I bought a couple of Genesis F7s off of eBay. Both were advertised as new, but one of them is giving me trouble. One runs smooth as glass and the other runs a little jerky and faster than the other. It also causes the lights to flicker a bit on the smooth runner when running on the same track at the same time. The “bad apple” appears to have had the gyra light (these are Warbonnets) replaced with a single bulb light and one of the body retaining clips is missing, so obviously somebody has been in there. It also has a noticible growl that corresponds with the jerkyness. Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
Contacts on the jerky one are dirty or bent out of place/worn. Maybe a broken wire/solder. Axles not seated properly.
Thanks. I will definately take a look at those things. It is “mildly” jerky and still runs somewhat reasonably, but it is a problem. I have never dealt with a Genesis unit and am not familiar with possible problems. It was still a good deal at $80, so I am not too worried about it. What is ironic is that the older of the two (phase 1) is the good runner. I am highly impressed with that one. They seem to be extremely stong puller as well. I just can’t figure out why one runs so much faster than the other, even with the problems. Will DCC alleviate this problem?? BTW, I am getting back into the hobby after about an 8 year absence. I have been back into it for awhile but have not been concentrating on motive power.
it’s probably dirty electrical contact somewhere- you might try cleaning the wheels and the contact strips if it has them
DCC is not a band-aid; it will not fix your problem. A good trouble shooting procedure to check electrical pickup is to place the loco on its back on something soft. Get a couple of test leads connected to your power pack. Touch each set of wheels one at a time. The unit should run off each axle set. If it does not check that truck or wheel set for an open connection. I am assuming it has a circuit board, so check it with a magnifying glass for any “cold” joints. Tug gently on the wires from the trucks to make sure they are secure. Look for any excessive solder bridging the circuits on the board. It’s hard to believe that a binding condition could be occurring with the problem unit running faster than the good one. You have an advantage in that you have 2 identical units so I would swap the motor and see what happens. I do not know the layout of the board but depending on the power routing of the lighting circuit, it could also be the culprit. Perhaps that is why the unit runs faster and why the gyra light burned out.
Let us know what you find out.
Jim
I will let everybody know what I find. I just don’t want to make this thing worse than it is. When I left the hobby I didn’t even know what DCC was and was using BBs and Katos out of the box. I am going to check with Athearn and see if they have the replacement lights for the F7s. Again thanks.
I have about a dozen Genesis Fs. Not significant problems here, except a couple that are a little noisy, but nothing worth pulling the sheel off yet.
That said, I’ve seen numerous complaints of early bulb burn out in these units. I have had one bulb burn out, due to a bad contact with my walkaround power supply sticking once and accidentally letting my powerpack go to full power. It blew the bulb right out. I ordinarily never operate faster than about 2/3 of full throttle. I’ve had no other bad bulbs, so I suspect that the issue is that the bulbs used or the design of the circuit board provides too high a voltage to the bulb at full track voltage.
That said, it sounds like what has happened is that a bulb went out and someone patched in another bulb. The Genesis bulbs are 1.5V, so if someone tried putting in a 12V bulb, this could have started a chain that led to the current problem. Seeing the 12v bulb dim, if lit at all, after the first attempt at repair, the previous owner may have decided to wire directly to the 12V pickups, instead of taking power from the circuit board. Bypassing the circuit board would remove its load, causing this loco’s motor to run faster than the other.
The first thing I’d do is confirm if the faster loco is wired the same as the apparently stock unit. If it is, then maybe I’m completely off-base here, but I suspect a poorly-engineered bulb replacement/repair may be the root of the problem.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
If he wired just the bulb to the 12v pickups, it would not run faster because the motor would still be “seeing” the standard board voltage. If however, the owner wired around the board and fed the lights AND the motor that would definitely increase the speed. That does not explain the jerkiness and noise though. Hard to believe the motor is so fragile that the extra voltage could harm it. Could be 2 separate problems. You’re right about comparing the wiring. It should be real obvious if he did wire around the motor. Maybe the motor was on the way out and the guy wired around the board to get it more juice. Then the gyra light, seeing 12v blew so he changed the bulb. I would not change out that bulb until everything else is sorted out. I think we have a couple of good theories here. A DMM would sure make quick work of this.
Jim
The wiring for the “replaced” headlamp is coming straight from the board. It is even still braided with the wiring from the lower headlights. It still runs OK but its operation is affecting the operation of the good runner and can see that as being a problem. It has that growl, but I am assuming it is just being an Athearn. If it has something to do with lighting, I may yank the lighting altogether since this will be the trailing unit in the loco consist (ABBBA). And is there a good way to light the numberboards?
The jerky running sounds exactly like what my Genesis SD75M does. I’m pretty sure that the problem is just off-center gears, so you may be able to contact Athearn and get replacements.[:D]
For some reason, whenever I make the SD75 pull about 8 or more cars, it runs perfectly smooth and the growl disappears.[%-)]
The early F units had the problem of the gear sets being out of round and I had to replace every one of them to get the units to run.
This will not help solve your problem. Just some observations re Athearn/Genesis.
I’m running an AB lashup of Genesis F3 units and they are ghostly quiet and very strong pullers.
Only complaint I have is getting “under the hood” is a trial and a half. Shells seem to be designed(manufactured) not to be taken off. This may account for the missing body clip, it may be imbedded in the original owner’s wall.Per bangert1’s observations re early units having gears out of round, I obviously got my units off eBay post Athearn’s gear problem.
As a consumer I can’t fathom asking premium price for a model and not delivering a premium product from the beginning of the run. I have a early issue BLI Hudson which is not up to subsequent issue Hudsons. They did run a trade in program of early issue Hudsons where you could replace it for a mere $99. Your mistake and the customer pays? Based upon some of these mfr’s less than perfect early runs I can’t understand people lining up to make reservations for a recently announced model. Do they take out insurance to cover possible early production glitches?
The other Genesis I’m running is their Mikado. Runs fine, doesn’t pull much. Currently in lashup with Stewart F unit(someone’s got to do the work!).
Hope that customers are letting Athearn know in no uncertain terms that they are less than satisfied customers.
Hope the advice given by forum members solves the problem. Would be a nice Christmas present.
Jon