I will say, the one that didn't/doesn't work, wasn't totally dead, it just ran like a cheap train set loco with pickup on 2 wheels of each truck only. Stalled on things that didn't even cause the headlight to flicker in other locos. It didn;t short my DCC system.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
rrinker The RS3's are Ready to Roll, not Genesis locos. They seem to have rather inconsistent quality control - I had to get 2 to get one good runner. The issue was power pickup. Like old Blue Box locos, one side of the power pickup is through the chassis, transferred from the truck by the frame resting on the bolster. But what appears to do these locos in is the inclusion of a piece of black plactic behind the sideframes, in a BB loco you could see the shiny metal stampings of the truck frames behind the sideframes, distracting and not very prototypical, so they not have a piece of plastic in there to hid this. However, they still rely on the bronze bushings to touch the metal part of the truck to transfer power from the wheels. It appears that this plastic can keep the bushing from pressing tight against the metal of the truck - the weight is carries on the plastic instead of the metal. On my first one, I went so far as to solder wires to the metal sides of the tricks to bypass the friction path at the bolster, this is an old trick with BB locos to improve pickup. However, it did not fix that one. I ended up buying another in a different road name and it ran perfectly fine out of the box, so I just swapped shells. The real fix, it appears, is goign to be to solder some fine wire right to the bronze busings and run that to the track inputs of the decoder (or the factory board) As for sound - a sound decoder is smaller than the factory board + motor decoder combo, and sugar cube speakers are even narrower than the RS3 hood. So plenty of room to fit sound in there. --Randy
The RS3's are Ready to Roll, not Genesis locos. They seem to have rather inconsistent quality control - I had to get 2 to get one good runner. The issue was power pickup.
Like old Blue Box locos, one side of the power pickup is through the chassis, transferred from the truck by the frame resting on the bolster. But what appears to do these locos in is the inclusion of a piece of black plactic behind the sideframes, in a BB loco you could see the shiny metal stampings of the truck frames behind the sideframes, distracting and not very prototypical, so they not have a piece of plastic in there to hid this. However, they still rely on the bronze bushings to touch the metal part of the truck to transfer power from the wheels. It appears that this plastic can keep the bushing from pressing tight against the metal of the truck - the weight is carries on the plastic instead of the metal.
On my first one, I went so far as to solder wires to the metal sides of the tricks to bypass the friction path at the bolster, this is an old trick with BB locos to improve pickup. However, it did not fix that one. I ended up buying another in a different road name and it ran perfectly fine out of the box, so I just swapped shells. The real fix, it appears, is goign to be to solder some fine wire right to the bronze busings and run that to the track inputs of the decoder (or the factory board)
As for sound - a sound decoder is smaller than the factory board + motor decoder combo, and sugar cube speakers are even narrower than the RS3 hood. So plenty of room to fit sound in there.
I won't argue with you. I'm working from memory and I've had these locos at least a dozen years. My first thought was that they were RTR but the more I thought about it, I thought I remembered adding decoders. You're probably right.
Thanks for all the other good info. If these act up again, I'll give your suggestions a try. I might even try to add sound. Since I have to replace the one decoder anyway, that would be a good candidate to try it.
As per Mister Beasley's suggestion, I took the shell off and tried to pull the plug from the decoder but it was in so tight I was afraid I would damage it if I tried to force it so I just jiggled a few wires to make sure they were snug. Without putting the shell back on, I put the loco back on the track and it began running fine. Then I snapped the shell back on and within seconds, it shorted out causing a shutdown. I took the shell back off, jiggled a few more wires, lifted the decoder out and then put it back in the cradle, snapped the shell back on and this time it ran fine. I did the same with the second loco. Again ran fine with the shell off but had to take it off and put it back on several times before it wouldn't short out. The third loco, the one that was dead from the beginning has remained so. I'm guessing it needs a decoder replacement. I'll take two out of three.
Not sure what I did that fixed the problem. The body of the RS3 is quite narrow so there isn't a lot of free space inside the shell. My guess is that the vibration from running the locos on the wheel cleaner caused something to touch something it shouldn't have and just playing around with the wires has apparently fixed the problem, at least for now.
On a side note, I believe RS3s are now available with factory sound. Not sure how they do that with so little room inside the shell. I have no idea where I could put the speaker if I wanted to add sound to the three I have.
