N Scale RS-3 Problem

[railtwister]

Today I received my Bachmann N scale RS-3 loco, and while putting it on the track, I was thinking "what a great looking little loco". Then, when I hooked up the DC power and turned the knob, nothing happened! I tried the DCC power system also and same thing, no lights, no go! After removing the shell and looking closely, I noticed the decoder board wasn't sitting level because it's retainer clips wouldn't seat properly due to pressure from the motor wires. When the loco was assembled at the factory, the technician twisted the wires going to the motor (3-4 turns), which made their diameter greater than the space available between the board and the loco's frame, resulting in the contact fingers on the board not touching the frame on one side. I carefully unclipped the board, and pinching the wire to the board with my thumb to prevent it from flexing and breaking, I rotated the board 3 or 4 turns to eliminate the twist. Then I reinstalled the board after tweaking the contact fingers just a tiny bit, and snapped it into place on the clips. I then used a toothpick to work the wires into the gap between the board and frame, making sure the board didn't get any pressure from the wires to make it come unclipped. I put the loco on the track and applied a little power, and the loco started to move (whew!). I don't know if all of the RS-3's may have similar problems, or just the ones assembled by this particular technician, but if you get one that doesn't run right out of the box, it may have the same problem.

After getting it operating, I again thought "what a beautiful little loco!"

Bill in FL

[skipgear]

I've seen similar problems in a couple GP7's. Not so much a wire related issue but just bad contact between the tabs on the decoder and the frame. Usually an easy enough fix if you know what to look for.