Track switch cause coil bunred.


Looks like the powered was applied to long. The Coil machines should only get a burst of power from a momentary switch. If the switch was letting juice flow continuously then that will be the result. By switch I mean whatever you used to apply power to the switch machine.
 
One of the guys in my group uses atlas switch machines such as yourself. What he found that he had to put some kind of protector around the button as people were leaning against the layout and were inadvertantly leaning against the buttons. It doesn't take much to melt the plastic.

Bob
 
If you use a capacitive discharge unit to power the switch, it is a little more likely not to burn it out. The CD unit will only give a very short burst of power to throw the switch.

These units can be bought fairly reasonably or a little searching will find diagrams to build one.
 
Definitely had too much power applied for too long. Actually, it's one of the worst ones I've seen. There was either a short that applied power continuously until the motor burned out or, as Bob said, someone leaned on a switch for about 5 minutes straight. Since it sounds like this switch worked for a bit and then burned out that you had a short somewhere.
 
Thanks guys,

The accessory power is AC 12V, I wonder if I should use DC 12V.

As I know KATO system, they use DC 12V.

Are they use totally different wiring?

Or DV 12 is OK and safer?
 
12 volts AC will work just fine with most switch machines, including Atlas. The switch machine really doesn't care about AC or DC, just enough current to operate the motor. So the answer is 12 volts DC is neither safer nor is the wiring any different. It's the switch that operates the switch motor and the nternal wiring that make the difference. Swhitch machine motors are only built to stand up to short high current pulses. A switch that's not momentary and left on for more than a few seconds or corroded wiring in the switch machine itself will cause the kind of damage I saw in the picture.
 
I saw the pic, how much voltage did you put through that switch.
For that kind of switch you need a capacitor twin coil switch circuit, let me know if you need one.
 
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