What Fred is talking about is the circuit track (not uncoupling track) when the pickup partially rotates a plastic Cam as it passes over. The plastic Cam in turn closes one of two contacts depending on the direction of travel.
The problem is that the resistance of the Cam can sometimes be enough to lift the pickup away from the studs.
I have this issue occasionally with my K-track version of the same track section. There are three possible causes and solutions;
1: The studs have become slightly lower than they should be (bowed slightly downward) and this means the pickup will lose contact more easily. Just very gently raising the center stud strip might be all it needs.
2: If the Cam has dust between the cam surface and the metal contact it will cause friction and while it can be tempting to oil the area to lubricate it, this will actually add to the problem by increasing the attraction of dust. Or, the plastic cam may be binding because of the pivot-points - too tight etc.
Fortunately, with the M-Track version, you can easily remove the plastic cam to enable cleaning it and the metal contact - however, this will also require that the track/s be lifted out of the layout to be able to work on them. If they are ballasted, this is quite a pain.
Here's a video
I quickly found that although it's not in English, you don't really need the commentary, the pictures say it all. He is dealing with sticking cams not returning to center rather than pickups lifting but the cause is the same - the cam is not moving freely enough.
Fortunately, this is the one thing you can do that does not require lifting the track section out of the layout. Simply grip a center stud either side of the cam tip with a pair of fine pliers, and VERY gently apply upward pressure to raise the whole strip just a fraction - experiment on on that is easy to access if need be, this may take some practice. Just pressing down on the studs with your fingers can be enough to induce a downward bow to the strip of studs.
An alternative is a 'dry' lubricant, and/or a lubricant that is based on Teflon. When I was restoring my K-track layout, I used a Teflon spray on my track section cam/contacts, that was nearly ten years ago and they are still working fine. Just the smallest amount should work and I would advise experimenting first with perhaps the most troublesome track and see if there is any improvement.
Since I did mine all those years ago, Faller have released oil with Teflon and I would have liked to try that as well. (following link updated)
https://www.faller.de/Ap...le-applicator-25-ml.html3: The pressure of the pickup shoe may be too light, this can be adjusted easily with a pair of tweezers or needle-nose pliers by gently bending the thin copper springs that the pickup shoe is attached to to increase the pressure - you must be careful to do this only gently and to not put a twist into the spring, otherwise you may put the shoe onto an angle or tilt. Also, increasing the pressure too much may lead to earlier wear of the shoe.
I would look at the plastic cam before tweaking the pickups, unless the pickups actually look worn in which case, just replacing those may be all that is required. It really comes down to how many Loco's are affected, and whether it happens on all of the circuit tracks or just some.
Here's the story of mine.....
https://www.marklin-users.net/cookee_nz/gbmc/displaylayouts/0923/(scroll down to the update re Teflon spray)
Hope this helps.
Steve
Wellington
NZ
Edited by user 21 April 2019 12:59:36(UTC)
| Reason: Updated Faller Link - thanks Alan
