After its been run for a while, at least an hour, my Docksider reverse unit start playing up and won’t always respond to the ‘direction’ button. The more you run it the worse it gets until eventually it sits there in neutral (I assume) refusing to respond to the controller. Anyone else had a similar problem?
I dont know how these electronic units work so I have no idea what might be causing this. If I could identify the unit I’d try moving it so it gets better cooling but if its one of its components thats at fault, this may not work.
Make sure your track voltage drops all the way to zero when the direction button is pressed or the reverse unit will not cycle. Also try adding a lighted car on your track.
It sounds like the reverse board is heating up. Check to see if there is enough insulation and or space between the motor and the reverse board. A small piece of styrofoam, plastic, or even some pink insulation between the motor and the board might work.
A bad connection could also be to blame. It would cause excessive heat due to resistance, would it not?
If you are using a CW80 transformer you have to use a lighted terminal. The docksider I’m sure shares the sound and reverse unit from the Percy engine as the whistle sound is the same as Percy. When you purchase a Thomas The Tank Engne starter set. The set comes with a fastrack lighted terminal section so the voltage will drop to zero when you use the direction button on the CW80. To verify, run the engine till it acts up and disconnect one of the wires from the transformer with the power left on the transformer and retouch the wire to the post. it should cycle to neutral. Remove the wire and retouch it to the post and the engine should reverse its direction. My sons Thomas and Percy engines do what you describe. I have two docksiders but I never ran them on a CW80.