4 out 6 Fastrack switches replaced!

[darianj]

I've purchased 6 Lionel Fastrack remote switches since Dec. of last year. The last one was purchased yesterday. 4 of the switchs (including the one purchased yesterday) had to be replaced immediatly due to the red light on the switch control not working. Luckily, the store I purchased them from isn't TOO far and they replace them with no problems; but there is still the cost of gas which everyone know's isn't too cheap these days! I'd really be mad if I had to order these through the mail![:(!]

Is anyone else finding Lionel to be lacking in the quality control department?
(Sorry....just had to rant a little)

[tcripe]

I've had eight working with no problems for over a year.
- Terry

[Anonymous]

I'm with Terry--I have a number of FasTrack switches and have never had a problem with any of them. Just lucky, I guess! [:)]

[thor]

Only got one but its having a very hard life and hasnt suffered so far. By red light do you mean the diode? Cos to be fair, a certain percentage of diodes can be expected to be dud or crap out in the first few hours. I doubt these items are tested individually, its just the luck of the draw. If the problem occurs again I'd investigate the properties of your electrical hookups it might be an indicator somethings amiss.

[darianj]

Thor,

By light, I do mean the diode inside the swich. I've double checked my hookups...everything is pretty simple. I do admit that when they wrok, they work very well; but I just find it strange that I've had to exchange more the half of mine; then no problem once I exchanged them.

Maybe it's just bad luck.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 FT remote switches. I had to replace two. They would switch to curve but not back again to straight. This morning my local shop is replacing my CW-80 transformer. My first engine came out of the box with the front light and smoke unit not working. The smoke unit has now been replaced twice. My new Lionel BB1 will not work in forward with the traction tires on (its in the shop after 2 weeks of ownership). I don't own any MTH because some experienced railroaders have told me its junk and unreliable, well I'm beginning to think the same thing about Lionel.
This new hobby for me has been fun but also very frustrating.

Marc

[Anonymous]

Two LED's. Super bright. Odd that only the red one keeps failing.

[willpick]

LED's should not burn out--- infant mortality should not be an issue unless it's getting too much voltage or current.
As to the quality of ANY of these IMPORTED items, remember the persons assembling this stuff are doing so in a Chinese factory, and work 12+ hours per day. Hobo79--- MTH makes very high quality O scale/gauge trains, IMHO. So does Lionel. To restrict yourself to one importer of O gauge trains just because of a possibly biased opinion from another person---
Form your own opinion--- go to your LHS and ask to see a demo of an MTH engine-- or compare Lionel & MTH rolling stock side by side---
My collection has engnes and rolling stock from BOTH Lionel & MTH--

[Anonymous]

I don't own any MTH because some experienced railroaders have told me its junk and unreliable, well I'm beginning to think the same thing about Lionel.
----------------------

Those "experienced" railroaders you've been talking to have been feeding you a lot of bull. All of the manufacturers produce their share of great train items--better today than those built years ago--and all of them have a few duds pop up now and then. Whenever you hear the word "junk" uttered by a fellow hobbyist as a blanket indictment of any particular manufacturer, it should give you a pretty good idea of just what level of mentality you're dealing with.

[overall]

I'm with Allen, I have several MTH products and they all work well.

George

[Anonymous]

I also echo my agreements with Allen....I have 2 PS1 engines that I have had for several years and they still run great to this day. Changing the battery was no problem either.

[thor]

QUOTE: Originally posted by darianj

Thor,

By light, I do mean the diode inside the swich. I've double checked my hookups...everything is pretty simple. I do admit that when they wrok, they work very well; but I just find it strange that I've had to exchange more the half of mine; then no problem once I exchanged them.

Maybe it's just bad luck.

I'm sure you do know what you're doing, hope I didn't come across as being sarastic!

What made me think about possible electrical probs is that generally speaking LEDs are pretty bulletproof but they do require a current limiting resistance and they arent able to take too much reverse current. Actually thats an idea, its fairly easy to fit the wrong value resistor...

I was thinking it might be possible that a loco or an unusual brand of controller, like one that uses back emf speed control, could possibly be responsible? Unlikely again but you never know. I love a good mystery! But seriously, theres usually a reason.

[darianj]

QUOTE: Originally posted by thor

QUOTE: Originally posted by darianj

Thor,

By light, I do mean the diode inside the swich. I've double checked my hookups...everything is pretty simple. I do admit that when they wrok, they work very well; but I just find it strange that I've had to exchange more the half of mine; then no problem once I exchanged them.

Maybe it's just bad luck.

I'm sure you do know what you're doing, hope I didn't come across as being sarastic!

What made me think about possible electrical probs is that generally speaking LEDs are pretty bulletproof but they do require a current limiting resistance and they arent able to take too much reverse current. Actually thats an idea, its fairly easy to fit the wrong value resistor...

I was thinking it might be possible that a loco or an unusual brand of controller, like one that uses back emf speed control, could possibly be responsible? Unlikely again but you never know. I love a good mystery! But seriously, theres usually a reason.

No...I didn't take it as being sarcastic. Thinks for the input.[:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by darianj

I've purchased 6 Lionel Fastrack remote switches since Dec. of last year. The last one was purchased yesterday. 4 of the switchs (including the one purchased yesterday) had to be replaced immediatly due to the red light on the switch control not working. Luckily, the store I purchased them from isn't TOO far and they replace them with no problems; but there is still the cost of gas which everyone know's isn't too cheap these days! I'd really be mad if I had to order these through the mail![:(!]

Is anyone else finding Lionel to be lacking in the quality control department?
(Sorry....just had to rant a little)

I have not had any problems with these (yet)

[EIS2]

Are you sure the LED is failing? The LED is powered through a limit switch when the switch attains full travel. I suspect the limit switch may need adjustment. To gain access to the limit switch, you need to remove the bottom panel on the turnout. You can check to see if the problem is an adjustment issue by manually activiting the limit switch and see if the appropriate LED illuminates.

Regards...
Earl Staley

[Train Memories]

darianj,
You should check with Lionel customer service. They could tell you there was a bad batch of remote control switches. because I also have a few of them and I've never had any problems with them for more than a year (knock on wood). Don't lose faith on Lionel. Good luck.
Reuben

[phillyreading]

Don't have Fastrack but have had problems with Lionel switch 6-23011 & 6-23010, had to replace these switches at my cost. After a year or two these switches just stopped working correctly, at was almost you name the problem and it happened to the 6-23011 series switch. Lionel has not had much success with thier switches in recent years is my opion and will never acknowledge a problem with them either.
I don't have MTH track so I can not comment on the product.
Lee.

[palallin]

"The more they overthink the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."

The #1024s on my old Christmas layout never gave a lick of trouble despite their age (well, one got stepped on and bent, but I was able to fix it without driving anywhere [;)] ).

Oh, yeah: they run big-gear Marx locos without any problems, too!

[jefelectric]

QUOTE: I don't have MTH track so I can not comment on the product.
Lee.

I guess some problems can be expected with all brands. I have 13 Realtrax switches on my layout and have had problems with two. I don't consider that a lot. The realtrax switches are easy to take apart as they are assembled with screws. You can not depend on the switch to carry a lot of current as they use a printed circuit trace to carry track power through the frog. That was the problem with one of mine, it burned off. The other was a mechanical problem.

[IronHoarse]

Just thought I would add my two cents worth. I have four FT remotes, never had a problem with them.

[Anonymous]

Check my recent posting (10 June 06) about solving one class of Fastrack switch problems.