problem with fast track switch

Can you rotate the switch lantern and cause the rails to pivot? Don't force it if not. If it won't move, then it's mechanically hung up inside. I have had several do that. This'll sound strange, but the first time I had that happen, I needed to get it working without taking it apart. So thinking it was hung up, where the pivot is stuck on the rack inside, I took a #2 Phillips screwdriver by the wrong end and rapped the switch once with the rubber covered handle of the screwdriver and the switch unstuck.

Okay, I thought I was the only one that this happened to. My one switch would lock up, finally one day stayed locked up. Took it from the layout and took bottom plate off, it moved manually okay, then I saw a small burr on the rotating piece. Cut it off with a fine razor hobby knife, put a little slick grease dab on it. Haven't had a problem in 4 months now.

I also mentioned in a write-up several weeks back were a brand new Fastrack switch stopped working after first switch. It was jammed tight, I took bootom plate off, and found somehow on the assemble line, a worker is missing a metal wire strap holder, because I found it in there. No damage, works great.

cjack,yes i was able to rotate the switch lantern by hand,so then i took off the bottom plate off i didn't see anything wrong,no broken or loose wires, next i took a different controller that i know is working & hooked it up to the problem switch,still wouldn't work ,so the problem has to be in the switch itself,i did notice that when i pulled the lever,the switch wanted to move  but could not ,i could see the plastic part that rotates back & forth would quiver,i am at a loss as what to do next.

Interesting. I just replaced an O36 left hand switch tonight. Lantern and controller light were both suddenly dim. Replacing the track power jumper did nothing. Mechanically it would turn but being a switch located on the middle of the layout it had to go.

Any ideas where to look....or just scrap it?

@Captaincog,

There is also a resistor issue that sounds like your symptoms discussed in this thread

Sometimes they do just fail, the controller board, but not often. You'll need a multi-meter to check it out.

Moonman, I don't think it would be wired wrong,because it has been working fine for the last 7 years,your right about the screws there sure are enough of them & they are small enough & with the way my hand shakes it is a lot of fun trying to get them back in i may try what cjack said about aux power,however,i took the switch off of the layout & hooked up jumpers to the switch & it had full voltage on any end of the switch i tested. I will try aux power later this morning,& i will post the results,using aux power is something i have never done before,but i will give it a try.

Try the jumper on the power wire from the connection lugs to the control board like in the link above. It has a resistor in it that sometimes fails.

Or test the wire\resistor with a multi-meter if you have one to rule that out.

I had a 220 ohm (labeled "221" on the part) go open. It is a resistor in series with the LED in the lantern. It's a surface mount chip resistor on the corner of the circuit board and I replaced it with a 1/4 watt resistor with leads to restore the lantern LED.

Although...I am thinking that some of these switches will become parts sources sooner or later.

cjack, did that failure cause the lamp to be dim and prevent switch operation?

I remember that the lantern LED just went out. I traced the source to that resistor and found it failed open. No idea why. I don't think it had to do with switch operation at all.

The resistor in the heat shrink idea might need investigating. I don't know if the symptoms point to it. Maybe I'll trace what that could cause if it fails.

Gerald,

I have the email ,but don't see the post. That's the micro-switch or "cherry switch" as Lionel calls it.

Check the travel of fan shaped piece to see if it push the small arm down enough. Some have put a small piece of tape on the fan to pushes the switch arm in. It's something mechanical stopping the fan from full travel. (Holding it with a screwdriver indicates the switch is good.

is the screw tight that holds the fan shaped piece? Check all the moving parts to see what is holding off the switch.

It's called the segment gear. Is the motor screw tight? Any teeth missing at the end of the segment gear?

I tried powering the switch with aux power but it still won't work so with the bottom plate off i was able to narrow it down to what i think could be the problem area,it is a fan shped plastic piece that rotates back & forth every time the switch is thrown,on each side of this fan shaped piece are 2 pieces of plastic ,each one has 3 wires attached a red,a black & a yellow,i can get the switch to work if i hold the contact down with a screw driver & when i pull the controll lever down the switch will throw,but when i push the lever up it won't throw the switch,it will work both sides but i have to use the screw driver on the contact point & only when i pull down on the controller.One of the 2 small plastic pieces has a number on it,1455r a,i have no idea what they are for,i have posted some photos of the progress so far on the rebuild,the first photo of the problem area,i have gone as far as i can go with the limited knowledge i have.