MidlandPacific wrote: Egg on my face!The first thing I did last night was test the drivers with a power pack to make sure I got the spark from the uninsulated drivers - put one wire against the driver and another against the cylinder saddle. Got a spark from every one, so I knew it wasn't a problem with conduction - and when I slipped the tender on the drawbar and put it on the test track, it purred right away.
Egg on my face!
The first thing I did last night was test the drivers with a power pack to make sure I got the spark from the uninsulated drivers - put one wire against the driver and another against the cylinder saddle. Got a spark from every one, so I knew it wasn't a problem with conduction - and when I slipped the tender on the drawbar and put it on the test track, it purred right away.
Wipe the egg off your face, Midland, LOL! You just went through what I've gone through at least once, everytime I disassemble a loco for painting. Couldn't tell you HOW many times I've reversed the tender trucks or the motor-frame leads. But luckily, those little steam locomotives are pretty forgiving.
Enjoy the Bowser. I've heard wonderful things about their running and pulling capabilities.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
http://mprailway.blogspot.com
"The first transition era - wood to steel!"
and if the drawbar is made of an insulating material, the wire goes under the screw on the TENDER end.
Quick test, connect leads off your spare pack to just the motor to make sure it runs.
Then, to the frame of the loco and the frame of the tender.
As you work out from the motor, you will quickly see where the problem area starts.
This is classic troubleshooting.
One thing I've noticed in building several Bowser tenders- the contact between the trucks and the tender body can be problematic. You need to polish off the truck bolsters and the body bolsters. Make sure there's no paint or coating of any kind on either surface. Also, scrape the paint from the floor around the screw hole where the lead from the motor fastens on. Make sure, with an ohmmeter if possible, that there is electrical continuity between the body and the truck wheels. Do this with the tender sitting upright on the trucks. Make sure all your drivers have the insulated wheels on the left side (as viewed from above and behind the engine, looking forward). Same with the lead and trailing truck. The insulated tender wheels go on the right.
A good rule to remember: "Engine picks up from the engineer's side; the tender picks up from the fireman's side." The locomotive should always move forward when the right-hand (engineer's side) rail is positive.
---
Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
===================================
"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
The lead connects to the drawbar, and has a pair of insulators above and below it, so it looks as if the drawbar itself is supposed to be insulated. The motor didn't move, and the ammeter just barely jiggled - about as much as it did when I powered up an unoccupied block.
I think the Toms have hit it - the circuit must not be complete - the instructions don't say you need to test it with the tender, but it all sort of makes sense now. I'll check that, and I'll check the drivers.
MidlandPacific wrote:Tested it without tender - could that be the source of the problem? The leads go to the drawbar and the frame.
This could be your incomplete circuit. The power from one rail is picked up by the locomotive and from the other rail through the tender.
MidlandPacific wrote:So I'm working on a Bowser steam kit - painting it as I go. Got the motor mounted, and wired into the frame, per the instructions. Put it on the test track and opened the rheostat, and it didn't draw an amp. Any suggestions on potential causes? I'm going to give the wheels a going-over tonight with solvent to make sure the dullcoat didn't leach through the tape, but I'm having trouble believing that could have done it - I would think I could get at least some current and jerky motion. As it is, I get nothing.
If you have an Ammeter hooked up and you get a zero indication when you turn up the power, you have an open circuit. Something is interrupting the current flow from the power supply to the motor and back. You're possibly on the right track looking to see if you got paint or dullcoat somewhere that insulates the motor from the frame.
If this is one of the newer Bowser kits, they have a motor with two electrical leads, one from each brush, and the frame of the motor is not part of the circuit. One lead needs to be connected to the locomotive frame, and the other to the tender frame. This is to make DCC conversion easier.
As someone suggested earlier, connect the leads from your power supply directly to the motor brushes and see what happens. If it runs, you can then move one lead further through the circuit and try to track down the open circuit.
Did you get any action from the motor at all? If so, then it sounds like it might be the tender trucks. Another question--does the lead to the tender go directly INTO the tender (a screw or plug?) or to the drawbar itself?
I'll have to recheck the wheels - I thought I had it perfect, but those always turn out to be the most obvious mistakes, don't they?
I'm with Darth. It sounds as if possibly your tender trucks may have the insulated wheels on the same side as the loco insulated drivers. Did your rheostat give any indication of a short (humming, or jerking)? I'd connect the power leads to the loco itself (frame and tender lead) and see if you get any movement. If so, then it may be that the tender trucks need to be reversed.
Good luck. From what I hear, once you get the Bowser running, you've got yourself a real BRUTE of a puller!
My first suggestion would be to make sure all contact areas are clean. Also make sure all the engine pickup wheels are on the right, and the tender pickup wheels are on the left. If all the engine and tender pickup wheels are on the same side, the motor will only be getting current from one rail, and won't move or even draw current.
Does the motor work if you hook the power pack directly to the engine frame and tender frame?
_________________________________________________________________