K4 fron truck

[ho_scot]

Hi, I bought 2 Spectrum K4s at a local train show.  Both run great on straight track.  I added Tsunami sound to both and they sound awesome when double-headed.  The problem I am having is that one of them (3750), when going round a 22" curve, the front truck frequently shorts to the frame.  The other (1361) has no problems.  I can remove the front truck and both run great, but it does not look right.  Swapping front trucks between the locos has no effect, 3750 still shorts to the frame.  Has anyone run into this problem?  Any ideas?

Thanks,
John

[SteamGene]

I'm assuming you mean the PRR K4?  Where is the truck hitting the frame?  Find that spot and put a bit of nail polish at the location and then hit it with Dullcote.
Gene

[James Hail]

Hmmmm I have the same train and same road number and same radius.....No shorts....Check the wheel gauge also....maybe one spread out and got wide?...

I will look at mine and see if i can help.

Runs great by the way...once you get those tiny wheel wipers adjusted....

Jim

[ho_scot]

Gene, Yes it is the PRR K4. It looks like it is hitting the front edge of the cylinder, but when I look at them both upside down,  side by side they both touch the cylinder at what seems to be the same angle.   I was just wondering if this was a know problem, or just an oddball one.
The nail polish probably will do the trick.  I will give it a try.

Thanks for the replies,

John

[Robertj668]

John I Have the same engine.  And for no reason the engine for shorting out too.  I Will have to investigate that front truck.

The problem I have with the PRR K4 is that is derails on from time to time on my Left and Right Cross overs.

I would love to see how  you did the sound.  I did mine that was a nightmare. It is still not really done. I had to remove one on the weight to make room for everything.

Robert

[ho_scot]

Robert, it seems funny, but both of mine will do cross-overs with no problem.

In regard to the sound, I removed the Bachmann board completely from the tender labeling the wires as I removed them. I still had to trace the wires to make sure I knew where they all  went . This allows a 27mm high bass speaker to fit between the tender top mounting posts.  I drilled holes in the tender base within the speaker diameter to let the sound come out from the bottom of the tender.  After fastening the speaker with a double sided tape gasket, I installed an NMRA 8-pin plug double checking each wires position.  The Tsunami is still a tight fit, but it does go in there.  The tender shell needs to be sealed from the inside. I sealed it and then held it up to a bright light to find any places I missed.

Make sure you test run the installation using the dummy plugs that were in the board you removed before installing the Tsunami decoder, it's a very expensive fuse. 

The installation is not for the faint of heart, but the result is well worth the effort.   

John

[ho_scot]

Robert one thing I forgot to mention, I also had to remove the existing tender weights, so I used stick on weights in the four corners of the tender to compensate.

John

[Robertj668]

John.
I was tempted to remove the board too.  The enigne run well with out the foward weight in it.  I t pulls the 5 passenger cars no problem. So I might not mess anymore with it.

Any pics of the work?

Robert

[ho_scot]

Robert I tried to post a couple of pics, but I kept getting up loader full message even though the pics were only 37kb and 35kb. Nowhere does that add up to the 128kb allowed per post.

To all who responded to the original problem, the nail polish (actually I used some black silicone sealant) fixed the problem.

Thanks,
John

[Robertj668]

John

Thanks I am going to run the train after the ball game or between innings and try to figure it out.  You Can send it to my email address.  Click on the email icon under my name.

Robert

[Robertj668]

I finally found out where my K4 4-6-2 was shorting out.
I think it the metalpart of the cylinder housing.  I now see the wear from the wheels
Now I need a way to fix it. Nail Polish? Black electrical tape?

[SteamGene]

nail polish.  BTW, that's a PRR K4, not a C&O K4.
Gene

[Robertj668]

OK I am going to try the nail pollsih.  Should I use clear? Black? And yes it is the PRR K4.
Robert

[RAM]

How about red.  No don't do that. I would use clear.  One question.  Is it the wheels or the brake shoe that is shorting?

[Robertj668]

RAM
It is the front wheels hitting the piston cylinder. In the pic you can even see there wear marks.
Robert