Big Hauler Problem

[DSP62]

This seems to be a common problem from what I am reading, but I bought my wife a 4-6-0 Pennsylvanian for Christmas as she has always wanted to get into large scale.  Anyway, there is no sound.  I used a wire to "short" the plug on the tender and it did make the "chuff"sound but when plugged into the loco, it doesn't.  The sound is turned on and up under the tender, the loco sound switch is fully depressed.  The plug is plugged in with the "channel" down.

Any thoughts?

=Dave

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Dave,

Since the chuff test shows the tender is fine, the problem is definitely in the locomotive. Double check to be sure the "sound "plug from the tender is firmly seated in the socket on the loco, sometimes it may seem to be fully inserted when it is not quite in enough to make a good connection Check the "sound" plug receptacle on the locomotive and the wires leading to it to see if any are loose or if the pins in the plug socket are bent. These "chuff sensor" wires lead to a set of brass contact wipers under the bottom plate that brush the axle on one of the drivers causing the chuff to trigger as the wheels turn.  You can remove the bottom plate and expose these brass wipers. Make sure the wires are firmly attached to both the plug and the wipers.  The wipers can become corroded and fail to make contact with as well.  If all the wires are intact and you still have the problem then clean the wipers on the sides touching the axle being careful to avoid bending the wipers. Both wipers must firmly contact the axle. Also clean the metal strips on the axle.  You can use the "continuity" feature on a multimeter, if you have one, and touch the leads to little pins in the sound plug socket on the loco while the wipers are in contact with the metal part of the axle.  The meter will trigger if continuity is good. if it does not trigger The circuit is not operating properly so recheck all of the above! Use a good plastic compatible track cleaning product on a q tip to do the cleaning, or any plastic compatible cleaner. Sometimes an eraser can do the trick. 

Let us know how you make out and what the problem was so we get some feedback to help others, or if you need more help.

Cheers,
Bill