Burnt out RealTrax Switch

I have had one of my RealTrax switches go bad too with similar symptoms however I did not have the burning on the motor but on the red(hot) lead on the circuit board underneath the switch blew and turned black.  I originally fixed it by wiring around it but I did end up just replacing the switch about a year later.  I believe the passenger car wheels can be out of gauge just enough to short on the curved part of the switch that would cause this, however I am not positive.  Take the bottom off of your switch and see if the small board has a burned spot. The top switch shows the white plastic switching mechanism still in place while the bottom one shows the board underneath with the white plastic pieces removed.  

The switch machine part is about $25 from MTH.

I got 4 of them by mistake several years ago, I wanted Standard Gauge Switch machines instead of realtrack ones.

It's surprising to me that you can cook a switch just from a short on the rails, it's not like that doesn't happen from time to time!

The attachments may help you. I am very much interested in your switch problem so I can document it and the fix for others as well as myself. There are 16 Real Trax switches on my layout, and some have been problematic as you can gather from the attachments.

Bobby;

Thanks for posting those. I wondered why my 2-8-0 occasionally jumped the switches even after I ensured the point was tight against the outer rail.

Now to get some styrene...

I did the fix for arcing you speak of in a temporary way.

Clean the arc areas with alcohol.

Cut 1/4" strips of Duct tape and apply them to the areas that show arcing.

In 2 years I haven't had one come off or arc.

Note, these problems are worse on smaller radius switches. The O-72 switches seem to not need as much tinkering.

Why can't "they" just design and manufacture the switch properly in the first place?

Pete

If you look at the 2nd picture Bobby posted, the area marked "B" and "C" shows some scoring and scratches/marks that are not on my other switches.

Also, one of my other switches shows 2 "pits" on the rail that moves.

I will post some pics tommorrow.

I think that the sparking of train wheels and pilot truck frames on switch rails is not solely due to the switch design. Yes, the switch designs are not all they should be, but locomotives and rolling stocks are at fault as well. Moreover, switch problems are prevalent in all brands of sectional tracks.

Our O-Gauge hobby needs uniform product standards for track gauge, wheel profiles and wheel gauge control. One might argue, "Hey! Lionel didn't need standards in the good old days." That's true as Lionel bought its competition out, so the whole post war periodic through the mid-1990s didn't need standards. But now we have MTH, Weaver, Williams, Atlas, Bachmann, RMT and some others making O-gauge trains, each of their own designs. This is not a good situation for the Beta Testers (AKA the Consumer) who mix brands.

The guys at work want me to bring it back in so they can test for shorts before I try it.

Just received my first ever Lionel Fastrack switch.

I hope they are more durable than MTH Real Trax switches.

I've had no issues of note with the Fastrack switches.  They look somewhat flimsy when you open them up, but they do seem to work.