I have a Athearn RTR GP50 with very little running time on it. I’ve run it on two seperate test tracks, with the same results: When running clockwise in forward, it looses power, stops, starts again, stops, and so on. When running counterclockwise in forward, it runs perfectly. When running in reverse (either direction), it runs perfectly. Has anyone had a similar experience & hopefully found a cure?
[#welcome] to the Forums
I’m guessing clockwise/counterclockwise means you are testing on a circular track. When it’s running perfectly, in reverse, does it go all the way around without hesitation? In other words, is it running perfectly in reverse over the same sections of track that it stall on in forward?
Athearn locos pick up power on all wheels. The Blue box diesels rely on truck contact with the frame as well as a spring type contact that runs from the motor to both trucks. 99% of the problems I’ve had with these locos is that spring contact. Easily fixed by replacing it with a wire. Pull the shell off, run the loco and observe what’s going on. Turn out the room lights if necassary and if there is intermittant contact, you may see small sparks either where the trucks pivot on the frame, or where that spring contact meets the trucks.
Good luck…
It could also be the armature pick-up rods that ride on the armature. Pull out the motor and remove the copper clips. (be careful that you don’t lose the spring that pushes the rod against the armature.) pull out the rods and inspect them. make sure they slide up and down in the bushing. also take some alcohol and clean the bushings and the armature and use a pencil eraser to clean the armature. Put it back together and see if it runs better.
Try facing your clock against the wall, or just mount it on a swivel…
No, that’s probably not gonna work. The guys above are correct.
Is this a DCC engine? How tight are the curves?
I’m thinking that you’ve got tight curves, and the truck sides are brushing against the locomotive frame, causing a short circuit. If the short is momentary, the engine will stop and start exactly as you’ve described. DCC will make it worse, because the momentary loss of power will reset the decoder to zero speed, and then it will have to speed up again, particularly if you’ve acceleration (sometimes referred to as “momentum”) programmed in.
Wait for a dark, moonless night, and run the engine with all the lights out. You should see a spark when you get a short like this, or any of the other possible intermittent connections above.
Very much appreciate the info, and thanks for the welcome! Yes, it’s a circular test track, and the engine runs without hesitation in reverse, and in forward going counterclockwise. This Athearn was released in '07 and came packaged in one of the newer Horizon boxes.
Mister Beasley - Just saw your post. The test track is an 18" radius, and the engine is not equipped with DCC. The hesitation can range from momentary with continued running, to an abrupt halt. Additional power doesn’t seem to impact any of this. Hopefully I’ll have time to experiment more with it this weekend.
Although I have never had a spring problem, I wouldn’t cross it off the list of options.
Your problem might be one of these two IMO…
If a BB loco, the metal clip that runs from the top of the motor to the truck pickups would be bent too far one way, causing it to not make contact on a curve.
OR
There is some paint that was missed by the Athearn gang on the bolster where the truck sits under the frame, causing it not to make contact.
All above suggestions are great too.
Phil
It’s that metal clip that I’m referring to in my above post. At 4am, my brain isn’t always at full capacity. [zzz]
Do the headlights flicker when the engine stalls, or do they stay on?
When the engine stops dead, are the headlights on or off?
Is there a short-circuit indicator on the power pack?
The headlights will tell you if you’ve got a power pickup problem. If the headlights work through all of this, your power pickup is OK and the problem is likely to be somewhere in the motor wiring. On the other hand, if the lights go out, then the problem is between the tracks and the circuit board.
If you’re getting a short-circuit indication, particularly when the engine stops completely, then the issue still might be a truck-to-frame short issue.
It could be the pickup spanning the motor and flywheels is getting pushed down and contacting the flywheels by the tilting of the body and/or pickup tabs from the trucks.
Thanks so much for all the ideas! I’ve been checking out the forum for a number of months before posting for help with this problem, and have learned a great deal from everyone. Regarding the lights, yes, they flicker in conjunction with the engine’s hesitations. Also, last night I thought I noticed a spark coming from the rear truck area. Will have to check this out with the room dark as suggested. Re transformers: they do not have a short indicator. One thought I had today: the Bachmann & LifeLike test tracks (EZ style w/roadbed) have been sitting on carpet (no formal layout yet, but lots of Atlas code 100 in waiting). A hard surface would create more stable tracking and less overall truck movement, and might improve the situation. Regardless, there’s still something going on with this engine, because I have other Atlas, Athearn, and Bachmann engines that run just fine on the same track. Thanks again - you all have certainly got my wheels spinning!