ScaleTrax Lock-on?

Hi Dan,

I can sense your frustration.

Red light usually means a short is present

With the engine OFF the track, do you still get the red light when you crank up the power?

My first guess is that you have a switch that has the ends of two rails touching that should not be touching, hence, dead short.

Scaletrax switches have been known to have rail ends touching. There is a post here somewhere that has pics and easy fixes. Perhaps someone can post a link for you. A quick fix is simply to locate the problem area, and take a very small flat head screwdriver and simply "wedge" the rails apart to create a small gap. 

I've found that those lockons need to have their tab connectors bent up to ensure proper contact. 

Keep us posted.

those metal connectors are actually really durable and provide great connectivity.  i think you have a short somewhere.  Also, you mention the lockon but don't say why you think it is the culprit.  My guess is operator error here.  Scaletrax has issues with the switches, which need tweaking, but not with the metal connectors or the lockon (except I've found it best to superglue those in the track).  I hope you track down your short sooner than later.  Keep us posted.  Good luck. 

The simplest troubleshooting method is to separate the layout in half(disconnect the track) then attempt to power up each half(no need to put an engine on the track). one half should be ok, the other half should have the short. Continue to split the problem section in half till you get it down to a managable size, then it should be evident where and what the problem is.

Hope this helps----

Thanks to all for ideas and feedback. I am now at day three and still have no trains running on my new scaletrax layout. I have double checked mostly everything I know how and I am now just scratching my head. Originally I thought it was the splice tap connectors that I used to connect each scaletrax lockon to a power wire that is running to an MTH terminal strip that is connected to my z4000 transformer. I changed out this afternoon all of the splice tap connectors at the end of the scaletrax lockons and interjected the push-in wire connectors. When I power up the transformer I get a little light in the engine like it is not getting enough power and the overload light on the z4000 comes on. Since I am new to scaletrax and there  lockon could the problem be the copper strip on the bottom of the connector to the track. Still looking  for any scaletrac expert advice. I do have 17 switches in the layout that at this point are not wireup but I don't see that as a problem as far as I know.  Any advice?

I see it has been a few months since your last post - did you ever resolve the problem? - I am starting this week on the same scaletrax and lock-ons with a smaller layout - any help will be appreciated

Tom,  just go head and start your layout. You really shouldn't encounter any problems if you take your time and check your connections for correct polarity along the way. We built a fairly large ScaleTrax layout and had little to no problems over a three year period It's great track.