So I have this AThearn RTR RS-3. Installign a decoder was super simple - just unplug the dummy plug from the 9 pin harness and attach a decder (I used a TCS T-1). But it ran poorly - even on a single piece of flex track (no joiners) hooked to my Zephyr, it would stall at slow speeds and the lights flickered horribly. Wheels were clean, as was the track. What I figured the problem as was that while there were wires from one side of the truck to the circuit board, the other side relied on the frame, just liek old Athearn Blue Box locos.
My task today was to take some decoder wire and solder pickup wires to the other side of the truck. However, I probably could have stopped short after what I discovered. When I pulled the drive apart, I saw on the bottom of the frame, the contact area at the kingpin was nicely polished. However, the top of the truck that rubs against this was still blackened. Polishing this probably would have made a huge difference all by itself. I went ahead and soldered the wires on anyway. For stock power pickup, there is a wire with a spade connector on it that gets trapped under the circuit board when screwed down. The boss which this gets screwed down on ALSO was totally blackened - polishing this would also make a huge difference.
Tip: The sideframe and rivets are all blackened. I took a small needle file and cleaned a tiny portion at the top of the rivet so the solder would actually attach the wire. Without doing this you'll melt the plastic parts of the truck and STILL not get the solder to adhere. I also soldered all the wires to the circuit board instead of repalcing the silly plastic clips.
End results - it creeps down the track with nary a flicker! This is the way they should have made them in the first place.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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