Three Truck Shay

[Rex in Pinetop]

Well it was a three truck shay but now the middle truck is dead.  The other two trucks will pull it around but that's not good.  I need some advice on trouble shooting the dead truck.

Here is what I've done so far:

1.  I've pulled it all apart to triple check the wiring.  The front and middle trucks are wired together controlled by Airwire posts 3 and 5. and the rear truck is running off of posts 2 and 4.  I've swapped those back and forth so I'm confident that the Airwire board is good.  The front and rear trucks both run from either set of output posts.

2.  I've removed the middle truck and torn it down to check the gears for jams or obstacles.  Nothings stopping the gears.  I've turned the motor by hand and everything turns easily.

3.  I've checked the wiring to the motor thru the contact plates. 

I'm at a loss as to what to check next. 

HELP!

 

Rex

 

 

[cacole]

Does the motor run at all by itself if you can remove it and provide power from either the AirWire or the battery using clip leads?  Even though you say you can turn the motor by hand doesn't necessarily mean that it hasn't gone bad.

It's possible that the motor has overheated and caused a soldered wire to come loose internally.

[Narrowgauge]

Rex,

My first question would be 'which AirWire RX are you working iwth?"  I am currently installing a G2 RX in a K27, Pin 1 is plus power, pin 2 & 3 is motor no 1, pins 4 & 5 are motor no 2, pin 8 is negative (ground).

http://www.cvpusa.com/doc_center/r11a_G2_manual_color.pdf  is the manual for a G2 decoder.

Hope this helps and gets things going.

Bob C.

[Rex in Pinetop]

I finally found time to tear the middle truck down to wire it directly to the Airwire board.  It runs so now my thoughts go to the contact plates that are suppose to transfer power from the board to the truck.  I'll start trouble shooting those next.

Thanks for your help,

Rex

[cacole]

Rex,

While you have it apart, why not solder wires directly to the motor tabs and bypass the contact plates, since you now know that the motor is okay.

[Rex in Pinetop]

That sounds like a plan.  When wiring I just need to make sure forward is the same for all three trucks.

Rex

[Rex in Pinetop]

I now have the middle and front trucks running.  The trailing truck has stopped.  I'll give it the same trouble shooting I gave the middle truck.

Joys!!!

Rex

[Rex in Pinetop]

Finally everything is working the way it used to.  It's much simpler too so I expect it to work longer this time.

Thanks again for your support,

Rex