I have about a dozen atlas O switches, and all of a sudden they are failing to throw, as if they are sticking. happens when thrown manual or with switch. they have been in use for years
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I have six Atlas O switches on my layout and every once in a while one of them sticks (never the same one). It always occurred when I have not used them for several days. In order to avoid any surprises I have learnned to exercise them all before I start a switching session. No more surprises.
I have many Atlas switches and most work well but there are a few that do not throw all the way. The problem is always with one direction but not both. I have seen many discussions here about the wiring in Atlas switches but this is the first post I have seen about problems with their not throwing all the way. Is this a rare problem or have others experienced it?
Check to see if you are using 18 volts to throw them . they can be finicky on less voltage. Fred
I am using 18 V or more. Some work very well others do not. I think there is some mechanical problem but I have not been able to figure out what it is.
I've found by putting a drop of synthetic lubricant in the slot that the "throw" slides in will usually take care of the problem. Temperature changes can also affect Atlas turnouts. I currently have 20 of them on my layout.
I have tried oil and I have also tried adjusting the tension on the spring but I still have a couple of switches that do not always throw all the way. (I have many others at work just fine.)
Well I hate to jinx myself but I may have found a fix. Inside the switch machine there is a triangular plastic component with a spring inside of it. This seemed to be getting out of place. I thought if I could keep it in place the switch would work. I put a tiny bit of oil on top of the plastic and then a piece of thin cardboard on top of that. That seems to have worked. The switch is now throwing fully in both directions. (I actually tried two pieces of cardboard at first but that was too much.) I hope this might help someone else.
If twelve switches fail to throw at the same time you have either a wiring issue, a short circuit, or your transformer is not sending required voltage to the switches. I have used about 100 Atlas O switches on my last two layouts and have had one failure out of about 100.
