anyway, it's a starting point...

Obviously if you can only find one with a shorter knob/shaft, as long as it easily mounts into the existing hole pattern then a screwdriver can access the adjustment which I assume would be once in a blue-moon.

Picked up off the auction site, untested and had a broken off contactor.(which i wasn't going to use anyway)  Was hoping for the best.  The timer didn't work but the sensor did.  Google led me to this post.  Tried the contact cleaner (deoxit id) and the pot started working.  Thanks to this forum.

Mort

I also am having some issues with the 153ir controller.  My issue is different than the one above and would like some guidance.  I use the NO output to drive some relays, but this output is not working.  I am building a new layout with 25 of these units.  I have wired in 16 of them working ok, but another 5 have this issue.  When I put my hand in front of the sensor, I hear a faint click as if the unit will work but no output on the NO terminal.  The unit clearly has power between the Ac Pwr and Acc Grnd terminals.  Why might these 5 units be not working?  They do seem to be older units that I have been saving for this layout  While the others are newer ones. 

Dave

There are two versions, not including the ones just released.  The two that i talk about are wired differently.  Not sure if you have the instructions for both versions.  I spent hours trying to figure why two of mine were not working.  Not sure that is your issue, but worth a look.  You can’t tell the difference between the two from looking at them.

Here's a side-by-side I prepared years ago and have posted in several OGR threads.  The wiring differs depending on which version you have.

If you feel lucky and want to try something without having to understand why, simply swap the two wires going into the "Auxiliary power supply" terminals on the left side of the unit in the diagram.

If that doesn't solve your problem then we can get down to details on exactly what your wiring is.  That your 153IR is clicking means you're first and goal...

Yes, it was probably Stan that saved me, with this image, when i was going through this a few years ago.

Thank you all for this help.  Success - they all work.  I had saved all the instructions and had noted the different issue dates, but had not read them both close enough to see this difference - now I see it.  It seems I also have a 3rd version.  Of the 5, 3 have different markings (left side =Power supply and right side = Com1/Com2)  This 3rd version works as the 02 version.

Dave

There is another subtle variation in the very early versions of the 153IR, just for information. The very first version (2001?) had a quirk which allowed the control to timeout when a train stopped in front of it. Thus for RR crossing signals for instance, the flashing lights could quit flashing even though the train was still parked blocking the roadway. This was corrected in the second version, which I believe is 4/02. As long as the train is parked in front of the controller the signal now stays activated. No change in the part numbers,

Rod

Rod, thanks for that info - I have some of all three versions.  I had thought that the IR sensor was failing in the 2001 version but now I know the real reason.

Dave Pelle

@Rod Stewart posted:

There is another subtle variation in the very early versions of the 153IR, just for information. The very first version (2001?) had a quirk which allowed the control to timeout when a train stopped in front of it. ...

Do you happen to still have the manual for this version?

I do Stan, but it's at home and we are away for a few days. I can make a note to scan and post it, but it will be early next week?

Rod

you know you could  buy any pentameter the correct ohms and it will work you know you probably could mount it any way you have too even if it's a screwdriver adjustment n not a shaft! once you set the adjustment your good to go, why make a simple thing so difficult!

you can access your adjustment threw the whole where the shaft was understand

Alan

ST-4ETB101 Nidec Copal | Mouser

TC33X-2-101G Bourns | Mouser

you can't beat these prices!

Alan