It's an odd failure. Could it be unrelated to the locos and a tool left across the rails?
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
mbinsewi The DH123 is an old decoder, the current version being the DH126. Can you put the jumper plug back on and try it with DC ? If you can get any response at all, try a reset. Mike.
The DH123 is an old decoder, the current version being the DH126. Can you put the jumper plug back on and try it with DC ?
If you can get any response at all, try a reset.
Mike.
The decoder is old but that is no reason it should stop working. I'm trying to figure out why suddenly all three decoders would go dead. One of them seemed to be dead when I put it on the rails but the other two were working but then suddenly died.
MisterBeasley Have you tried removing a decoder, blowing some air into the jack, cleaning the contacts on the decoder and putting it back together? Is your track cleaner a soft pad, or a wire or abrasive one?
Have you tried removing a decoder, blowing some air into the jack, cleaning the contacts on the decoder and putting it back together?
Is your track cleaner a soft pad, or a wire or abrasive one?
I'll give it a try but I think that's a long shot. The plug looks pretty snug. I'll also have a fluid that supposed to improve conductivity (not the RailZip). I'll put a dab of that on the points to see if that improves it.
The cleaning pads are soft. When I put a loco with dirty wheels on the cleaning pad, in the beginning, I can hear it the engine starting and stopping as the electrical connection is sporadic until the wheels get clean. I'm wondering if that continuous starting and stopping in rapid succession might have harmed the decoders.
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It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
richg1998 First of all, I would never use a wheel cleaner on a DCC loco. My way. Brand, model of decoder? It might be shorted. Guess. Decoders do not go bad sitting on the shelf. Rich
First of all, I would never use a wheel cleaner on a DCC loco. My way.
Brand, model of decoder? It might be shorted. Guess.
Decoders do not go bad sitting on the shelf.
Rich
What is your reason for not using a wheel cleaner? I have used mine countless times in the past without a problem. The Woodland Scenics wheel cleaner is a shell with a short section of track and cleaning pads on the outside of the rails. The loco will run to one end of the track or the other and then the wheels will spin in place while the loco remains stationary. Could running the loco in place cause electrical surges that could short out a decoder? This has never happened before but maybe I've just been lucky.
MisterBeasley Did these engines have decoders when built? Did you or someone else install them? Have you pulled the shells off to check for loose wires?
Did these engines have decoders when built? Did you or someone else install them? Have you pulled the shells off to check for loose wires?
These are Athearn Genesis locos. It has been so long ago that I got them that I almost didn't remember how they arrived. My first inclination was to say they were factory installed decoders but after looking inside, I remember now they came DCC ready and have Digitrax DH123 plug-in decoders in them. The wiring on the one I looked at appears to be solid. I don't think the problem is loose wires because the symptoms don't seem to indicate to me that would be the problem. It seems to me the problem is probably with the electronics but I'm not sure what it could be or what would have caused this. I'd like to figure this out so in the future I don't destroy more decoders.
To answer the other responder, I use RailZip which I know some people frown on but I have gotten good results with it and I used it on my Woodland Scenics wheel cleaner, not on the layout track. My DCC system is a Lenz, with CVP wireless throttles.
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
What wheel cleaner, what brand locos, what DCC system?
I have three non-sound RS3 diesels that I haven't run for several years that I am going to start using again as I have added commuter operations to my layout. When I put the first one on the layout, it was completely dead. It did not respond to any commands nor did the headlight come on. I put it on my programming track to try to reprogram the address but it failed to take. When I put the second one on the layout the headlight came on and when I tried to start it, it was hesitant. I put it on my wheel cleaner and it began to run smoothly for a short while and then suddenly, the DCC system shut down indicating a short. I was unable to restart it until I removed the RS3 from the wheel cleaner. After restarting the DCC system, I put the RS3 back on the layout and the system immediately shutdown. I repeated this several times before setting the RS3 aside. I then went through the same sequence of events with this one as well. It ran for several seconds on the wheel cleaner before shutting down the DCC system and then would cause a shutdown each time I put it back on the track.
Now I am trying to figure out what went wrong. Can decoders go bad just sitting on the shelf for several years? Could running these locos on the wheel cleaner have caused the decoders to get fried and then short out the system. I have used this wheel cleaner numerous times in the past without problem so I don't know why it would be a problem now.
Any suggestions?