Lionel 3011 Turnout/Controller Problem

[O-GaugeOscar]

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I am experiencing an unusual problem with my Lionel 3011 (successor to the 022) turnout and controller.  When the turnout is not thrown (i.e. in the “through” position), the rotating lantern and controller lamp are both green, as expected.  However, when the turnout is thrown, the rotating lantern turns red (as expected), but both controller lamps (red and green) are illuminated.  I’ve disassembled the controller, but everything seems ok.  I’ve also unscrewed the turnout back plate (four small screws; includes the rotating lantern assembly) below the frogs.  When I turned the turnout upside down to observe and attached fixed voltage, ground and controller wires, the turnout operates perfectly (along with the proper controller lamps).  However when I reattach the back plate/rotating lantern assembly, my controller lamp problem (red and green controller lamps illuminated when turnout is thrown) reappears.  Has anyone experienced this problem?  If so, what is the fix?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[phillyreading]

Sounds like you have an open circuit in your switch housing. Check all three rails inside the switch housing, a wire or metal piece is broken to the light if everything else works correctly. You may need a multimeter to find the problem, a quick solder should solve the problem after you locate it.

If nothing else, try another switch.

What I have experianced with the successor to the 022 switch is that the wire inside the switch burns out and causes a short which trips the circuit breaker in the transformer.

I have had some problems with Lionel's O gauge switches about 12 years ago, so I went to GarGraves switches and used adapter pins for O gauge tubular track to mate up to Lionel track. The only problem I have had with GarGraves is that I had to elevate the GarGraves switch to fit to O gauge track height, between a sixteenth to an eigth of an inch differance.

Lee F.

[O-GaugeOscar]

 Thanks for the info and suggestion, Lee.  I'll insert a temporary turnout on the layout and follow your advice for troubleshooting the problem.

 

 

[Kooljock1]

 The problem sounds like one of the micro-switches in the turn-out itself is not triggering properly.  With the bottom off, turn the track over so that you can see the switch operate.  As the motor moves the track on top, you should see a series of micro-switches trigger and untrigger.  Find the one that changes the lights in the controller by triggering them by hand.  Once you've found the right one, you should be able to bend it to work.

Jon

[O-GaugeOscar]

 Great idea, Jon!  I found the offending micro-switch and adjusted the metal strip with a needlenose pliers.  The turnout seems to be working properly now.

Thanks to all for the assistance!

 

 

[Kooljock1]

EXCELLENT!  These turn-outs have a lousy reputation, but I find once you get them working and installed they're actually more reliable than O-22's.  Glad I could help!

Jon