Skip to main content

Has anyone run across an issue with a fasttack switch wired incorrectly from the factory.    I have a layout with 6 O-36 remote switches.  After wiring them for external power two of the switches generated a connection between the ground and the center rail.   Took hours under the table to isolate the issue as I did not follow the cardinal rule to test before adding to the layout.   Not sure I would have noticed it as the switches operated remotely correctly. However when I tested the track for shorts I found the connection between ground and the center rail after wiring the switches.  When I opened up the offending switches I found the Aux ground was connected by a red wire to the center rail (see attached picture).  In the properly wired switches this post is connected to the circuit board and the track power post is properly connected to the center rail.   Very bizarre that two of the six switched were improperly wired the same way.   Would not have been an issue if I hadn't decided to use the aux ground wire in addition to the powered wire as the switch has a common ground through the track in any event.  Just didn't look right having just the one red wire powering the switches without a ground wire running to the accessory transformer as I am obsessed with symmetry in the world despite the additional wire cost!!!.  Have become more familiar with switch wiring than I ever wanted.   A third switch would only operate in one direction.   Found a loose connection in the wiring harness of one of the directional sensors switches that flips the switch motor in the opposite direction.

Attachments

Images (1)
  • malfunctioning switch wiring: black arrows indicate the connection between aux ground and the center rail
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

@HJS  Welcome to the been there done that with FasTrack switches club.  I've experienced each of the issues you've described and a few more.  As frustrating as it can be at first, for me it became an interesting puzzle to solve.  It was only later that I discovered OGR Forum and the Topic @MrMoe50 pointed out.

I will summarize my experience with the power and ground mis-wiring.  After dealing with quite a few of them and finding that often one of the terminal's internal wires was too short to swap around to where the stamp on the cover says each external connection should be, I found it more efficient to just relabel the bottom cover plate.  Instead of opening every turnout, I placed the labels according to the as factory wired function of each terminal, determined by continuity testing.

Last edited by SteveH

Add Reply

Post
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×