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Really odd Fastrack 6-12046 switch issue

7K views 34 replies 4 participants last post by  gunrunnerjohn 
#1 ·
Howdy,

I purchased two of these switches for my new layout and it's my first experience with them. Both were described as new in box but look to be older stock as the date on the packaging says 2004.

My left hand switch works perfectly. No issues. The right hand switch is having some odd issues. I have a short 20 inch test section of track with both switches hooked up on either side. Since they were new in box I just plugged them in to test off track power I did check to see if the track jumper was in and it was on both but I did not look closely.

Both switches were switching fine on track power but the right hand one's lantern is not lighting up. I unplugged the switch and flipped it over. The track jumper is connecting the aux in and aux grnd and not the track jumper port. I pulled the jumper and put it the way it is in the manual and connected the track. Now the switch is not working at all. If i put the jumper back between aux in and aux grnd it functions off track power.

So I decided to try non-track power. I connected the power and ground from my transformer to the aux in and aux grnd, powered it up, and the circuit breaker tripped. I checked out the lionel support site and they said you only really need the power it from the same transformer so tried that and it worked but the other switch lights all dimmed and it would no longer switch.

all the while the switch lantern is still not functional. I did pop open the back and looked. The cherry switches are being fully engaged.

I have a ticket opened with where I purchased this to see if they can help me at all. Must be why I got them for half price :smilie_auslachen:
 
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#27 ·
I'm thinking it will be easier to create my own circuit for this led. I tried to solder on a 220ohm resistor in that spot and I can't do it with my tools. The good news is that I know for sure that corner group of components are for the LED. Now that the dead resistor is out of there I get no voltage at the led pad but everything else on the switch is functional. That was lucky for sure :) I'll check to see what the resistance is on that bad one.

I'm figuring I could take power and ground from the source and do a diode and resistor to the LED's and bypass the board completely. I'm just not sure what resistor to use for the 3mm led. Maybe the 440 that I've used for other LED setups?
 
#30 ·
Looks like the new LED circuit is working. Odd thing is the lionel LED's will not lite when connected to it. I had to pull the 3mm led out of my J engine and wired that up in the busted stand and the light works fine now. The lionel 3mm LED seems to only lite with 3v dc. I measure 3v dc on the functional switch and I'm getting 4v dc with the 1N4001 diode and the 470 Ohm resistor on the new one. The lionel LED is not blowing out at 4v but is not working. Pretty odd.

Anyway, put the standard 3mm LED in the busted stand and wired up the switch and voila. all working. Tested all functionality of the switch and it's all good. :smilie_daumenpos:

This fix works fine for track power or direct power. I've tested both and it works great.

Here was the wiring before as a point of reference.

Electrical wiring Electronics Electrical network Electronic engineering Electronic component


First thing I did was cut the green and blue wires from the harness. Green is ground and blue is hot. The green wire got soldered to the grnd connector and the blue wire got the diode and resistor soldered to it.

Electrical wiring Electronics Electronic engineering Electrical network Wire


The blue wire then got a small length increase and was attached to the center connector for the transformer power.

Electronics Electrical wiring Electronic engineering Electrical network Wire


And finally testing it under track power. Works good. I have to take the light back out and re-align it as green isn't pointing straight.

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