Jonathan,
Thanks for responding. I'm helping a friend out with the loco. It is in a 2008 vintage K4. The decoder is a factory installed Tsunami. Going the warranty route is off the table. The loco has been upgraded using a secondary TCS FL4 decoder to support a tender backup light, cab light and working marker lights. When I got the loco for testing, all the sounds and lighting worked, but there was no movement.
First, I visually checked the gearing and it all looks good (i.e., no cracked axle or idler gears). I then checked the running gear and it all works silky smooth. Since I had to remove the motor to perform these test, I also bench tested the motor by attaching it to a DC power source. The motor barely ran and emitted smoke almost immediately.
I then attached the loco's DCC motor leads to a Sagami can motor I keep handy for decoder testing. The motor ran as expected in both directions. This confirms the decoder is still functional. Thus, my determination that the factory motor was "cooked."
Tom
Thanks for responding. I'm helping a friend out with the loco. It is in a 2008 vintage K4. The decoder is a factory installed Tsunami. Going the warranty route is off the table. The loco has been upgraded using a secondary TCS FL4 decoder to support a tender backup light, cab light and working marker lights. When I got the loco for testing, all the sounds and lighting worked, but there was no movement.
First, I visually checked the gearing and it all looks good (i.e., no cracked axle or idler gears). I then checked the running gear and it all works silky smooth. Since I had to remove the motor to perform these test, I also bench tested the motor by attaching it to a DC power source. The motor barely ran and emitted smoke almost immediately.
I then attached the loco's DCC motor leads to a Sagami can motor I keep handy for decoder testing. The motor ran as expected in both directions. This confirms the decoder is still functional. Thus, my determination that the factory motor was "cooked."
Tom