I have an older Aristo wide switch and over the Winter it developed a sticking problem where the points wouldn’t go all the way to one of the edges. I removed it tonight to have a look and couldn’t find anything stuck in it. On the underside I found 2 tiny screws with springs on them. I ended up tightening them too much so backed off a hair and it seemed to have worked. The points now snap and hold on both sides.
Question is did I do the right thing?
Not sure which screws you mean, could be the power jumpers. If it ain’t broke (no more) don’t fix it!
I had to tighten one of those screws on my Aristo wide radius switch, to help keep the one point from healing (leaning) over. I concur, if it works now, don’t mess with it anymore. And if what you did fixed it, then you done the right thing.
Pivot screws… you did right, but might need to adjust again if they move… try some loctite on it if it goes out again.
Greg
When my Aristo switches get sticky, I find it is only necessary to clean the pad that the rail slides on, then all is well again.
When the pivot points bind up, it can be an issue. A shot of heavy oil on the underside will hold back rust somewhat, not all parts are stainless.
Greg
I know. My switches have been modified into spring switches. When they stick, its a real issue.
Just get a bigger spring? 
Greg I had to take some of the spring out of the stock Aristo spring so my trains can push the points over. A bigger spring would cause derailments. So I sometimes have to clean the pads the points slide on, and occasionally I have to adjust the throw bar linkage. It need to clear the hole in the Aristo manual switch machine.
Thinking about this issue with the Aristo switches besides cleaning junk out of the mechanism I have never had to tweak a LGB switch. I did have one where a power bar snapped off underneath but that was it. I forget the actual number but I have about 20 LGB switches to 4 Aristo some are newer and most are really used. Funny thing is 2 of the 4 aristo switches are older and those are the ones giving me the most problems.
I’m not bashing Aristo I’m just questioning their switches that cost as much as (in my opinion) the better quality LGB.
Oh well they are working now.
When I bought my track LGB was twice the price of Aristo, and so was H&R stainless.
I accepted the lower quality, just like an Aristo engine vs. an LGB…
No doubt LGB is made from better materials and higher quality standards.
Greg
When I bought my 16000 switches from LGB, it had the EPL drive on it and was only 2 dollars more than the Aristo which had a manual control. It was an easy choice.
I was thinking in the used market where wide radius switches are at a premium and there is not much in the price difference between LGB and Aristo.
When it comes to brand new trains we all know the troubles and woes of paying top dollar but right out of the box there are certain manufactureres that require a tweaking in order to function properly.
It is a well documented headache.
This hobby like so many is expensive and concessions need to be made in order to fit it in our respective budgets. I only ask that the stuff I fork over hard earned money for works. in the case of these switches they are old, I didn’t pay much so I guess it was OK that I had to fix them.
Think of it as a learning experience!
You now know more than you did when you started!
Dan, what price did you pay for the Aristo or the LGB and when was this?
I’m not calling BS… yet…
Maybe you bought LGB on sale and Aristo full price… So just a date and a cost would be interesting… the prices of these items are easy to look up… we can use the internet wayback machine…
Greg
Back in 2002 was when this occurred, and only for the 1600 series LGB vs the x-wide,
R1 prices had Aristo much less than LGB, when comparing manual to manual.
Art 30370, brass manual wide radius (never called X-wide) $39.95 on January 7, 2003 on Charles Ro website. (internet wayback machine, actual saved page from their site).
LGB 160500, brass remote RH switch $44.95, from same source and date.
So $5 more for the LGB but without the switch motor.
So, I see your point at that time Dan, maybe a year earlier the delta was $2 not the $5 that I can document.
Of course a 1600 switch is an 8 foot diameter switch with a 3.5 frog, whereas the Aristo is a 10 foot diameter switch with a #4 frog, so still not apples to apples in any sense. Switches tend to cost more the “larger” they are, both “radius” and “frog number”.
Regards, Greg
Magic decoder ring for LGB switches
LGB 12xx0 series switches had manual and EPL versions.12000,12050,12100,12050
LGB 16x50 series were EPL drives only, no manual switches sold 16050, 16150
LGB 18x00 series were only manual. 18000, 18100
Non 100 were right, 100’s were left.
00 was manual, 50 was electric (EPL)