G Scale 3 Truck Shay wont run

[Bris Biker]

Hello everyone I have a  3 truck shay with factory sound brand new I have put it on the track controller is a Bachmann Ezy Command powered by a 10amp 24 volt power supply I have the power supply set at 14volts but have also tried 18volts the decoder works eg sound comes out, the fire box flickers and the headlight comes on but the loco wont move in either direction have tried the front switch both ways still no movement there is no motor noise at all any ideas before I pull it apart have tried three different addresses with no luck thanks Greg.

[Bris Biker]

Hello everyone has anybody got any idea what might be the problem thanks Greg.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Bris,
I don't know a thing about DCC, I assume you are absolutely sure it is correctly programmed. If so then I would have to guess it is a broken wire between the DPDT switch and the motors.  it would most likely be one of the wires between the center terminal  and the printed circuit board since none of the motors run.  But this would certainly be a very rare problem

If there is a possibility it is not programmed correctly then perhaps you can find a local person who may be more able to assist with the dcc side of things, or perhaps post the question on the main board as an EZcommand question.

Wish I could help in some way.

Bill

[Bris Biker]

Thanks Bill for the reply you are very helpfull to a lot of people much appreciated for your advise will let you know how I get on I have bought a NCE power cab with the same result I have all the sounds, headlight and tail light switch on and off and fire box flickers but still no movement regards Greg.

[dlb]

You can try these suggestions

1 try the engine on an analog track. It should move.

2 if you are not sure what the address is read back CV. 1 (loco address)
  Normally a new engine comes with an address of 3 (CV. 1= 3)and speed steps set to 28 (cv. 29 = 6).
  Or you can program cv.1 to a number you want.   ie CV. 1= ...........

3 if this fails there maybe a broken wire as Bill suggested

David

[Tony Walsham]

I doubt it is as simple as a broken wire in the stock motor wiring.
There are separate wire attachment points for each truck on the loco pcb.
It could be a trace on the pcb that feeds all of those attachment points. Or it could be a break in the motor drive wires going from the Tsunami to the loco pcb.
If they are OK, my (uneducated) guess is that there is either something wrong with the Tsunami decoder or the decoder programming has been corrupted.

[Bris Biker]

Hello everyone I set up a programming track and reset the decoder still no movement so I removed the coal bunker to look at the circuit boards im a dummy should have done this first to save everyone a lot of trouble the grey and orange motor wires were not connected at all and they were not broken off just never connected from the factory no wonder it wouldnt move is this an easy job or do they have to be soldered on thanks Greg

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Wow, very unusual.  I felt it must be a broken wire or bad solder joint since none of the trucks would run, but who would have thought the wires were never attached at all !!

Glad you got it going and gave us some practice in troubleshooting  . 

Enjoy!!!!!

[Bris Biker]

Still not going Bill not sure how to connect wires solder them or are they screw terminals regards Greg.

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Sorry I don't have a three truck shay, or I would open it up and look for you.  Hopefully Tony or one of the others can help.

[Jon D. Miller]

Bris Biker

First, refer to the supplied documentation that came with the locomotive.  Look at page G824X-IS008 titled "DCC Wiring Connections."

Second, let me say I do not have the factory DCC sound equipped Shay.

I could find only two grey and orange wires mounted side by side.  On the left rear corner of the main PCB are solder points numbered 1,2,3,4.  The orange wire is soldered at position 4.  The Grey wire is soldered at position position 3.

On the wiring diagram it appears these wires go to the DCC board along with black wire, position 2 on PCB.  The red wire from position one on the PCB.  From the diagram it appears the wires are attached to the DCC board by a 4 position screw terminal.

From the diagram the wires connecting to the DCC, starting at the left, are red, orange, grey, black.



Pictured is the wiring as it is connected to a non DCC sound equipped 3 truck Shay.  You'll see that the grey and orange wires are connected to a screw terminal on the main circuit board right next to where the wires are soldered to positions 3 and 4.

Possibly if you connect the grey and orange wires as depicted on the DCC Wiring Connection diagram your locomotive will run.

I hope this helps you to get the locomotive to run.  If not that's all the information that I have.

Just one caveat.  If you try this "fix" and it lets all the smoke out I assume no responsibility!

JD

[Bris Biker]

Hello everyone first thanks to Jon D for the reply and photo well I bit the bullet and attached the two wires and the loco now runs learning all the time just need to trust my ability and have a go regards Greg.

[Jon D. Miller]

Bris Biker,

Thanks for reporting back on your results in getting the Shay to run

Feedback on these type questions is appreciated.

By chance, was it the two wires discussed in my reply?

Have fun with the 3-truck.  You'll find it's a very good running locomotive.

JD

[Bris Biker]

Yes JD it was I knew what it was just didnt know how to connect them thanks again regards Greg.