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FasTrack Switch Failure (Problem Solved)(Mike Regan email Reply added)

EISEISOGR Forum Member
I have an 036 FasTrack remote switch that I have been using without problems for many years on my layout. I was running an old postwar engine on the layout and I noticed that the engine was hopping slightly when it transversed the switch. I suspected it was a wheel flange issue so I turned off power to the track to roll the engine through the switch by hand to verify the problem. The switch was still powered through a separate power source.

When I pushed the engine slowly over the switch from the heel of the switch to the thru leg with the switch already in the thru position, I heard a faint buzzing sound that I think was coming through the engine. The faint buzzing sound lasted about 1 second and when the buzzing sound stopped, the light on the switch was very dim. All lights on the switch controller were now off and the switch controller would not activate the switch. The engine did not derail while rolling through the switch.

I tried rolling a car over the switch with power on the switch through both the thru and out routes, but the switch points would not move. The switch points move freely by hand. The light on the switch, which is now dimmer than normal after the failure, dimmed even more when the car was in position where the swich points should have moved.

I disassembled the switch and disconnected the switch motor from the circuit board. I applied DC power to the switch motor and it ran fine. It appears that the circuit board is bad.

Is it possible that the switch tried to power the engine when I pushed it over the switch and the high amps fried the circuit board? Is there anything I can do to either fix the switch or positively verify that the circuit board is bad?

See 1/7/12 post below for solution.
See 1/9/12 post below for Mike Regan's comments via email.

Thanks...
Earl
Last edited {1}
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RickORickOOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBER
Check the action of the little black microswitches that the Triangle toothed "rack" if you will activates at the end of its travel. I've had a similar problem, if the "triangle" doesn't fully close the micro switch at the end of either direction, the turnout "thinks" its thrown the opposite direction and it is trying to activate the nonderail feature, but because its correctly thrown it just buzzes trying to thrown the switchpoints, and cannot complete the circuit effecting the controller light as well. If you reassemble the turnout and the manually turn the lantern throwning the turnout in either direction checking that the microswitch at the end of either travel is closing, by observing and more importantly you can hear the micro switch "click" when its fully closed. I resolved this by simply placing a small piece of tape on the edge of the "triangle" so that it would fully close the microswitch at the end of its travel. Lights came back on and the turnout has peformed flawlessly ever since.
EISEISOGR Forum Member
Rick,

Thanks for the reply. I don't think the microswitches are the problem. I did move the rack end-to-end with no change in operation. The switch had been working flawlessly for years until I pushed the engine over the switch and now the switch is completely dead. Something happened while the engine was rolled over the switch.

My best guess is that the switch somehow provided power to the engine and the high amps fried the circuit board. I cannot think of any other explanation for the failure unless it was just a one in a million coincidence. The track power jumper was not being used so there should not have been an electrical path from the aux power to the center rail.

I am sure that I have had engines sit on the switches before and this is my first FasTrack switch failure. I wonder if I may have put some downward force on the engine while pushing it across the switch that may have caused an electrical short that fried the board. If I put any downward force on the engine, it was slight.

Earl
EISEISOGR Forum Member
The problem was in either the wire from the 'aux in' terminal to the circuit board or in the connector where the 'aux in' wire connects to the circuit board. Regardless, the connector is too small for me to change the wire so I installed a jumper wire from the 'aux in' terminal directly to the circuit board, bypassing both the wire and connector. The switch works fine now.

I guess in the post above where I stated that it was a "one in a million coincidence" that the failure occurred just as I was pushing my engine over the switch was correct.

I am back on speaking terms with my FasTrack switch.

Earl
EISEISOGR Forum Member
Yes, there was shrink wrap over almost the entire length of the wire. I didn't realize there was another component in the wire. Should I remove my jumper and put a 2 ohm resistor in it? What is the downside to leaving the resistor out?

That resistor must have been an afterthought or Lionel would have incorporated it into the circuit board.

Earl
Last edited by EIS
EISEISOGR Forum Member
Here is the reply to an email that I received from Mike Regan concerning the electrical component in the power power wire in the FasTrack switch:
quote:
Earl,

Yes, the resistor is a 2 ohm 1/4 watt. The whole harness with the resistor can be seen here; Lionel FasTrack Parts

Thank you,
Mike


The failure of the resistor can be detected by checking the resistance from the 'aux in' terminal to the attachment point on the circuit board. The resistance should be about 2 ohms. A very high resistance is an indication that the resistor has failed. Larry, in a post above, reported a similar failure. I don't think resistors fail very often, so I don't know why these are failing.

Thanks to all the posters above and Mike Regan for helping me solve this problem.

Earl
cjackcjackOGR Forum Member DIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

I have a Fastrack LH 072 which works well, but it buzzes often unless I move the lever in the direction it's already thrown. When the remote lever switch is thrown in the direction that it is already in, it clicks as if it tries to operate in that direction...like against the stop. Other Fastrack switches don't do this...when in a position, moving the lever in that direction, does nothing.

Other than this, the auto derailing feature, and switching action is normal. I planned to take it apart, thinking microswitch or somesuch, but since it happens at both ends of the throw of the switch and the green/red leds work normally, I don't think it is mechanical alignment.

Anybody seen this fault?

N notime2playOGR Forum Member

2 years not too late. You guys saved the day. Went to the rail yard (downstairs) and powered everything up. Switch 3 was dead to the world. Thought one of the recent re-connections came loose from the big restructure. Everything tight and right. Saw PSAP 2010's solution and presto my line resistor is open. Did a temporary jump and everybody came to life. 

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

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