Help with my Athearn Challenger

[Green_Elite_Cab]

As much as I could use the income, I think it should not be to difficult to ferret out the solution without sending your locomotive away to strangers.

First, check the wheelsets. Make sure all insulated wheel-sets are oriented properly. If a wheel set is "backwards", it could explain the shorts.

Next, I would try to check the wires and make sure none of the pick-up wires are crossed heading into the decoder or plug.

I would also try temporarily wiring the locomotive to run in DC mode, without the decoder, and run it on a DC power pack. This will help isolate the source of the problem.

If your challenger is of the older variety, it may have an MRC Sound Decoder in it. the MRC sound decoders are really hit-or-miss. Its entirely possible the decoder is malfunctioning. If this is the case, I reccomend trying to replace it with a Tsunami decoder. Trying to replace it with another MRC decoder will not likely improve peformance.



So at the very least, check the wheels and wires, it may be a simple fix that doesn't necessistate sending it out.