Hey, I have a few curved Shinos on my HO layout. Does anyone know why, when the points ARE touching the stock rail the train approaching from one or the other route (frog end of switch ?) STILL stalls until I squeeze the points even harder against the rail ? This is so odd..The points ARE touching and yet they need to be touching even harder..You'd think the light metal to metal would do it each time. But sometimes it does (not sqeezing) and mostly other times doesn't ( close the circuit )..!! I know a ground-throw would most likely cure it. But still, why doesn't the obviously touching metal to metal always do the trick ? what's the science here ? Tanks, Mark
The points may be dirty enough that they don't make good contact until you squeeze them a little harder. You might try cleaning the points and the railed where they make contact.
I'll try this, but I think I've already taken both alcohol and or WD40 to the area. I even think (been a while) I've lightly filed the two rails insides or used fine sandpaper. And if you ARE right then even squeezing them should'nt do it as there is dirt insulating them..Then again maybe sqeezing pushes through this dirt..It's just so odd that it takes such effort (more PSI) to activate it..
We have these problems with some of our turnouts at the club as often as we have dirty track problems. It could be something else. It could be that these switches are COMPLETELY dependent on that contact, which a lot of other switches don't have.
Even if perfectly clean, in order to pass the significant amount of current needed by a train (even 0.1A is significant) there needs to be a reasonable area of contact. It needs some pressure to get this area, otherwise there may be just a few high spots on the surface of the metal that are touching which is not a low enough resistance. Electrical switches (that work) always have some kind of spring or springiness to provide pressure on the closed contacts.
This could be the problem right here. WD-40, while cleans well, leaves a residue that in can attract more grime over time. It's possible your extra pressure is pushing through the grime from the WD-40.
I agree. This certainly is a possibility. Switch points are one area where I would not use a lubricant, no matter how well it cleans the rail heads. Boxcab E50
If contact is impeded by what amounts to a barrier, the best cleaner is lacquer thinner....bar none. I would place acetone right up there with it. WD-40 is a water displacement medium as well as a penetrant. It makes a barrier for contact. The cure for your ills is to take three very thin strands found in 20 gauge braided wire, and actually braid those three strands. Then solder a short length of that braid between the stock rails and the points rails. This will cure the contact issue, no matter how dirty or sloppy they get. So far I find that the cure often needs something else....slide the joiners attaching the turnout to the rails back and forth to get better connectivity/displace contaminants or swipe between the points and the stock rail with 600 grit paper.
I agree. I make strips of this a few inches long and about 1/4 inch wide. I insert a piece between the point and stock rail, applying slight pressure while pulling the paper down the inside of the rail. I flip the paper over and repeat. That usually cleans things out real well.
Do not use lacquer thinner if you have plastic ties. Excessive lacquer thinner will attack the plastic. Acetone should work fine.
Thanks guys for all the attention . As Shinos have a finer shape than my Atlas flex maybe it IS the fish plates . Maybe when I sqeeze the point against the stock rail it in turn is shifting the entire switch just enough to push rails against the fish plates. It's all still on unballasted cork. I will also put some acetone in there ( I have acetone for when I do my toe nails !). Plus maybe the old Caboose groung throw will help. It is odd that the small 12-ish volts and amperage may not have enough surface to conduct the current. But I now believe it..Mark
A properly adjusted Caboose ground throw has helped my efforts in the past. Let us know if that works. Boxcab E50
I think you have got a bad hinge joint between the wing rail and the point rail a simple fix is to solder a jumper wire across the hing joint if this is the case on this switch Check this video out and see if this applies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZHL25RgH4E&feature=related
That was an impressive piece of trackwork! I stopped using acetone to clean track after I found that it did melt the plastic ties on my Peco track.
