Track maintenance/cleaning
#1
No matter how much I clean my tracks I still have the same problem spots. I have 2 Athearn mp15acs and both of them lose power in different spots on my tracks but they both pass over each other's problem spots with no issue. I've used every tidy track product made by woodland scenics and I can run a q-tip over the rails and the q-tip is clean. I'll run one engine the full length of the layout with no issue and on the return pass it stops in the same spot every time. It only recently (maybe 2 weeks ago) has started giving me issues. It annoys me so much that everything sits for days and I don't want anything to do with it or work on it. What's the deal??
Reply
#2
I am with you. Intermittent but constant stops are very frustrating.

Looking at my Genesis MP15AC I did in the past:

1- uninstall all axes and enlarge the axes cuts in the plastic body of the trucks.
(the plastic truck body shall not touch the axes)
2- reinstall them with an conductive grease (mine is with copper) into the end metal bearings
(the bearings shall be the only fix point of the axes and a solid electric contact too)
3- solder all truck to PCB wire connections
(never trust the black clips)
4- modify the front truck to have more 3-dimensional clearance. Use a small washer to ensure the truck freely swing lengthwise and diagonally
(the shipped model is very stiff. It may lift easy one truck side in case of imperfect tracks and on switches with misaligned frogs)

Good luck. I had a long bad time with my Genesis MP15AC but got finally a happy end.
Reinhard
Reply
#3
I had a similar problem with a Proto 2000 sw7. I discovered a broken wire on one of the pick ups on the front truck. The area where the switcher would always stall had one rail a little lower than the other, so the switcher's rear truck wheels would lose contact on one side, causing the locomotive to lose all electrical contact because of the broken contact wire on the front. The rear truck didn't have much play in it, and this dip in the rail was so slight I never noticed it -- put the two issues together and the result was a stalled loco. All my other locos ran fine over the spot. It is possible you have the same situation. It is amazing how much havoc a loose or broken wire can cause! I hope you find a solution without too much frustration.

Chuck
Detroit Connecting
We are your
inner-city connection.
Reply
#4
Do the stalls happen with the same end forward on both locos?
If you have a cradle, test the pickup on each axle to see if one isn't working. Also test while twisting the truck.

You probably don't need to clean your track any more.
David
Moderato ma non troppo
Perth & Exeter Railway Company
Esquesing & Chinguacousy Radial Railway
In model railroading, there are between six and two hundred ways of performing a given task.
Most modellers can get two of them to work.
Reply
#5
I had a similar issue on a couple of spots on my layout...After much hair-pulling, track cleaning, cuzzin',etc...I found out that the track had a "break" where it transitioned from level to a grade, so the pick-up wheels would lift off the track and the engine would stop. I solved the problem by un-gluing the track several inches from the trouble spots and allowing it to "float" itself into position.
Problem solved... 2285_
Gus (LC&P).
Reply
#6
The issue spot is on a piece of flex track so there's no joint or a track transition or break in the track. It is however right at the beginning of a grade crossing so I thought there could have been dirt build up in the flange way but I've blown it out with air, ran a q-tip through it with track cleaner but it's only one engine and not the other. I'm also all of a sudden having trouble with spots on 2 different switches. Again I made sure there wasn't any ballast in the frog or switch points that could lift the wheel off the track but again one engine does it on one switch and the other engine does it on the other. They'll pass through 4 or 5 times with no problem then give me issues the next 20 times. Also the trouble spots depend on the direction the engines are facing.
Reply
#7
Hello!
I also had the secrets of jerky running of my Genesis MP15AC although i have had made the modification with the 3-point suspension as described in the linked thread:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3766">viewtopic.php?f=23&t=3766</a><!-- l -->
The MP15 began irregular and jerky running and even stalling again. But this time i found there was no more a reliable electric connection between the the rotating axle stubs and the axle cup bearings. So in bridged them with a sort of wiper.
After the modification of the power pick ups no stalling anymore. I think this problem is cured.

Here is the same for Blue Box and RTR switchers:
<!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://bigbluetrains.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7568">viewtopic.php?f=23&t=7568</a><!-- l -->

But all is depending on each other:
- keep wheels clean
- keep all wheels permanent onto the railheads, no airtime allowed
- keep tracks clean
- convert dead frogs to livin ones
- eliminate dead pointblades, this is often a hidden problem which appears when dust and dirt collecting in the course of time between point blads and outer rails. So it is possible the point blades are el. dead.

Greetings
Lutz
Reply


Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)