4-6-0 Problem

[emeybee]

Hello,

I am new to model railroading so this may be a newbie issue. I have the Bachmann 4-6-0 locomotive. It has been running fine on my layout, but today I tried to switch the couplers to MTL magnetic couplers and it has been having running problems ever since. The first time I tried to run it, it sputtered and barely moved, and now it acts like it's not getting power at all. I opened up the tender and all the wires still seem to be attached so I am not sure where else to look for problems.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Edit: If I leave the power on a low speed it'll sputter forward a tiny bit every few seconds. If I try to turn the loco's light on it flickers. If it hadn't been running perfectly until this morning I would think it would be a wiring problem, but all I changed was the coupler-- nothing with the track. And I've taken the coupler off now and the problems persist.

[skipgear]

It could very well be a broken wire if durring the install of the coupler, the wires between the loco and tender were stretched or twisted.

Also, look at the front truck of the tender. The wiper wires from the drawbar should both be inside the pins that come up from the truck to the bottom of the tender. Often in twisting things around, one wire can slip outside the posts and then the drawbar is no longer conducting power between the tender and the loco so you have lost all of the loco pickup and are only using the tender to power the decoder.

[emeybee]

Thanks so much for your response.

Again, newbie alert-- are the "wiper wires" the copper colored wires that go from the locomotive to the tender? And are the "pins" the silver rectangles inside the wheels with nubs on top poking through the tender? If so, then yes, the copper colored wires are both inside the silver rectangles.

All the wires between the tender and loco visually appear to be intact. Nothing is torn or seems especially stretched. How would you suggest checking for other/internal issues?

I am not sure what else to check or how to proceed. I would hate to have to junk an expensive loco for unknown reasons but repairs aren't anywhere near my wheelhouse (as you may have noticed, LOL).

[skipgear]

There are 6 black wires that go between the loco and tender. The are soldered inside the tender and that is where they would break. You won't be able to see the problem from outside the loco.

The drawbar wires are the two copper (actually phosphorbronze) wires that run on either side of the drawbar. It sounds like are you looking at the right thing.

It is more than likely a pickup issue and all the problems would be in the tender. You need to pull the shell off the tender and make sure the posts on the tender trucks are contacting the wipers in the tender and that a wire hasn't broken in the tender.

[emeybee]

All the wires are still soldered to the board, I had checked that before posting. The wipers do seem to contact the posts as well. I am going to go ahead and send it in for service because I think it's well beyond my limited knowledge. Thanks so much for all your help.