Genesis 2-8-2 decoder short circuit

[dstaley]

Hey all,
I'm having trouble with a brand new Genesis 2-8-2. I took it out of the box, plugged in a decoder, and placed it on the track and the layout shuts down (short circuit). If I unplug the decoder, the layout comes alive and works normally (except of course the loco has no decoder so it doesn't work). I have tried three decoders (also fresh out of the package) from both Lenz and Digitrax.

Has anyone else had this experience? Is there a known problem I can look for?

Thanks all,
Douglas Staley

[Anonymous]

Doug -

I have a Genesis "Mike" with a TCS T1 I've installed.

It runs with no problems at all.

It sounds like a loco wiring problem. My suggestion is to send the loco back and get a good one while still under warranty. You could try to fix the problem, but that might void the warranty (and still not uncover the problem!).

Better luck next time !

[cacole]

I agree with gbailey -- send it back for a replacement instead of trying to fix the problem yourself and voiding the warranty. I have two of those locomotives and had no problem with either one, such as what you describe.

One possibility is that you damaged something as you removed the dummy plug from the end of the tether before you plugged in the decoder. The pins in these plugs are so small and easily bent, that one of them may have gotten bent over and is touching an adjacent pin instead of being in the decoder socket. Remove the decoder and check the pins in the plug to insure that they are all straight and are going into the decoder socket. If a pin is bent over, your only choice is to return the locomotive and hope the dealer has another one in stock.

Other people have indicated problems with this locomotive derailing because the shrink wrap tubing around the tether is too stiff to allow adequate flexing on curves. One solution is to very, very carefully cut away some of the tubing so the wires can move more freely. This is not related to the problem you're experiencing, however.

Personally, I think Athearn's design is bad.

[dstaley]

Thanks to both of you for your thoughtful replies!

gbailey, you have a great point- however the pins are actually on the decoder side of the connector rather than in the harness side- the harness side has the sockets rather than pins. If bent pins were the source of the problem, wouldn't using another known good decoder have eliminated this possiblity?

I have two of these locomotives, and would you believe the other one has a problem too? The other one's problem is much different. The decoder works fine, however after a few brief moments of smooth operation the locomotive stopped rolling smoothly. While I studied the movement for signs of siderod bind, it stopped moving altogether. The motor was still running, but the locomotive no longer moved. The effect was just like what happens when a plastic gear splits and no longer grips the shaft.

So, they're both getting a ride to Athearn on Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully they will take care of this for me!

Thanks guys!
Douglas

[Anonymous]

I'm glad I read this thread. I to was having trouble with the 2-8-2 jumping track on my curves. I laid 22" minimum curves to avoid this problem only to find out it caused my Athearn to unrail constantly. I agree on the poor design of the wiring harness.

I'll try your suggestion and trim away the shrink wrap.

Thanks
Dave

[dstaley]

Hey guys, here's an update:
Athearn was very willing to fix the locomotive with the broken gear. However, since the other locomotive works OK on DC they were unwilling to believe that the problem was in the decoder. I tried to explain that any of the three decoders worked in the locomotive with the broken gear (it did not short out the layout, and at least the motor did run normally) but Athearn explained that they had no way of testing the locomotives on a DCC system. Athearn seemed to blame Samhongsa for the quality problems but was not willing to take ownership of finding a resolution.

To his credit, the gentleman I talked to went out of his way to personally help me even though he would not entertain the notion that the locomotive was faulty. He provided excellent detailed instructions for disassembling the locomotive, so I disassembled it myself and found some pinched wires near the motor. Once these were carefully rerouted, the locomotive works fine. It now is back together and seems to run very well.

I'm not sure why Athearn wasn't interested in taking care of this, but rather expected me to do their warranty work for them. At least they were willing to take care of the cracked gear.

I guess I just needed to vent. Thanks for putting up with my rant!

Douglas