My B.L.I. H-10 getting shelved. Chuffing stopped/speratic. Thats 4 out of 16 that I own that have issues. My 2-10-0 doesent even run. Thats not a good ratio.
Does the H-10 use a cam or is the chuff synthesized?
If a cam is involved, oftentimes it's just some fuzz or something else that gets picked up, wound around the cam, and interferes with it working, causing sporadic operation like you mentioned. Usually simple to clean out and restore functionality if that's it.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
mlehmanDoes the H-10 use a cam
My experience with BLI chuff sensors is that they used a very economical (read: cheap!) glass encased reed switch that is triggered by a magnet embedded in the flywheel.
I have changed several on the NYC Hudsons that I have. For some reason those seem to fail often. My other BLI steam locomotives, about two-dozen, mostly PRR types, do not seem to have the reed switch failure problem.
Come to think of it, it would be nice to be able to disable the chuff sensor alltogether when it fails and use the "synthesized" chuff. Maybe there is a work-around, buried somewhere in the CVs of the decoder?
Overall, I think I have had better luck than others with BLI locomotives. Most have never had any issues and the few that I have had to repair had what I would call minor issues.
The reed switch replacement took about fifteen minutes and about $5.00 in parts (I bought a half-dozen from BLI)
Good Luck, Ed
cold stealLove my locos but I hate taking them apart especially when there new. Was going to buy the just released Hew Haven hybrid steamer but the reliability just isn't there.
Amen to that! I have about ten Athearn Genesis diesels that have blown-out headlight bulbs and dealing with the fine wiring and prying out the old bulb (to be replaced with LEDs) is a real pain!
Other manufacturers have been using LEDs successfully for years, Athearn has yet to "see the light" so to speak
Ed
*
Why put it on a shelf, send it back to BLI FOR REPAIR.
If it's like my BLI 2-8-2 Mikado, it will work for a while from the repair, then do it again. The Mike uses the reed switch. It's not that they are cheaply made, it is just a very poor choice in design. Anything with a magnetic closure/opening mechanism will eventuall weaken, and that is what is happening with these reed switches. (Flywheel spins how many times per wheel revolution? Like 50ish? So, to go around just a 15' main line trip (Average 4X8 loop is roughly a 15' main line distance, many have larger layouts for their steam to run on), 60" scale wheels, would be roughly 300ish wheel revolutions, so one trip around the loop would take roughly 16,000ish flywheel revolutions, and we all know it will not be one trip of only one 4X8 loop, so.... Very quickly you are well over 1,000,000(not ish, but hard number.) open/close cycles... Every reed switch will show signs of issues after this. Not exactly a good choice in design this way....)
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
WHat happens is that the magnet int eh flywheel magnetizes the little metal strips in the reed switch. Just puttin gmetal near a magnet magnetizes it somewhat, but a MOVING magnet? Think what happens when you swipe a screwdriver over a magnet a few times. In the case of a reed switch, it then never opens up. Definitely a poor engineering design, it should have used a solid state Hall sensor.
Has anyone tried fitting one? The effectively act as switches, but not as low a resistence as a reed switch when closed so it might not operate the circuit properly.
At least the reed switch is easy to replace. My PCM Reading T-1 had a driver bearing upside down and a loose wire on the tender circuit board. When I had it open I also noticed the motor was not very well aligned (why stress the universal if you don't have to?). Id didn;t take long to fix this - the loose wire was actually the pin pushing out of a connector because it was inserted in the connector body upside down. That was, hmm, 10 years ago? Been a solid runner ever since. Don;t be afraid to open things up and fix them. Beats having a shelf queen. Anything under warranty - send it back and let them fix it. I was impatient and just fixed it myself.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.