Randy, thanks, I will try the loco minus the tender if it works then I will try rotating the tender trucks 180 or flipping the axles in the trucks.
Pete thanks for the reply, but the BLI light mikado does not have a smoke unit. I have 5 BLI locos and this is the first problem I have had ever. I am going to check the polarity from one side of the loco to the same side of the tender. I am hoping that the tender trucks are 180 degrees off.
If not the smoke unit then a little wire tracing may be in order. The track pickups from the tender may have been mistakenly connected to the wrong pins on the circuit board, opposite the way they should, which of ocurse would generate a short when the loco AND tender are ont he rails - since the left side loco would be conencted to the right side tender. Try just the loco and no tender - if it shorts, there's a problem in the engine or the smoke unit, if it requires both to be on the track to short it's probably a wiring problem.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Find the switch for the smoke unit and turn it off first. The smoke units are power robbers and most have already shorted out after an hour or so of running. Then try it out.
BLI has been known for a lack of quality control. The people they have assembling the locos must be paid piece work wages. Out of thousands of locos imported by them we always hear of the fifty or sixty that have issues. Some buyers are lucky and have no issues and others seem to get the lemons. Out of 8 BLI locos I only had one with an issue and they took care of it quickly. Their warranty service is great. If you think you can handle the repair yourself they have no problem sending you the parts. If you have to send it in it would take about 6 weeks turnaround time.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
after waiting 10 months for my light mikado from BLI, I received it in august and it sat in it's box until 9/18. I took it out of the box and put it on the programing track and the command station could not acquire the address. I placed it on the main to try it under the factory and the command station displayed the code for a short, as I lifted the engine off the rails the tender was still on the track the sounds came on, and when I advanced the throttle the drivers turned, but once I placed it back on the track the short code came on. The trucks for the tender are ok, no axles reversed, I am stumped, it must be inside the engine.
Has anyone ever had this problem, how did it get out of the factory? My other engines work fine, BLI, Proto 2K, Spectrum, Heritage Steam, Athearn and Stewart. I think one of the wires may short when there is weight on the engine