athearn's quiting

[sledgehammer]

I have a athrearn's switches that quits going down the track. I does not do it in the same place or at any givun time( ex if I ran it for 2 minutes and it quit). I ve clean the wheels and all the contacts. The best part is the light stays on . It 's not A DCC unit. Any sugestions.

[wp8thsub]

The fact that the headlight is staying on suggests the trucks are picking up power, but continuity could be interrupted elsewhere. It's possible for electricity to reach the light without making it to the motor. Remove the shell and ensure all of the necessary parts are establishing a path to the motor. The solution might be as simple as bending the metal contact bar a little so it contacts the trucks properly. Hard-wiring the trucks to the top motor contact strip can also bypass this problem, and is a more reliable solution.

You also could have a lot of dirt and corrosion built up in the motor. Check the commutator (the place where the motor brushes contact the shaft) and see if there's any buildup of goop that could interfere with contact. It's usually easy to clean with a stiff paintbrush dipped in isopropyl alcohol. Also ensure the brushes are aligned properly and making good contact; I've seen a few Athearn motors where the brushes were installed incorrectly and/or the springs intended to apply pressure against them weren't doing their job or were even missing.

Another possibility is a bind in the mechanism that is preventing the motor from turning. I had one Athearn mechanism that literally wouldn't move at all due to a severe bind caused by a combination of casting flash on the plastic gears and metal burrs on the washers on either side of a worm gear. A little work with a file cured everything and now the unit runs great.

[dknelson]

take the shell off and run the engine. when it quits poke at the metal strip that Athearn uses to conduct electricity in the unit. If it starts running again there is your problem
Contact with it can be unreliable and some replace it with wires.
Dave Nelson

[sledgehammer]

thanks for the reply . My problem was the motor not staying in its position and the contact at the bottom of the engine where not touching the frame making it lose contact and quit working.

[cwclark]

take a small piece of wire (22 gauge will work) and solder it to the bottom of the copper clip...then drill a hole in the frame, insert a small screw, and solder the other end of the wire to the screw...you'll never loose contact again....Chuck