Engine problems.

[rains train]

This engine is the first I've had, and it's had a few problems, but they were all fixed. Now it's stuttering and stopping and won't even run. Any tips? (I don't think its the track, I have track cleaning cars running over them whenever I run a train...But, it might be.)

Alex

[Guilford Guy]

Did you clean the wheels? What type of engine?

[rains train]

I tried cleaning the wheels. I'll try again. It's my old Dash 8-40C.

Alex

[SteamGene]

Age?  Which company built it?  Have you removed the shell to see if the motor is connected firmly to the wheels and that the electrical contacts are intact? 
The more accurate details you give, the faster you are going to receive help.  Those who have been here awhile still remember the guy with the worn out track.
Gene

[rains train]

Atlas. Had it about since october, maybe a little later/ earlier. It's had problems before and had it's motor and everything looked at, fine. Everything should still be intact.

Alex

[RAM]

Come on Alex.  You had it 5 months and its old.  Anything I have gotten in the last 10 years is new.  Old is what I go back in the 50s.

[rains train]

I have no idea what's wrong. My layout is cursed. I've went through so many engines.

Alex
(not dirty track, I know this. I clean them all the time.)

[TomKat]

This engine is the first I've had, and it's had a few problems, but they were all fixed. Now it's stuttering and stopping and won't even run. Any tips? (I don't think its the track, I have track cleaning cars running over them whenever I run a train...But, it might be.)

Alex
Try to narrow it down if possible. Does the engine have the same problem continuously, or is it isolated to one location on the layout?~TomKat

[rains train]

It will hardly even move, I can get it to move sometimes, but it only moves about an inch. This is not just isolated to one spot.

Alex

[rains train]

Any help here???

Alex

[TomKat]

Alex, sorry I didn't get back to you. Is there oil on the wheel pick-ups or possibly dirt? Make sure they are clean. The only other thing I can think of is get the Ohmeter out and check continuity between pick-ups and motor/lights. Try that and I'll keep my thinkin' hat on to help you try to solve this.~TomKat

[rains train]

I cleaned the wheels, but I'm going into K-10's tomorrow(hopefully, might have ice or snow though.)and I'll see if it's just my track, although my Challenger works fine...

Alex

[Jim Banner]

Alex, have you by any chance been running your trains on a rug?  Or somewhere where they could pick up animal hair or lint?  These are deadly when they get wound up around axles and jam up the mechanisms.

Do your headlights work in your locomotives?  Headlights tell you whether or not you are picking up power from the rails.  If the headlight is on but the locomotive will not move, the problem is almost always mechanical.  If the headlight is not on (but you know it works) then the problem is electrical.

You can divide electrical problems into two groups - problems before the locomotive wheels and problems after the tracks.  Problems before the wheels would include track joiners, dirty rails, bad power pack and that sort of thing.  Problems after the track would include dirty wheels, dirty pickups where the locomotive picks up power from its wheels, broken wires, corroded contacts (like in the old Athearn locomotives,) worn out motor brushes, oil inside the motor or a burned out motor.

How do you tell if electrical problems are before or after the wheels?  Buy just one Grain-of_Wheat bulb, the kind that comes with wires attached.  Touch the bare ends of the wires to the rails of the track section where your locomotive is sitting.  If the bulb lights, you are getting power that far and need to start looking into the locomotive.  If the bulb does not light, then power is not getting to the locomotive wheels and you have to start looking backwards toward the power pack.

Follow these steps and you can do your own trouble shooting.  It really is that easy.

[rains train]

Alex, have you by any chance been running your trains on a rug?  Or somewhere where they could pick up animal hair or lint?  These are deadly when they get wound up around axles and jam up the mechanisms.

Do your headlights work in your locomotives?  Headlights tell you whether or not you are picking up power from the rails.  If the headlight is on but the locomotive will not move, the problem is almost always mechanical.  If the headlight is not on (but you know it works) then the problem is electrical.

You can divide electrical problems into two groups - problems before the locomotive wheels and problems after the tracks.  Problems before the wheels would include track joiners, dirty rails, bad power pack and that sort of thing.  Problems after the track would include dirty wheels, dirty pickups where the locomotive picks up power from its wheels, broken wires, corroded contacts (like in the old Athearn locomotives,) worn out motor brushes, oil inside the motor or a burned out motor.

How do you tell if electrical problems are before or after the wheels?  Buy just one Grain-of_Wheat bulb, the kind that comes with wires attached.  Touch the bare ends of the wires to the rails of the track section where your locomotive is sitting.  If the bulb lights, you are getting power that far and need to start looking into the locomotive.  If the bulb does not light, then power is not getting to the locomotive wheels and you have to start looking backwards toward the power pack.

Follow these steps and you can do your own trouble shooting.  It really is that easy.

My layout is 45" off of the ground......and I clean my engines of hair. No light on. Not the Zephyr, or else my Challenger wouldn't be working.

Alex

[Jim Banner]

So assuming the light in your Dash 8 works, you have isolated the problem to something inside the locomotive.  If you open it up, use the G-O-W bulb to check if power is reaching the decoder.  Depending on which decoder it is, you may have to trace how the power gets from the wheels to the decoder.  Cut the bare parts of the bulb wires very short (less than 1/16") so that you do not accidentally short anything out when you connect one wire to the decoder's left wheel input and the other to the decoder's right wheel input.  I am sorry to say that the Dash 8 is way too new for my 1961 railway and I do not have one to check out to see exactly where these connections to the decoder are.

One possibility, if power is getting to the decoder, is that the decoder has lost its programming.  Do you have a programming track set up?  If so, can you read back any of the CV's?  Your Zephyr will probably require a 1k resistor connected across the rails in order to read back an Atlas decoder.  If you do not have a GOW bulb handy to test the electrical pickup as far as the decoder, then try reading back CV's anyway.  If you can read any back, then the power path to the decoder is okay.  I usually try CV01 because all decoders use it for the 2 digit address.

Why do decoders lose their programming?  Sometimes dirty track creates false signals that reprogram decoders.  And some decoders are sensitive to erratic track voltage at turn on.  To avoid the latter, always turn off track voltage with your Zephyr's power button before unplugging the Zephyr's power pack.  And turn track power on only after you power up the Zephyr.