Boy, that's a toughie. It could be a problem in assembly, materials, hours of use, design...
Maybe that bunch of engines had assembly problems, perhaps with wires or soldering. Maybe the batch of power wipers at the axles or wheels were of poor metallurgy and they are now in bad shape...oxidized. Or, they are not oxidized but are badly worn and make intermittent contact. Perhaps axles running in their retainers/bearings have worn larger retainers so that they axles no longer make good contact with the wipers. Perhaps the wheels' tires are worn the wrong shape and no longer make good contact for electrical purposes with the rails (a stretch, I know, but...).
What I am suggesting is that it may be a systemic problem with three or four key factors in the Genesis brand if you know for a fact that only they are experiencing this problem. If your Atlas engines run fine, do they have a decoder? Does the decoder have a capacitor? Capacitors hide dirty power transfer from dirty rails, wipers, wheels, etc. because they permit the engines to keep running as if nothing is amiss. Other decoders will cut out and come to a quick stop.
I am not being very helpful, but it means a process of elimination. If the track meters out okay and the Atlas engines do okay, it is something about the Genesis, and it will be part of design, assembly, or materials, or an unhappy confluence of all of those.
-Crandell
If your having problems with power pick ups on Genesis units they had a run pf bad power trucks on some of their earlier models. I unfortunately had four of them, an Athearn Customer service /repair are a top shelf bunch. They not only replaced the power trucks on all four of my locomotives Horizon picked up the shipping tab to boot. Please do yourself a big favor and before you go trying any of the fixes you read online about modifying the bearings or messing with the axles etc. give them a call. They are as I said a super bunch of guys and I'm sure they will be more then willing to help you out. I actually had less then a one week turnaround time on all four of mine.
hobo9941Why do I have so many power pickup problems with my Athearn locos, and none with my Atlas locos. I have about a dozen of each.
I love Atlas diesels, but I have had my share of power pickup problems with Atlas as well. I blame it on the quality control process. The wires are not always soldered securely, if they are soldered at all, on the trucks. And, sometimes, the fault lies in the decoder itself.
Whenever I buy a new loco, especially a diesel, I check the power pickups by lifting one end of the engine so that only one set of trucks are sitting on the rails. If the motor is engaging, I have power feeding up from the rails through that set of trucks. Then, I repeat the process by lifting the other end of the engine so that only the other set of trucks are sitting on the rails. If the motor is engaging, I have power feeding up from the rails through that other set of trucks.
If you just set a new engine on the tracks and it runs, that does not necessarily mean that all four trucks are picking up power.
Rich
Alton Junction
Just Call Athearn at the "Contact Us" number on their website. They are well aware of this problem and will fix it. Just ship the engines into them and they will "make it right". The fellow I spoke to at the Athearn repair department told me exactly what happened, and why many "Genesis" models are having power pickup problems. It has to do with a black decorative plating/coating they put on the metal pick-ups in the trucks that is interrupting the flow of power. I respect them for doing the right thing, although I am now "gun shy" about buying any more "Genesis" engines. All my DCC HO sound Atlas engines are absolutely flawless...thats tough competition!
I had power pickup problems on a brand new Athearn RTR locomotive purchased from a hobby shop in Tucson, Arizona. When I got it home, it would not even run. I discovered that there was so much black lacquer baked onto the truck sideframes that they were electrically dead. I had to disassemble the trucks and scrape the lacquer off. It has ran well since doing that.
I disassembled the trucks, and scraped some of that stuff off, and the engine ran better, but still stumbled and stalled. I guess I'm on the right track, but I didn't get it all.