hey just bought a ho scale broadway imports sp ac 5 cab forward with dcc and all that electronic sounds and that, found a problem with it when i put it in forward to run forward it doesnt want to go, due to a short circuit, im running on normal dc track would anyone maybe know whats going on there??thanks.
Is your polarity switch actually working? Have you confirmed with a DC loco that it does run in both directions with the polarity switch flicked?
Have you turned up the juice in forward mode to get it to go forward? If you give it a nudge, will it move?
Did you plug in the wiring harness between the tender and engine?
You say, “do to a short circuit”. Does the breaker on your power pack trip? “short circuit” is an overused term and often describes just the opposite, i.e. an “open circuit”.
All things being equal if current can flow one direction through the track it can flow another. A true “short” external to the locomotive would be there either way.
yes i tryed with another loco it ran both directions and the wires were pluged in between the tender and loco, when i flick the switch to go forward the headlights come on slightly and a light on the transformer comes on indication a short, as i took the loco off and put a screw driver accross the track and the light came on, so i just figured id be a short, yes ive had it on full and pushed the loco along the track and didnt want to move at all and the track is clean, it does have a smoke unit, maybe the fluid could be causing this?
E-mail BLI and ask them…I have two of the smokeless models and they run fine in DC and DCC…
Does it pick up power from the Tender?? Might one of the tender trucks be reversed? How about the pilot truck on the front?? Did somebody put the non traction driver(s) on backwards?
Just a few thoughts…
Jeff
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hey all, the reason your smokeless units run so well is because theres no smoke unit in them, i took mine out and well would you beleave it runs now, runs good, both ways , now just gotta work out how to get rid of the inertia and ill be happy.
If the tender trucks were on backwards the short would exist in either direction. sp4449daylight has given us more details. He gets the short indication (which means it IS either a short or a high current drain for some reason). It only happens when the engine is supposed to go forward, it runs ok in reverse. Sounds like a problem in the locomotive’s electroncics. Sounds like he removed the smoke unit and problem solved. There’s a moral here someplace. Remember when we used to laugh at the 3 rail O guys with their smoke units and “toy like” sound effects. Now we’re into that same stuff and paying the price with problems like that above.
I have recently purchased 3 Cab Forwards, 1 for myself 2 for my brother and all 3 shorted out. What I found was the copper load spring pops out of its cradle and turns sideways, when this happens it contacts the wheels and causes a short. Of bigger concern, on one engine the rear drivers won’t turn and the other has shut down completely. My brother has about $5000 worth of Broadway engines and these Cabs are going back. He feels that Broadway quality is getting so bad that he may not buy another. I may switch to MTH, they cost a little more but they have always run.