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<p>[quote user="richhotrain"]</p> <div class="quote-header"> </div> <blockquote class="quote"> <div class="quote-user">BMMECNYC</div> <div class="quote-content"> <p>  </p> <blockquote class="quote"> <div class="quote-user">thomas81z</div> <div class="quote-content"> <p>Ohh ok thats good to know thanks</p> <blockquote class="quote"> <div class="quote-user">richhotrain</div> <div class="quote-content"> <p> </p> <blockquote class="quote"> <div class="quote-user">thomas81z</div> <div class="quote-content"> <p>So the  S1 & S2 switchers have the motor ground problem but not the PA's & SD'S ???</p> <div style="clear:both;"> </div> </div> </blockquote> <p>The Proto 2000 S1 and S3 switchers have the problem, no other P2K loco to my knowledge.</p> <p>Rich</p> </div> </blockquote> <p>  </p> </div> </blockquote> <p>Do not assume, just because someone else has not had a problem doesnt mean something could be lurking.  The best advice is that you should always check for a path for short circuits before installing a decoder.</p> <p> </p> </div> </blockquote> <div class="quote-footer"> </div> <p> </p> <p>No assumption on my part. As I did say, "no other P2K loco to my knowledge".</p> <p> </p> <p>The discussion of the infamous orange wire on the S1 and the S3 has taken place on more than one model railroad forum and on more than one web site, Tony's Trains Exchange, Digitrax, and Loy's Toys, just to name a few.</p> <p>According to informed sources, the problem began with the design of a short wheebase diesel locomotive. The lower motor brush is insulated from the motor frame, but the lower brush cap has a metal tab which is bent so as to contact the lower portion of the metal chassis.</p> <p>Life-Like did this to shortcut the need to solder a wire to the lower brush cap cap which would have required a path back up the PC board. Instead, the manufacturer installed a small metal lug under the upper frame mounting screw which is located under the front headlamp and then ran a wire to the PC board to complete the circuit from the lower brush through the frame.</p> <p>Life-Like subsequently acknowledged this design error and said that it was unique to the S1 and S3 switchers.  On the longer wheelbase diesel locos, there was enough room to avoid taking this shortcut.</p> <p>Rich</p> <p>[/quote]</p> <p>Rich,</p> <p>Wasnt really meant for you, more for thomas81z.  I pulled the motors on my LL SD60s, while I did not find an athearn frame power supply clip, I did install kapton tape over the motor power clip on the top and bottom of the motor, to be sure the motor or the wire I had to resolder to the clip (shoddy solder job on the bottom clip/broken wire) didnt energize the frame, ever.  Even though I only put in a $19 NCE decoder, I felt it was worth the piece of mind should I decide to add sound at a later date. </p> <p>Edit:  I should note that I bought these LL P2k SD60s on EBay and the seller did not have the original box and they had some detail parts, but not all applied.  I did not know if the original owner had done modifications (IE rewire to run long hood end to end, et cetera), that is the reason I stripped these down to the bare chassis. </p>
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