Early Production Russian Decapod Problem Found and Corrected

[Tom M.]

I have several early release Bachmann 2-10-0 Russian decapods that I am finally preparing for use on my layout.  I'm installing Tsunami sound in them.  However, as I attempted to test run each on DC prior to upgrading to DCC they would not run.  Each gave an indication of a dead short.  After testing the tenders and determining the problem did not reside there, I turned my attention to the locos themselves.

Using a test meter, I was able to identify the problem was with the left rail (fireman's side) electrical pickup.  After removing the base plate from the loco, I found that the copper contact strip used to pick up/transmit power from the left rail had a bow in it.  The bow appeared to be a result of how the strip was riveted to the base plate.  The bow caused the strip to come into contact with the metal frame.  The frame itself is energized by the right rail through the drive axles, thus the short.

After I identified the problem, the fix was extremely simple.  I used a pair of cuticle scissors to cut the strip between the second and third axles.  Once cut, the strip dropped back down into the recess in the base plate and the two pieces overlapped slightly.  I was then able to apply a little dab of solder the reconnect the two parts of the strip.  After this was done, the shorting problem was gone on the locos.

Situations such as this are why I always test locos on DC prior to installing DCC.  Otherwise, you risk damaging decoders or going down many wrong paths of possible corrective actions.

Regards,

Tom

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Sounds like all you need now is some Russian accent crew banter. Thanks for the tips. Good luck!

[Pacific Northern]

I had heard of the problems with one of the early runs of the Spectrum Russian Decopod being electrical in nature, but did not know the specifics of that problem. Apparently is was a very high percentage of the models produced in the run.

[Tom M.]

Update, after I installed the Tsunami decoder the loco ran for 15 minutes before the motor blew.  Acrid smoke started to pour out of the loco.  I guess I will need to use the Spectrum life time replacement warranty on this one.

I plugged the now Tsunami sound equipped tender into another one of my Decapod locos.  Thus far, it is running fine.  We'll see if it makes it longer than 15 minutes.

Tom