BLI and DIRT

[claycts]

The BLI Hudson seam to hate any kind of dirt anyplace. I have to clean the wheels about everytime I want to run it and NOT use the 0-5-0 helper.
Anybody else have this problem? This thing hates unpowered frogs (have a few where we are still building) anything on the track, spec of dust you name it.
I tried the Miniatronics' Electrak Clean II and that is of no help. Using their formula of 20 min for a 4x8 Figure 32 sq ft is 20 min then 890 sq feet would be 556 min=over 9 hours of letting your engine PU***hat thing around.
Wet dry looks like the answer.[soapbox]

[NZRMac]

Have you checked that all the wheels are picking up power, run an ohm meter along them.

Ken.

[selector]

Yeah, it sounds like you have contamination, dirt, lint, whatever, somewhere near the pickups, maybe a broken wire. Did you overlube the axles under the pickups? Maybe you used the wrong stuff under the pickups? I take it the wheels are shiny and clean.

I have had no problems whatsoever on my turnouts, and I just ran my BLI J1 through Fast Tracks #8's, two of them, with insulated frogs. Something is amiss with that loco, probably some guck or lint wrapped around a place where it should not be.

One other possiblity is the tender hook-up to the loco may not be properly seated. I had a "dead" J1 one night, me with a long face, until I thought to use a bamboo skewer to press the connector plug home. Pumps started, hiss roared, and I was back in business.

-Crandell

[jecorbett]

I have two Hudsons and have not experienced this but my BLI K4 has the same problem. I suspect the loco wheels are not picking up power so when the tender wheels hit the insulated frogs it stalls. My guess is the loco wheels have a loose wire connection. All of my other BLIs have pick up power from both the loco and the tender so if one hits a dead spot, the other will continue to draw power. All locos should have pickup at two points to prevent stalling if a dirty spot or insulated section is encountered.

[rrinker]

Is it the original production Hudson with the sintered wheels? These like the same ones used on Athearn locos are simply dirt magnets and you have to clean them reguarly - the wire-brush like Kadee Speedi Driver Cleaner seems to work well on Athearn wheels and should also on the Hudson. I wouldn't try a wire wheel in a dremel - kind of like using a simple rotary polisher on a car, too eay to wear away the wheels.
The newer release uses more conventional nickel-silver turned wheels and should have less problem.
Do verify that all the power pickups are working. Out of the box my T-1 stalled at times on my turnouts. Turned out the wire leading fromt he right hand side of the loco was not connected to the circuit board - so on the right hand side I had pickup from only 2 tender wheels. Reseating the wire restored proper operation and it now can run as slow as I like through anything without stalling or the headlight blinking.

--Randy

[claycts]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker

Is it the original production Hudson with the sintered wheels? These like the same ones used on Athearn locos are simply dirt magnets and you have to clean them reguarly - the wire-brush like Kadee Speedi Driver Cleaner seems to work well on Athearn wheels and should also on the Hudson. I wouldn't try a wire wheel in a dremel - kind of like using a simple rotary polisher on a car, too eay to wear away the wheels.
The newer release uses more conventional nickel-silver turned wheels and should have less problem.
Do verify that all the power pickups are working. Out of the box my T-1 stalled at times on my turnouts. Turned out the wire leading fromt he right hand side of the loco was not connected to the circuit board - so on the right hand side I had pickup from only 2 tender wheels. Reseating the wire restored proper operation and it now can run as slow as I like through anything without stalling or the headlight blinking.

--Randy

Hi Randy, yes it is the original one. Looks like all have suggested a lose wire. I will dead lin ethat unit tills i can give it a good going over. The car season has me a little busy.
We are at the stage where a bad running loco sends up a red flag on the main line track work.
Thanks all for the input will post the results.
Take Care
George P.