E-Z Track Switch Problems

[James in FL]

I wish you and your family well and Godspeed to your wife in her recovery.

If the "switch" is "jiggling as the train approached" this leads me to believe that either the switch coil is not working properly as it should when energized, or the points are not held fast against the stock rails for whatever reason (possibly over/under throw).

If you will, please humor me, and post a pic of the energized turnout upside down, back plate off, with the points thrown in both directions.

I'm at somewhat of a loss here.

If possible, re-assemble the turnout and post pics of the top side of the points when energized in both positions.
Also check that the manual lever is extended all the way in both positions.

I need you to help me.
Awaiting your reply

[DoubleDAZ]

It's going to be awhile, but let me try comparing it to a working one first.

Wife is doing fine.  Surgery was a success, she's walking (a bit, but she's up), and will be home Thursday.  Thanks for your concern.

[Desertdweller]

James,

I'm glad to see your fixes for the E-Z Track switches.  I have a home layout with 27 of these.  While most of these work well, I have a few "problem children".

I use E-Z Track for all my mainline and heavily-used secondary tracks.  My yard and other secondary tracks use Atlas code 80 track and switches on Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.

The Atlas switches, while a little crude (these are 1960's designs that were based on 1950's HO switches), have powerful solenoid switch machines that operate with a powerful snap.  They have unpowered frogs and are not power-routing.  However, they are relatively "bullet proof".  Their main weakness is, if you hold the switch controller button down too long, you'll melt the switch machine solenoid.

I was attracted to the E-Z Track system because I felt the molded roadbed would make it easier to maintain curve radius, and I liked the E-Z Track switches high-tech design.

But sometimes I feel that the complex design over-reached the manufacturing ability.  The solenoid needs to be stronger to reliably operate both the switch points and the power-routing contacts.  If the switches could be built to tighter tolerances, they would be great.

Yesterday, I spent several hours trying to correct a switch that had two problems at once:  The frog was not receiving power, and the point rail was not staying tight against the stock rail.

I eventually was able to correct the problem, but reading your post today (buried back on page 14!) was the first and only time I've seen reference to the correct orientation of the pinion gear.  1 o'clock and 7 o'clock!  I think you've added several years to my life!

I had one switch (far away at the far end of a reverse loop) that was so troublesome I replaced it with a piece of straight track (had to splice two pieces together) while I ordered a replacement switch.  I ruined the original switch when I broke the wires to the electromagnet trying to fix it (that makes 28 E-Z Switches).

A few things I want to point out here that may help others:

The "throw bar" spring wire may not fit tightly enough inside the switch to keep the points from wobbling (tolerances again).  You can help this by cutting a little shim from very thin plastic with a hole in it, and putting it over the peg from the points before replacing the spring wire.  This will also help hold parts together while working on it.

The copper "rocker" that routes power through the switch is critical.  Not enough pressure against the contact pads and no power flows.  Too much pressure and the mechanism binds.  It is very important that both ends of the rocker, and the part that engages the solenoid have just the right amount of tension.  When you take the back off the switch, note the position of the rocker in relation to the switch points.  It is easy to get it reversed!

Power is delivered to the stock rails via contacts near the ends of the rails.  If you mess with this area (like, shortening stock rails to fit switches closer together; or cutting off and replacing a rail joiner) you will lose electrical continuity to that track.  That part of the switch will have to be powered either by electricity from the track it is connected to, or via a jumper wire connecting both parts of the rail.

It is possible to actually break a rail by messing with the switch.  This is not as bad as it sounds.  A little solder applied to the outside of the rail with a hot soldering iron will make things right.

Eight of my E-Z Switches were used to make four crossovers between my main lines.  I wired these so one switch controller can power both switches at once.  I noticed the controllers must have a capacitor inside them.  If I try to quickly operate the switches and reset them, they move sluggishly and may not throw completely.  But, if I wait a few seconds between moves, they work fine.  Apparently, the capacitors need to recharge.

One very frustrating thing can happen with these crossover switch pairs.  If one switch throws, and the other doesn't, it is possible to get one switch of the pair out of synch with the other.  I haven't been able to solve this without pulling the switch and repositioning the power router bar.  Logically, one should be able to just disconnect one switch and work the other, but it doesn't work that way in practice.

Thanks again for helping me, and I hope my suggestions can help others.  If Bachmann can get the execution of these switches up to their design potential, they will really have something there.

Les

[Desertdweller]

I was working on my E-Z track switches again yesterday and discovered a couple things I had not noticed before.  One pretty subtle, the other, pretty obvious.

First, the subtle.  Between the throw rod (the "whisker") and the underside of the switch where the peg to the points extends, there is a little black plastic plate.  This plate is NOT the same on both sides.  It has a top and bottom.

The side of this plate that rubs on the underside of the roadbed casting has a tiny half-spherical nub in each corner.  Apparently, their purpose is to reduce the amount of contact area (and, therefore, friction) between the two pieces when the switch is thrown.  Be sure that you reassemble this part with the correct orientation.

Now, from the sublime to the ridiculous.  I have all my switch controllers ganged in groups to control specific areas of the layout.  They are set up so when the slides are moved to the right, the switches will be lined for through movement.

I have a row of five E-Z switches to form a ladder on one end of my passenger terminal.  After tinkering with the switches, one of them wound up with its polarity reversed.

After puzzling over this problem awhile, I hit upon the solution.  Simply unplug the switch controller, flip the electrical connector over, and plug it back in.  Problem solved!

Les