HO Turn out problems

[ejseider]

Lately I've been having problems with the coils on my turn-outs burning out.  I've got Bachman E-Z Track standard turn-outs, and, no, I'm not holding the switch down for more then a second.  I asked my guy at the hobby shop about it, and the only thing that he could suggest was to return them to Bachman for repairs, but by the time that I pay the postage and repair costs, I could by new ones.  I could easily solder in a new coils, but I don't know where I could get just the coils.  Any suggestions?

[Joe323]

Lately I've been having problems with the coils on my turn-outs burning out.  I've got Bachman E-Z Track standard turn-outs, and, no, I'm not holding the switch down for more then a second.  I asked my guy at the hobby shop about it, and the only thing that he could suggest was to return them to Bachman for repairs, but by the time that I pay the postage and repair costs, I could by new ones.  I could easily solder in a new coils, but I don't know where I could get just the coils.  Any suggestions?

Regarding the coils I'd give Bachmann Service dept a call Mr. B could you chime in with the number.  Once you have the coils replaced I would build or buy a Capacitive Discharge unit.  Search this or the Model Railroader Forum for more info 1 CDU will wired in between the power supply and your control panel should improve the turnout performance while protecting the coils from burn out.

[Jim Banner]

Any chance your control buttons have been sticking?  Joe's idea of using a capacitor discharge machine will protect your switch motors even if a control button sticks plus it will help you figure out when it is stuck.

If you have the time and patience, you can often rewind the coils.  Usually the hardest part is finding the right size magnet wire.  If you unwind some of the wire from a burned out machine and take it with you to a well stocked electronics supplier, he should be able to help you or at least order in the correct wire.

Jim 

[ejseider]

My switches are not sticking, I checked that.  A friend that I spoke with today that has a pretty extensive set-up said that he manually trips all of his turn-outs, since the coils are so unreliable.  What about getting a switch machine and not using the coils?  Is there one that's reliable and that mounts on top so that I don't have to drill holes in my board (I like to change around my set-up fairly often)?

[Jhanecker2]

E_Z track  turnouts have a manual trigger on the exterior of the track.  Atlas  tracks have turnouts with switch machines mounted on the exterior that are individually replaceable , but the track does not have a roadbed attached  . the switch - machines will fit both their Code 100 & Code 83 snap track  and are individually about $8.50 each. Must admit I haven't had any of my Bachmann remote turnouts fry a solenoid  yet . John  II.

[mf5117]

what type of power supply are you using for your turn outs and how much voltage output are you getting . I believe you should have 14 to 16 volts A/C  . I think it will say the max voltage on the packages . hooking the turnouts to the accessories side of your transformer . And are you running DCC locomotives or straight DC locomotives .Juz wonderern

[ejseider]

after much checking with my VOM, this turned out to be a wiring problem, i.e. broken wires/shorts in the control cables, not coil problems.  Some cutting and soldering have fixed the problems.