Heisler Problem

[BillBrakeman]

The front truck of my Heisler locomotive intermittently, and momentarily stops running.  I have removed the bottom plate of the truck and found the mechanism to be free and well greased.  Therefore, I think it might be an electrical problem.  Does anyone have any suggestions how I can trouble shoot the circuit running from the DPDT switch in the smoke box and the front motor?

Bill

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Bill,

I am assuming you have done a serious cleaning of all the wheels, and contacts in the truck, and I would agree that is an electrical problem if you have carefully watched the truck when powered and find no binding or wheel wobble.

If you are on track power be sure you have thoroughly cleaned the track.  

Are there any specific conditions when the problem occurs??  Does it happen all the time??  After running for awhile?

Does it happen when crossing a turnout??  a track joint??

Try this remove the truck:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/G850X_IS004_2.pdf

Check the spring loaded plunger contacts and make sure they are floating free in their housings, if one ore more does not spring back fully then you should replace the springs.  One of the most common problems with the spring contacts on our locomotives which use them is that when the loco derails and causes a short, the springs in the contacts get overheated and fail, weaken or even burn up.   Once the spring loses strength it will fail to make good contact after that.  If you have had a several shorts I would definitely suspect the spring loaded contacts.


To isolate the problem try the following:  With the truck off use a set of wires from your transformer to power the truck directly to see if the truck still runs intermittently if it does you will know the problem is in the truck.   The most likely cause is the spring loaded contacts. Clean them thoroughly and see if it makes a difference.  If you are using track power place the truck on the track and apply power to the track use a multimeter and touch the probes to the track input contacts if the multimeter reading fluctuates then you may also have a problem with the truck picking up power.  Again this may be due to the spring loaded contacts being faulty.  


Hopefully this will get you started toward a solution until some of the forum readers come up with other methods.

Good Luck,   Bill

[BillBrakeman]

Thank you for the input.  What do you think of the idea of hard wiring the trucks?

Bill

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Bill,

I am a big fan of hardwiring no matter the model if it is equipped with the plungers.  I dont fix what isn't broke, so I wait til problems occur.  I have not hardwired a Heisler before.    Since I switched to battery power on all my loco's derailments no longer generate the shorts that often overheat and ruin the springs, so my problems have been few.  If I was still running track power I would definitely hardwire at the first sign of a problem.

Bill