climax trailing car

[bob kaplan]

I would like to increase the reliability of track pick up in the newer climax.  Is there an EASY was to take power from and trailing car with wheels for current pick-up and feed it into the climax engine?  At very slow speeds the engine finds it difficult going through the plastic frogs of LBG switches.  Thanks for any suggestions (other than converting to batts!!   )

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi Bob,

You really should not need a trail car for reliability.
My first thought is I am wondering why the loco is stalling running through the plastic frog, since both trucks should pick up power and feed the other truck.  Have you checked all the wiring and the pickups for cleanliness and possible loose wiring in the trucks or contacts that feed the power to the circuit boards??   In most cases when this problem appears the problem can usually be tracked to the plungers and springs where the truck pivot attaches to the frame.  Sometimes when the climax or other locomotives using plungers derail it results in a short, and one or more of the springs in the plunger overheats and makes poor contact because it loses the necessary force to press on the wiper on the chassis or even in some cases melts completely.  If your climax has had several shorts due  to derailments over the years the springs have most likely become weaker and do not make good contact anymore.  I would check for this problem first before adding a training car.  If you replace the springs in the plungers do all of them even if you find only one or two are causing the problem.  I got  to thinking about adding a trailing car and what might make a difference if you do it.  I would run a set of wires from the trailing car to the loco using a small connector set thru the rear tender wall and connect to the pickup wires in the chassis in order to bypass the plungers.  In the past I have usually hardwired the chassis bypassing the plungers with solid wires rather than relying on the spring plungers, but I have never done it on the climax.  When doing this it does sometimes make it difficult to stuff the loose part of the wires up into the chassis or boiler when reattaching the trucks.  Remember the power has to come from the pickups on the truck thru the plungers  to the circuit board and go back to the motor in the truck through the other set of plungers in the same truck. 

You may be able to see if only one truck is the problem, by putting one truck on a plastic shim over the track to stop pickup from that truck. If the loco runs fine with the truck in that position then do the same with the second truck and see what happens.  If the loco stalls with one truck up on the plastic you will know for sure the truck still on the track has the problem.  Check both trucks this way. If both indicate a problem you will need to check all the wiring  and the plungers in both trucks.

Anyway hopefully this will give you some ideas, maybe someone else with direct experience will chime in with better ideas than mine.

Loco Bill

[bob kaplan]

Thanks for the reply Bill.  I appreciate the time that it must have taken. 
I'll explain a bit more about the situation.     LGB switches are involved.  When one the trucks of the climax is at a plastic frog and the other rests securely on the brass rails that have just been cleaned (and the wheels as well) SOMETIMES the unit stalls if going verrrry slowly.  But the engine is used as a switcher and anyways travels slowly when the frog is not involved.  If I press on the rail or do "things" to the track to attempt to complete the circuit, nothing will bring current to the engine.   But if I gently slide a metal object such as a screw driver blade along the railhead and just touch one of the wheels that is not at the frog, the engine will begin to move.  The wheels look as if they are resting on the track....and may be doing so; but they are not making a complete circuit for some reason.  The gentle TOUCHING (not tapping) the wheels to complete the circuit brings the engine to life.  So I was hoping another set of wheels might bring current to engine.  Any other ideas would be appreciated.

  Hey!...would feeding track power into the 18 volt input of the circuit board work....or will it damage the engine?

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Bob, 

You are always welcome.  From what you say I would have diagnosed the problem as dirty track or poor wheel contacts since the plungers do not seem to be the problem.  Still in my mind the loco should work fine even with one truck on the plastic frog, if all the contacts are working as designed.  A friend in my club uses his climax on a switching layout with no problem but he is not using LGB track.

Quote form earlier post
"I got  to thinking about adding a trailing car and what might make a difference if you do it.  I would run a set of wires from the trailing car to the loco using a small connector set thru the rear tender wall and connect to the pickup wires in the chassis in order to bypass the plungers."

I could not find the wiring diagram, but if the pickup wires from the chassis on your climax go to that 18 volt input it will be fine.  If they don't, then trace the wires from the pickups on the chassis to the circuit board and attach them there.


Good Luck,

Bill

[bob kaplan]

Again....thank you ..... looks like I might check into a couple of alternatives.
bob