I put the ‘again’ in the title of this thread to separate it, somewhat, what a previous thread of mine of very near the same title. Some may remember that I was asking about this engine because I was having trouble with a new one that I had purchased. In short, it would travel a foot or so and stop due to faulty electric connections. I sent it back to Athearn for them to sort out and when I received it back it seemed to run fine except on some turnouts, turnouts that none of my other 20 or so engines had problems with. While cleaning the wheels, using the paper towel with cleaner laid on the track method, I noticed that when I lifted the rear trucks off the track I lost all power signaling there was no power getting to the front trucks. My question is to those that own this particular engine, are both trucks ‘supposed’ to be powered?
Wish I could help you on that RS-3. I’ve got the same problem with mine. I bought it as an ‘experiment’ for a yard switcher on my otherwise all-steam layout. BAD MOVE! Worst running loco I’ve ever had, and when I tried to get into it to see what the problem was, the insides have so much decoder junk that I can’t even find the motor!
I’ve retired it. In the box. Bottom of the drawer in the garage. I’ve returned to using my little Key #683 2-8-0 for switching. Shoulda stayed with it in the first place. [:I]
Yes, they are supposed to be power pickup points - all 8 wheels should pick up power.
The design is such that the one side picks up power through the wheel bearings via a plate on the truck which has a wire attached. The other side has the plate folded over to become the bolster contact point between the truck and the rest of the chassis, thus the chassis is one ‘wire’ and the actual wire is the pickup fromt he other rail. There is a short wire with a ring terminal screwed under the pc board that conenct the circuit board to the chassis, the wires for the other side go to the circuit board int he usual Atlas/Athearn fashion with those useless plastic clips.
What fixed mine was removing both trucks, and taking off the sideframes. I then soldered short pieces of wire to the side that didn;t already have a wire. After putting everthing back together again (both new wires on the same side), I conencted the front truck wires to the outside tabs as the front of the circuit board, and soldered them. The wires from the rear truck go to the outside tabs at the rear of the board. I also soldered the two wires on the side that connect to the motor. The only conenction I DIDN’T solder were the ones for the lightbulbs.
Other people have reported the additional need to file the metal part of the truck sideframes because the slots weren’t deep enough to allow the little square wheel bearins to touch the pickups. Anothe rmethod I’ve heard of being used is to actually solder the wire to those small brass squares so the only moing part of the power pickup process is the axle to the bearing. That requires some fine wire, carefully measured, and maybe some touchy reassembly to keep everything in line withotu breaking the wires.
My ultimate solution, which I am starting to seriously look into, is putting the better Athearn shell on a superior running Atlas RS-3 chassis. Actually, the MDC kit
Thanks Tom. I was just about to ‘retire’ mine also. It’s too big to use for a lead sinker on a fishing line and too small for a boat anchor. I guess I could park it on a spur somewhere, but then it would always be in the way. It’s really too bad ‘cause the thing does have a nice lookin’ body.
Is it possible for you to post a picture or two of what you did (maybe with an occasional arrow thrown in here and there) so that idiots like myself can get their head around this? Since I have my RS-3 apart now, I think I can picture what you are describing but just want to make sure I have it right. Thanks.
Randy, you’re a doll for going to the trouble to write all that out. I may not get around to doing it but I’ll bet there are other owners, with the same problem, that’ll use your information to finally fix theirs. The part about putting the Athearn shell on an Atlas got my attention. I just happen to have a smooth running Atlas RS-3… [:)] I got it from a friend who had already decodered it, so I don’t know how easy this transition would be. I’m an expert now on taking the Athearns shell off!
No offense to satisfied Athearn owners but I think this might be my one and only Athearn RTR purchase.
Naaaay…, I’m a glutton for punishment. [;)]
Jarrell
[quote user=“rrinker”]
Yes, they are supposed to be power pickup points - all 8 wheels should pick up power.
The design is such that the one side picks up power through the wheel bearings via a plate on the truck which has a wire attached. The other side has the plate folded over to become the bolster contact point between the truck and the rest of the chassis, thus the chassis is one ‘wire’ and the actual wire is the pickup fromt he other rail. There is a short wire with a ring terminal screwed under the pc board that conenct the circuit board to the chassis, the wires for the other side go to the circuit board int he usual Atlas/Athearn fashion with those useless plastic clips.
What fixed mine was removing both trucks, and taking off the sideframes. I then soldered short pieces of wire to the side that didn;t already have a wire. After putting everthing back together again (both new wires on the same side), I conencted the front truck wires to the outside tabs as the front of the circuit board, and soldered them. The wires from the rear truck go to the outside tabs at the rear of the board. I also soldered the two wires on the side that connect to the motor. The only conenction I DIDN’T solder were the ones for the lightbulbs.
Don’t give up yet, Jarrell. Maybe we can both work through this one together and spur each other along - with Randy’s aid, of course. [:)]
I’m looking at this as a learning project. A little scraping here…a little tinning and soldering there…we can get this puppy to not “hic-cuppy”. [(-D] (That goes for you, too, Mr. White. [:)])
The newer Genesis models didn’t have the problems with the power trucks that the older ones did. I had both an F-unit and a RS-3 with the exact same problem as you described. I sent both back to Athearn and they repaired them free of charge by replacing both sets of power trucks. Before you go ripping into them call Athearn their customer service department are a pretty good bunch of folks.
I have a new RS3 maybe not even 6 months old or so and don’t have a lick of trouble with it now that I threw away the MRC decoder and replaced it with a Tsunami
Whichever one came in the kit - MDC started using the P2K chassis at some point, instead of the modified Athearn switcher chassis they had used. Also gave it the right trucks - at the time, Athearn didn’t have trucks with the correct sideframes for an Alco 4 wheel. I presume it’s the one out of the first P2K FAs, as there is a spot on the frame where the rotating fan would have mounted and the flywheel has a smaller diameter spot with a groove in it where the rubber band would have gone for said fan. I haven’t tried anything yet, it’s just an idea I had that ought to work since the Athearn shell IS the MDC shell, plus I want to build the MDC kit and have two units, not just one. Atlas would be the best, but the P2K drive runs fairly well and I’ve seen P2K FA’s in undesireable road names at train shows for cheap. I have yet to find an Atlas RS-3 cheap. ($25-30).