E33 PC Board Problem

[CAB_IV]

Hey guys,

I'm experiencing difficulty with my E33.    It seems like the locomotive completely blew out.


It was running on DCC in consist with another E33 on my club layout on a nice tangent piece of track,  and it just died.   I had assumed the decoder (a TCS MC2) had quit,  but after putting another decoder in,  the locomotive also failed to run,  disrupting the second decoder as well. 

When I got it home, I tested the engine on DC, and it still had problems.   The motor would not run in reverse period,  even after I disconnected it from the PC board and ran the motor direct with track power  (used a Spectrum Mangum power pack from an Acela set).   

I then noticed that even without the motor,  if I put the locomotive on the track,   the rear headlight would do weird things (Flickering, etc.) when it was on and I moved the throttle.   This makes me think something is shorted out big time.


Is there any advice?  I assume I'll have to get a new motor,  but should I bother with the circuit board,,  or just hardwire it? 

[electrical whiz kid]

Yep;
first, isolate the motor leads and hook them up to a power source with control (assuming that transformer is good), and check out the motor by running it both in forward and reverse, varying the rpms in both directions.  If you can run the motor through an ammeter, more's the better, and you can then check the motor's draw.
Upon verifying that the motor is OK, isolate each section of wiring, and respective loads for shorts, malfunctioning, etc.  What they taught us in the Air Force; Isolate, locate, and eradicate.  A basic locomotive wiring system-consisting of motor and lighting is pretty straightforward, so you shouldn't have much of a problem with this.  Oh-and NEVER assume... 
Be careful when doing these tests, because if you are not, then you will invariably utter words you never thought you knew!
SGT C.