Yeah, and I finally got them off. On the parts sheet it looked like they just pulled off, but I just couldn't get them too. Never thought I would say I was being to gentle with a HO scale locomotive... They do just come straight off the side. And, now that they are off, they really needed cleaning. There was a ton of grease and oil. Once they were cleaned it runs perfectly. Thanks to all.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Did your 8-40CW come with an exploded view sheet?
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Does anyone have any tips on how to remove the sideframes from the HO 8-40CW? I can't seem to get it. Can they come off without dropping the entire assembly from the chassis?
Yea, I've had that exact thing happen with dirty wheels on my Atlas HH600/660, Rick. If you've cleaned the wheels and the track, then cleaning the contacts would seem the next logical plan. Keep us posted...
Yeah, Tom, David, Thanks for that tip. Unfortunately thats not the issue, as I did check that on a straight segment about 6 feet long that has soldered joints. (But I am going to solder all the joints anyway, so that doesn't happen in the future. ) Even there it only goes for about 6-7 inches max, then stops, everything on the loco shuts off, then it restarts as sound and lights come back on, then again 6-7 inches tops and does it all over again.
Rick,
You might want to try your locomotive on a single piece of flex-track first to determine if your rail joiners are not the issue, as David mentioned earlier. Loose rail joiners will definitely give you intermittent electrical problems. And the Atlas Gold decoders are more sensitive to those interruptions, too; more so than other decoders.
Now it's time for a stupid question, but, to disassemble the trucks, do I need to drop the whole assembly from the chassis, or am I missing something? My two C424's I can get the sideframes off, bachmann I've got off, but this one I can't seem to figure out. Any tips?
If this Atlas Gold line is a newer locomotive, chances are the pickup wires are attached to the trucks with black, slip-on clips that are notorious for coming loose during shipping. Remove those plastic clips and solder the wires to the trucks. If the decoder also uses those plastic clips, remove them and solder all the wires.
It seems that every manufacturer in China is using those plastic clips instead of solder to avoid environmental laws and the cost of soldering the wires. No lead, no environmental problems. And unskilled workers can assemble the models.
Put the loco on the track and let the sound come on at idle. Lift just the front or the back just a little. If the sound quits you have a problem in one of the truck not picking up power. Even if the wires look ok one could be loose on the board or where they attach to the truck.
Bob
Similar issue with two trainmasters with sound. Everything including stops one locomotive slows and speeds up out of time with the second unit. appeared to be fighting each other. CVP system in use 1st day at club layout. 2 units would not pull 40 cars together. I do not know enough about the system to know if it was a programing issue or not. I would love to hear the discussion on this topic and the solutions that come up so I can try them as well.
Next time I will take a BLI paragon 2-10-4 and 2 Atlas H16-44s and see how they perform. I will also try and read the manuals for all the items in question, locos and cvp system and see what is up with possibilities of conflicts electronically.
Thanks everyone
Rob
Yeah, sound and lights shut off too. I did pull off the shell, everything looks connected, but I'll re-check that. Should I try disassembling the trucks?
DOes the sound stop and the lights go off, or does it just stop moving?
If the former, something's still dirty or loose. Dirty pickups, or a wire loose inside.
If the latter, you probbaly have the same address selected more than once so the thwo throttle settings are fighting one another. Make sure the throttle is at stop and the direction lever is in the brake position, then press Loco and Exit to release it properly.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Ok, I have a HO scale Atlas 8-40CW Gold line unit, a 4x10 layout, flex track, feeders every 3-4 feet, and a digitrx zypher system. The loco will come on, and moves a little, but then it will shut off. If you put pressure on it it will come back on, but then repeats. I have cleaned both the tracks, and the loco wheels, but it still continues. None of my other 4 running units (though not sound...athearn bb gp60, 2 atlas C424's, bachmann 8-40CW) will do this. Any ideas???