Improvements an Athearn Genesis GP9s

[Schraddel]

Hello!

Sometimes good things came like ketchup out of the bottle. At first a long time nothing comes and then sucessive all together.
So here too, i have searched several years for a GP in Santa Fe zebra stripe livery. By lucky accident i found a pair of Athearn Genesis GP9s in evilbay.de. Both were "buy immediately" and the price was very o.k. Both were sound equipped with OEM Tsnunamis.


They were like new, nothing broken, nothing bend, nothing missing. The only bugbear was the irregular running and lots of stalling of both locos. And the also interrupted sound was not the real McCoy. Not all of the Genesis locos have those problems with current pick up, but often this "mystery" failures are present although the wheels were clean. So here with this locos, one was far worse than the other one.

My improvements:


Remove shell.




Have a look under the hood.




Remove trucks and demount them.





Solder additional wipers. Two locos = four trucks = eight wheelsets = sixteen wheels = sixteen wipers. Getting serial.





One of the trucks of each loco got a special treatment by removing the two moulded on half round pieces.





As replacement on one end of each loco the pivot pin got a package of shims to restore the original height of the half rounds.

As a result both locos run smoothly and now with an uninterrupted sound. One of the failure points may be oil or grease in the axle bearings which have a secondary function of current pick up, causing conductivity interruptions. The additional wipers give a better conductivity. Also the 3-point suspension of the main frame to the trucks will improve a better pick up.

Adjusting CVs and sound is another extensive chapter.

my two cents

Cheers Lutz

edit: misspelling

[faraway]

I use in similar situations a mixture of grease and copper as quick fix. A very small amount in the brass bearing ensures a good contact with the axle.

Just an example of a German vendor:
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[e-paw]

Nicely done sir.

[Schraddel]

Reinhard,
i have thought for conductivity grease too. In another case, Brawa V100 DR, i have had applied it, but was not really satisfied with the result.




Under the hood just the same, both were made by Sandakan, both were purchased a couple of years ago.
The P2K SW8 runs still today flawless without any aditional wipers or conductive grease and without any stalling.
The V100 was a severe case. When purchased new it was running flawless. Several months later this changed to a malfuction. You have to "break in" this loco about half an hour at full analog throttle and often with the aid of the five-finger-helper before it was running without stalling. And after 2 hours of stillstand you have to repeat it again. This loco got the nickname "Mao's Revenge". Application of conductive grease, it was graphite based one, did'nt mitigate the problem. May be the copper based conductive grease is better.
At least i made wipers an all the problems with irregular current pick up simply vanished.

That are two extreme cases with this kind of current pick up. My 2 cent of experiences with this.



Cheers Lutz

[faraway]

I love the term "Mao's Revenge"
Your method is for sure the more professional leading to stable results. The conductive grease is sometimes a quick fix for simple cases.

I remember your thread about pickup problems of the Genesis MP15AC. The plastic frame of the trucks prevented the axles to securely touch the brass bearings. The conductive grease cured some of mine while some needed a more rigorous repair action similar to yours.

The symptoms you describe for "Mao's Revenge" sound similar to my very first US and LikeLike engine. I got the axle in the brass bearing block oiled. The oil was a totally unpredictable isolator. A firm break in solved the problem temporary that came back ofter some time of rest.
It was a nightmare until the axle and brass bearing got an intensive alcohol bath. Some say oil in the LifeLike brass bearings should be no problem. My experience differs a lot. Anyhow the bearings of your engine look different but the symptoms are similar.

[Schraddel]

You mean the older P2K locos which trucks looked like the old Athearn Blue Box ones:


This is actual an Athearn RTR SW1500.




Here i made wipers too. Bye bye problems.


Cheers Lutz

[faraway]

Yes, that are the trucks that can cause problems if the axle gets oiled in the brass bearing. I use a rattle can of chemical fat remover to solve the problem. My success rate is about 100%.