Frisco 6-18920 reverse board trouble

[friscobrakeman]

Hi Im an old/new member.I just bought a Frisco 6-18920 engine that apeares to have been never been run or ran very little.No i didn't try it out before I bought it and the folks that sold it to me,I dont think they new it had problems.The problem is that it dose not shift into forward.Neutral,and reverse seems to work alright,I dont have a big wattage transformer to test it with,just a old 1026 25watter, like I said this is just to test with. I also have another newer engine and it shifts through the sequence fine. Is this enough wattage for the Frisco  NW2  to sequence or should i get more better transformer.If  its the electronic board where would I fine one,or who is a good sorce.I"ll have to do my owne instalation as there are no repair shops close to where I live.

[Stourbridge Lion]

friscobrakeman - Welcome to trains.com!

[TrainLarry]

Welcome to the board!

   If the engine runs fine in reverse, your transformer is sufficient for testing purposes. It sounds like the reverse unit board is bad. Unsolder the wires at the motor and reverse them. That will get the engine to run forward. If the engine doesn't run forward now, the motor is bad, or you have gear problems.

Brasseur has the board, part # 0103-001.

Larry

[friscobrakeman]

thanks sir I figured the board tobe bad.I was hopeing not but knew better.I think the engine has very little run time,still had all the paper work in the box and very little wear on wheels if any.Thanks for the info i will check that out and see what i can do.

[gunrunnerjohn]

Many of those reverse boards have a lockout switch which locks them in a specific direction.  Before you start spending money, make sure you don't have a simple issue.

 

[gunrunnerjohn]

Here's a quote from the manual for your locomotive:

 

If you wish to operate the train in one direction only, (which is necessary if you have automatic stations or insulated blocks in your layout), you must deactivate the reversing unit. This is done by moving the reversing unit switch to its OFF position.

Here's the user's manual.

6-18920 - Frisco NW-2 Switcher #254 User's Manual

Here's the parts and wiring diagram for the unit.

6-18920 - Frisco NW-2 Switcher #254 Pictorial Diagrams

 

[friscobrakeman]

Hey thanks guys I really appreciate the info. Ihave all the paper work on the engine,although I did not have the parts break down, I tried the lock out switch but that didn't seem to work or make a difference other than the job it was designed todo.After I fiddeled with for awhile,i settled on the board being bad;its so cheap for the part I might order it,going to do a little more testing, Just got these the other day,dont have a layout to put them on,so it just shelf time for now, 

[friscobrakeman]

Mr Gunrunnerjohn I have a question,Ive been reading on here about guys wanting to put a secound power truck or motor in there single motored locos.With the information you sent me in the parts blow up of my engine,and I thank you kindly again.Could I buy another power truck and install it and have a dual motered NW2, I used to have a STfe alco from the earlly 1990s that had dual motors,Haven't examined it yet just posing a question.Let me know what you all think.I ve liked this engine for a long time,and was just lately able to sequre one.I had a 623 pw that was all battered up so I repainted and relettered it  for a actual Frisco engine but it was sold to a buddy when the economy turned bad.So now I'm starting over.I am a Frisco.

[gunrunnerjohn]

It depends on the chassis.  You may have to do some surgery on the frame to fit a power truck into the non-powered side.  Typically, they don't have the same holes for the non-powered truck.

I confess I've never tried this, or even seriously considered it.  I usually go the path of least resistance and start out with a dual-motored unit. :)

[palallin]

I have added powere trucks to MPC Alcos but not NW-2s. 

 

I had one of these units once upon a time, and the motor burned out.  Be careful with it.  A second motor might help, but don't strain the one.

[Boxcar Bill]

 Adding a second power truck is no problem. If you want to add a second power truck you will need to match with the original power truck, this truck is no longer available from Lionel, you would have to find a parts dealer that have them. The newer power trucks use a different motor and the gearing is not the same. If you are just going to change E-Unit, you might want to change the motor also. The motor is usually the cause of the E-unit going bad.

 

Bill