Up grading old Blue boxes with DCC, it runs backwards?

[WSOR 3801]

Try running on DC.  Couple it up to a known proper running engine.  If it runs the wrong way, flip the motor leads.  I always run on DC first when installing decoders, no DCC at home yet. 

Looks like you were able to round up a Quick-Plug board.  Cheater.  I have hard-wired a couple of Athearn engines.  Not too hard, once you get the hang of it.

[rrinker]

 OK, with DCC, switchign the front and rear trucks will NOT change the direction it moves. Forward to teh decoder makes the motor spin one way, and it makes no difference which truck picks up power fromt eh right rail and which picks up from the left. You can see this with any of your locos, run it forward, adn see which way it goes. Pick it up adn turn it around 180, and notice it still moves towards the same end it was before (opposite relative to the track but same relative to the loco shell).

 Now, if you have the trucks installed as above, so that the proper one is in the front (just to be consistent with other Athearn locos - since again, it won;t affect DCC direction - but if you ever switch it back to DC it will be a head scratcher if you don't make it like the others)  and it moves thewrong way, the next step is to check the lights. If forward makes it move backwards, but the correct light is on, it's the motor leads. If the direction AND lights are backwards, either the decoder is backwards or someone programmed the normal direction of travel in CV29. Out of the package the decoder should NOT have this set, but you never know. Easiest thing to do is flip the decoder, the design of the plug and socket is such that rather than damaging the decoder if it is plugged in backwards, it will simply make the loco run the wrong way. The 9-pin linear sockets are keyed and you shouldn't be able to plug it in upside down, but the 8-pin plugs and sockets are not.

 

                       --Randy
 

[Mark R.]

Man, I swear - we're getting as frustrated as you are !!! So, are you saying it's working ok now or not !?!  If not, have you followed ALL the suggestions / tests given to you above ? IF it runs in one direction, there is NO physical means the motor will not run in the other direction. Unfortunately for those of us trying to help, we're getting zero feedback from you on all the individual tests we've submitted to help you narrow down the problem .... sorry, pictures are of little or no value when trying to decipher a problem like this. If you can't give us any results to the tests we've provided, we're stuck at square one indefinitely.

Mark.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

If it's going in the oppisite direction from what it should, ie: reverse when the other loco is going forward and forward when the other is in reverse, it sounds to me that the motor has somehow been turned upside down. I had an analog Athearn BB F7 that did that. The previous owner had taken out the contact strip and soldered in wires. They were hooked up + pickup to the - side of the motor and - pickup to the + side of the motor. It ran the wrong way every time. I simply took the wires loose and resoldered them where they belonged, + to + and - to -. It's run the right way ever since. It runs so well that I even converted it to DCC.

[loathar]

Are you saying it only goes in one direction? If you push the other direction button does it just stop or does it go the same direction no matter which button you press? If it just stops, it's probably the decoder.

[Anonymous]

Use it for a trailing unit.

[cudaken]

 Nope, it still runs the wrong way. Here are some PIC I was sent when I bought the motors.

 This is sort of where it is now.

 In the above PIC you should be able to see the added weight under the fly wheels.

 While trying to get it to run forward when the command station is sat for forward  it runs backwards when I set the command station for backwards it run forward. I flipped the the board and the decoder is toward the rear where the loan coupler is. Could that be the problem? I had the plug facing toward the front while I was running it in DC? Now in DCC Decoder is toward the rear.  

 Either way it runs great! Low power draw, pulling 32 cars like there is nothing behind it.  Plus it will cook at WOT going to guess 120 sMPH. 

 Thanks for all the kind answers.

 

        Wrong Way Ken Posting Again.            

[Mark R.]

So - Was this problem ever resolved ??? 

Mark.

[Big Beast]

I had this same problem. Trust me when they say switch the trucks out. By you saying that dont work means your train is defying the laws of DC current. It is posible you might have put the same truck back in the same spot. Before switching them out Tag them on the bottem like CT for cab truck and RT for rear truck. ( Mark them for where you want to switch to not where they currently are.)

[Mark R.]

I'm still confused what you have ....

• IF it's an old blue-box engine, the trucks are common ground to the frame - where are you getting the two truck wires ???
• A new motor with circuit board is isolated from the frame - no common ground, again, where are you picking up the "ground" connection?

Get the thing functioning properly on DC first, if you can't get it to work on DC, adding a decoder won't cure anything. There's something missing in the equasion ....

Mark. 

[modelmaker51]

Yeah, is it running in both directions, just opposite of the other locos? In that case, yes, you can change the direction of travel with a CV change.

[Mark R.]

Ok - Let me make sure I understand .... it will only run backwards ??? No matter what you do, the engine will NOT run forward ???

Have you bench tested the motor by itself on DC to be certain the motor WILL turn in both directions ? The original Athearn board may have a diode oriented incorrectly (rare) that will prevent reverse polarity from reaching the motor - if that is the case, a decoder plugged into the board will act in the same manner. Try eliminating the Athearn board and hard wire the motor directly for DC and see how it works.

If swapping the truck leads don't change the direction, reversing the motor magnets WILL change the rotation, but it still won't reverse when the polarity is changed.

Mark.

[Darth Santa Fe]

If this is an older one, you should be able to open the motor easily. Try flipping the magnets upside-down, so the top magnet is on the bottom, and the bottom on the top. This will reverse the direction the motor turns, which is how Athearn's SD40s, DASH 9s and 2 motor DD40s run forward (I've played with Athearn motors enough to figure these things out ).

[Mark R.]

Turn the body around on the frame !!! 

Mark. 

 

[cudaken]

Swap the front and back trucks, all ready did that. Still the goes backwards.

 

                Ken

[modelmaker51]

Swap the front and back trucks.

[Mark R.]

If the value in CV29 for your decoder is either 2 or 4, add 1 - conversely, if the address is 3 or 5, subtract one.

Mark.

[Anonymous]

Does it run backwards, when the throttle is set for reverse? You can change CV 29 to a value of 7, I believe, to change the norman direction of travel.

[loathar]

Swap the front and back trucks.

[cudaken]

 I have a old FP-45 blue box with steel wheels so it is old.  I bought a few motors and drive shafts for Athearn Dash 8 DCC ready with Hex drive shafts. But no matter what I do it wants to run backwards on DC and Now DCC?

 Motor will only fit one way, I tried to turn it around and one drive shaft was to long and other was to short. Flipped the PC board backwards, still runs backwards. Crossed the power leds from the trucks to the PC board. Took the + side to the - side, still runs backwards?

 I have had this problem when it was DC only, I have tried all of the above with a Digitrax DH132D decoder and still the same problem.

 Can I change the decoder CV so it runs the same way as the other engines on start up? I added about 1 oz of weight and it pulls great and good slow speed as well. Looking forward to some help on this one.

 Did the old athearn Blue boxs turn in a driffrent drection than the new Athearn?

 Jeffery, I bet you have the answer!

                  Cuda Ken