Proto 2000 problems & Athearn Genesis 2-8-2 problem

[Anonymous]

I was test running some HO Proto 2K diesels yesterday - ffirst time ever since purchasing them - and the following did/didn't happen-

SW 9 - dead. No lights, no power, no apparant missing wires, no jambed gearsets, motor armature/flywheels turn freely (w/ one's finger, not power)

SD7 - only would run in one direction. In one direction, operation was fine, w/ lights, etc./ when reversing direction, all was dead, incl. lights.

I assume that the problem is in the circuit boards, as the wheels are clean, and both units were new, out of the box, but purchased several ago, so returning to Trainworld won't work, and I'd prefer not to send them back to Life-Like if there's a simple fix.

BTW - the balance of my roster ran fine on thesame track/same power supply, except a new Athearn Genesis 2-8-2 that wouldn't track thru any #6 or #8 switches, without the lead set of drivers jumping the rails, but that sucker is going back to Athearn unless a simple fix is found. Apparantly it's a quite common challenge with this item. (my Genesis 4-6-2 ran just fine on the same stretch of track)

Any suggestions would be welcomed! Thanks.
BILL

[Anonymous]

I haven't had any proto problems but the 2-8-2 had the same problems on my layout they also suffer from broken axles i believe reading somewhere.I really think this is why they were discontinued.

[orsonroy]

Bill,

try removing the lead truck spring and adding a little weight to the truck. That usually does the trick for steam.

[dano99a]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bill mathewson


SW 9 - dead. No lights, no power, no apparant missing wires, no jambed gearsets, motor armature/flywheels turn freely (w/ one's finger, not power)


I assume that the problem is in the circuit boards, as the wheels are clean, and both units were new, out of the box, but purchased several ago, so returning to Trainworld won't work, and I'd prefer not to send them back to Life-Like if there's a simple fix.

I had a similar problem though the chip board that comes in the P2K SW9 is mainly for the lights, granted it does route power from the trucks to the motor.
Try running power directly to the motor by touching wires to the posts that are on the motor itself. If it doesn't run then you need a new motor (you can get one from LL for about $25)

I know you said these are new but, the SW9's have these weird copper armatures that transfer power from the wheel sets to the wires, in my experience these got caked with crap and needed to be cleaned. Additionally I bent inward the pieces of metal where the holes were punched by the manufacturer(for the wheels sets) to get better electrical contact.

I'm assuming that all the gears have good grease in them? or better yet, when you take it off the motor do the gears turn freely?

I'm not familar with the SD7 but I'll bet it's very similar to a GP7.
Since I use DCC I have a bunch of the GP7 curcuit boards left over, I'll gladly send you one if you'd like. Actually I think I may have my old SW9 board as well.

Email me if you'd like one or both, it might help you out.

[:)]

[Anonymous]

I have the P2K SD7 and I've had some problems as well. Mine ran forward, but when I tried to run it backwards only the lights turned on and I could hear a humming from the motor. After taking the shell of the chasis, it turned out the shell was too large for the frame and it hit the motor when it tried to run backwards. Filing the shell down proved to be the solution and now it runs great.

[Vampire]

Regarding the SD7 and SW9 problems, it sounds like some of the diodes for directional lighting may be bad or in backwards (or possibly missing?). The motor current has to pass thru these to generate the 1.5V which the lights use (approx 0.7V across each diode) and diodes only conduct in one direction.
Unfortunately I can't tell you how the diodes are supposed to be laid out on the circuit board... haven't had this trouble with any of my P2k units. If you happen to have another P2k in working order you could compare the circuit boards and see if there are any obvious differences. Apart from that, try contacting Life-Like. These are manufacturing defects and they should be willing and able to get them taken care of. I once contacted them about replacing a broken eccentric crank (darn things should've been made of metal, not plastic) on my P2k 2-8-8-2. They sent me 2 complete cylinder and valve gear sets! Now that's customer service!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the advise, and especially to Dano for your offer !
Dano - YGM

[BRAKIE]

Bill,A lot of us at the club had various problems with our P2K locomotives from crack gears to your problems.Several of the guys removed the circuit boards and hard wired the drives. This seem to fix the problems they was having..
I would send that 2-8-2 back to Athearn and have them to fix the problem.