Lionel 022 switch problem

[Anonymous]

Roy, Tom, Bob and Ben,
I took the three flathead screws off, and sure enough the solder jount had failed!
You were EXACTLY correct Ben! [;)]

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU GUYS FOR THE HELP AND MY 5 YR OLD SON THINKS YOU ARE SUPER!! [:I]

--Steve
Portland CT

[lionelsoni]

Steve, look at those pictures on the Olsen site. The control rails are labeled. Short it to a running rail, that is, an outside rail, that is not a control rail. That is what the train does, through the axles, to throw the switch automatically.

[wrmcclellan]

StevieD,

Both control rails will have an insulating pin that you can clearly see (or should have - if not the switch will stay directed towards one route with the coil always engergized - and if the voltage is high enough - may eventually burn out).

So looking at the pins, the control rail is the outside rail on the diverging (curved) route (also note the black plastic insulator in the break mid-way on the outside curved rail of the switch). The control rail is the inside rail (from the frog) on the through (straight) route.

You can test the auto-non-derailing by using a jumper wire touching between the outside straight rail to either the outside curved rail (between the insulating pin and the break in the rail mentioned above) or the outside staraight rail to the inside sraight rail (between the insulating pin and the frog). Make sure your voltage to the track (or the constant voltage pin) is high enough to adequately "snap" the relays and switch.

Regards,
Roy

[Anonymous]

Tom Bob and Ben,
You guys are fantastic.
I neglected to say the switch is old, maybe 1940's or 50's.
Everything is wired correctly and isolation pins are located properly. Thank you so much for your responses and with your advise I will be taking a closer look to troubleshoot tonight!
By the way Bob, which is the control rail? And to which rail should I try to short it?
I will try this step, then check for that potential fractured solder joint.
--Steve

[ben10ben]

There's a solder joint often found fractured or broken on the diverging route that causes the non-derail feature not to work. You will need to remove the bottom plate(3 flathead or hex headed screws), and locate the solder joint under the outer rail. It is advisable to solder in a short length of wire when repairing it.

[lionelsoni]

Steve, this link will get you to all the pages covering the 022 on the Olsen site: http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=673

It sounds like your trouble is inside the switch. However, before you go in, make sure that the control rail is clean and that you cannot make it switch by shorting across from the other running rail.

[spankybird]

Make sure you have it wired correctly and the isolation pins in correctly

Here is a link that might help

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/swt/stc022a.pdf
BTW - Welcome to the CTT forum

tom

[Anonymous]

Our 022 switch is working fine with the remote. It's the automatic switching which is causing me problems. It will switch by itself on the straight but does not switch by itself on the curve. Any suggestions for me to fix? I have not taken it apart, yet.
Steve