General Discussion (Model Railroader)

 I have a Athearn RS 3, non sound...in which I've installed a decoder.  The engine will travel about 1 foot and stop.  Upon taking off the body shell and checking the wiring leads from the light board I can find nothing wrong.  One of the symptoms is that if I gently apply sideways pressure to the engine.. i.e., taking a fingernail and pressing slightly on the side walkway, something somewhere makes contact again and off it goes, only to stop within 3 feet or so.  I thought that if I could remove the trucks maybe there is an electric contact under there that I can inspect/clean, but I don't see a way to remove them.  The instruction sheet is no help at all.  The only screws shown in the instructions are four for the motor, the coupler screws, and a couple of screws to hold the body on.  Anyone have experience taking the trucks off or could tell me what electric connections might be there?

Thanks,

Jarrell

Jarrell,

I've heard others here on the forum complain about the pickups on the Athearn RS-3s.  I'll look forward to hearing the contributions to this thread.

Tom

 Jarrell

I have experienced this exact problem with both an RS3 and anF7 Genesis locomotive. Some of the earlier Genesis had defective trucks where the side frames didn't make good contact with the wheel sets. The electrical pick ups for the motor is in the side frame. If you call customer svc. at Athearn they are really good people. I sent back both units and got the trucks replaced for free.

 Do the trucks look like regular Athearn trucks, with the square brass bearings on the axle?  If so, remove the bottom plate, take the axles out, and try cleaning up the metal plate the bearings rest in.  The blackener/paint is most likely getting in the way of proper performance. 

jacon12:

 I have a Athearn RS 3, non sound...in which I've installed a decoder.  The engine will travel about 1 foot and stop.  Upon taking off the body shell and checking the wiring leads from the light board I can find nothing wrong.  One of the symptoms is that if I gently apply sideways pressure to the engine.. i.e., taking a fingernail and pressing slightly on the side walkway, something somewhere makes contact again and off it goes, only to stop within 3 feet or so.  I thought that if I could remove the trucks maybe there is an electric contact under there that I can inspect/clean, but I don't see a way to remove them.  The instruction sheet is no help at all.  The only screws shown in the instructions are four for the motor, the coupler screws, and a couple of screws to hold the body on.  Anyone have experience taking the trucks off or could tell me what electric connections might be there?

Thanks,

Jarrell

Oh boy, this is certainly the week for Athearn RS3 problems.  I, and others, have been contributing several threads to this forum and other regarding performance problems with the RS3.

Below are two excellent links relating specifically to disassembly and tuneup of the Athearn RS3.  One of the links, in particular, discusses removal and disassembly of the trucks.  There is probably electrical interruption occurring in the trucks or drivetrain.

http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.html

http://www.horailroading.net/features/solutions/athearn-tuneup.htm

One practice that I always follow is to test the engine in DC mode on a separate track wired for DC before installing a decoder and running on DCC. Before disassembling the trucks and drivetrain, you may want to remove the decoder and test performance in DC mode.

One key area to look at is the wire connection to the truck.  It is soldered to a brass clip and, in my experience, the connection is shaky.

Good luck,

Rich

 Much obliged for to everyone for the answers and links.  A friend, that is pretty knowledgeable in model railroading (much, much more than me) was over yesterday trying to find what the problem was, but couldn't.  I told him I knew a bunch of guys that probably would...   

You gotta love the internet!

Jarrell

 This is exactly the problem I had with mine. Disassembly of the mechanism is exactly like a Blue Box loco, the work cover on top is what holds the truck in (although now there is a wire rather than the metal clip for the one pickup - careful not to break the wire off). Don't loose the bronze bushings arounf the worm, either. On the bottom, there is a clip over the wheelsets that snaps off, then you cna remove each wheelset. What I did on mine was solder a wire to the metal truck frame on the other side (the side that didn't have a wire already) on each truck and connected those wires to the one that is screwed to the chassis - thus pickup comes in via the wire rather than the bolster contact point on top of the trucks.

 To be honest I was quite disappointed with this loco. I waited a long time to get one, and while the detailing is outstanding, I can't understand how what are ostensibly 'improvements' over the odl Blue Box mechanism ends up being far worse, at least when it comes to electrical pickup. It is quieter, and draws less current, but that doesn't help when it won't move. If they re-release these, I certainly hope they fix those issues.

                                     --Randy

rrinker:

 This is exactly the problem I had with mine. Disassembly of the mechanism is exactly like a Blue Box loco, the work cover on top is what holds the truck in (although now there is a wire rather than the metal clip for the one pickup - careful not to break the wire off). Don't loose the bronze bushings arounf the worm, either. On the bottom, there is a clip over the wheelsets that snaps off, then you cna remove each wheelset. What I did on mine was solder a wire to the metal truck frame on the other side (the side that didn't have a wire already) on each truck and connected those wires to the one that is screwed to the chassis - thus pickup comes in via the wire rather than the bolster contact point on top of the trucks.

 To be honest I was quite disappointed with this loco. I waited a long time to get one, and while the detailing is outstanding, I can't understand how what are ostensibly 'improvements' over the odl Blue Box mechanism ends up being far worse, at least when it comes to electrical pickup. It is quieter, and draws less current, but that doesn't help when it won't move. If they re-release these, I certainly hope they fix those issues.

                                     --Randy

 

Thanks Randy for the reply.  My only previous experience with Athearn was the SW 1500 in "River Street (Savannah, Ga.) Rambler" colors.  I don't want to beat up a mfg. but the two... the 'rambler' and this RS-3 has cured my desired to buy other Athearn's..    I understand the Genesis line is much better built?

I'm not good at disassembly of engines, I tend either to break or lose at least one crucial part.  If this were not a new engine but rather one picked up for a song at a train show etc., I say the heck with it and take it apart just for the experience.   Right now I'm leaning toward packing it up and sending it to Athearn for repair/replacement. 

It sounds like you did the best thing by hard wiring electrical connections instead of relying on the mfgs. method....  or non method.

Jarrell

jacon12:

I don't want to beat up a mfg. but the two... the 'rambler' and this RS-3 has cured my desired to buy other Athearn's..    I understand the Genesis line is much better built?

Athearn's had more quality control issues since they sent production to China, but they're still a very good brand. I have the RTR Gas Turbine, and it is an absolutely fantastic runner.

The early Genesis diesels (the first 4 years or so) had problems with noisy gearing and warping truck sides, which caused the axles to fall out at random. The newer ones on the other hand are excellent. I have an older SD75M that runs well after extensive tweaking, and a newer F3A that was perfect right out of the box. I like them both, but the refined gearing and Roco motor in the F3 work much better than the sloppier gearing and Buehler motor in the SD75.

You might give disassembling the RS-3 a try. The standard Athearn drive is very easy to work on. If you're worried about losing parts, keep a muffin tray or something nearby to put all the loose parts in. In all my days of trial and error work and breaking stuff, I've never broken an Athearn truck, simply because they're so durable.

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Since this is electrical, it should be in the Electrical forum, but anyway, the link below might cover this issue I believe. It is a major project so you will have to look around but the pickups are mentioned. Good luck. You can save this to your PC.

http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/gInnSpkV3vUzc0498kE1PCpDVy5Axw-knId_qN_sDHhuk5uuTaHxilXcGFPZVptbnpnraDMhe9Ewu_ACOZNC_jrUj4wuEeuz6g/Athearn%20RS3%20Sound%20Install%20Thru%20Step%20%2320.pdf

For some reason the link goes away after a few hours or so. This is in the Yahoo  RPMclinics-RickBell Group and a lot of good information in the Files section if you join the Yahoo Groups.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RPMclinics-RickBell/

Rich

 AND.... I hear they have great customer service too! 

I know that you get what you pay for, so maybe in the $80 price range one shouldn't expect a Kato.  I have only one of those and love it, so smooth and quite.  Reminds me of a well made Swiss watch.  I understand that mfg's are trying to make a product within a certain price point because of competition and, well.... what people can afford.  To solder connections, or add more wiring does run up the price per unit, possible to the point some aren't willing to buy the product.

Still, I think that if I buy another Athearn unit it will be in the Genesis line, just as in Atlas I tend to go for the Silver or sometimes even Gold line.  But, there are those times when you just can't find what you want in model and road name and you buy what you can get.  I'm sure Athearn makes good products, I was just unlucky to get two in a row that weren't.  Other potential buyers shouldn't go by ONE persons experience.  As a matter of fact, one of the guys in our modular club has this same model and it runs great.  That's what got me interested in it in the first place.

Anyway, thanks for the input!

Jarrell

Well, if you want a better running RS-3, I think Bowser will be releasing a Stewart version eventually. They have the shell kits for sale right now, and they say they're working on a mechanism for it.

 Unless they completely redo the shell, no thanks. The upgraded MDC shell used in the Athearns is far better than the original Stewart shells. Hmm - now there's an idea, I have an MDC kit with the P2K drive I could put my Athearn shell on. Then when I get around to building the MDC kit and changing the necessary details, I can rework the Athearn drive to make it bulletproof. The P2K drive in the MDC kit is super smooth and quiet. Now if Bowser offers just the drive, and it's as good as good as the ones int eh AS16 (new, not Athearn clone ones) or the F units, then that's another possibility.

                                          --Randy

Stewart sells all of their mechanisms separately, so I'm guessing they'll do the same for the RS drive. Put one of those under the Athearn shell, and you'll have the best RS-3 ever.

I never met an Athearn I didn't need to "tune up" Athearn RTR stuff is basically assembled Blue Box with some updates, but it's still BB technoloy and materials, (with the exception of the "hex" drive line). They probably should come a labal stating: Some Tuning May Be Required. "RTR" is like "DCC Ready", it can mean different things. I don't mind doing the tuneups, I been tinkering with Athearns for 30 yrs and find the RTR to be good value even with the tinkering - they usually become good reliable runners, but I can understand how those who haven't  assembled kits can feel.

The only true ready to run locos I've had the pleasure to run staight out of the box everytime are Atlas, (Atlas/Kato and Atlas China).