I have to agree with Don here. At least give the LHS a call and tell them the issue. See what they say. I know it sucks to have something you wanted then have to hassle to get it fixed or replaced but all this tinkering and they might of just sent you replacements already. Although I bet my LHS would say huh…whatcha do to it?
Whoa Mohammed! Before ripping apart circuit boards or the like (or sending the unit back), check for some obvious things:
I had the identical problem with a United NKP Berkshire I had modified with modernized detail. The Worthington cold-water pump on these is mounted way too high and needs to be lowered, with the cold-water feed being routed along the trailing truck. I successfully accomplished the lead/pump connection with a short piece of armored air hose, only to find that the loco then ran only backward. Problem was that I had rebuilt the trailing truck to move from side to side through a center mount, which was attached to the frame with a swivel. The swivel was too loose, and forward thrust was enough to make the trailing truck bru***he wireless drawbar. Result? No go and a dead short!
Check to see if you are not suffering something similar.
I work in the computer industry and not in the train industry. And I have never owned or operated a LHS. When someone buys a computer from say Dell and they recieve it Dead on arrival… I’m not going to open the sucker up and do anything to it. I’m going to call Dell up and tell them the new computer they sent me doesn’t work. They may ask me to check a few things. So I suspect when you buy a new diesel from a LHS and it doesn’t work you do the same thing.
Make sense or should I stick to computers?
[%-)][%-)][%-)][%-)][%-)][%-)][%-)]Dude, you lost me.
I just received an email from Walther’s and here is what they say:
Zak,
Try reversing the M+ and M- (motor) wires. Let me know if this works.
Sincerely,
Larry T
Wm K Walthers/Parts Dept
Well tonight I shall see what I can do. I will update you guys on Monday.
You all have a great weekend![8D]
RE: P2K GP38-2 only goes backwards
"Try reversing the M+ and M- (motor) wires. Let me know if this works.
Larry T
Wm K Walthers/Parts Dept
Prediction: NOW it will only run FORWARDS.
MONDAY??? DUDE, I can’t wait until Monday!!!
Rather than self-righteously declare myself “superior,” I’ll try again:
A steam locomotive model with a tender is “hot” on the fireman’s side of the tender and “hot” on the engineman’s side of the loco. Current goes from rail to tender through the drawbar to a wire to the motor which, being mounted on the loco’s frame, is grounded. The current then flows through the engineman’s drivers back to the other rail.
The drawbar is “wireless” because it is the current vehicle rather than an independent wire between motor and tender. This system works because the drawbar is insulated from the locomotive by a pair of plastic rings, one at the base, the other at the top of the drawbar post.
The trailing truck of a steam locomotive model normally attaches by a pivot to the retaining plate (the piece of brass which keeps the drivers from falling out) and swings on an arc. This works for a model because we are not actually supporting the weight of a real firebox – the trailing truck is decorative only.
On a real steam locomotive, a four-wheel trailing truck is mounted directly under the firebox and slides back and forth on a plate. On my Berkshire, I had duplicated this function by making an ‘n’-shaped center bar which was mounted with shouldered screws to (and pivoted on) the trailing-truck frames. The center bar had a slot in it which allowed the truck to move back and forth as well as twist side to side, and this bar was attached to the frame by a larger screw itself attached to an ‘n’-shaped bar mounted into the frame. This second bar also pivoted on the frame. The result was that the side thrust I’d created (when I lowered the pump casting and attached it to a pipe feed mounted on the trailing truck) was neutralized rather than magnified by the side-to-side motion of the truck.
The problem arose with the ‘n’-shaped swivel mounted to the frame – when the loco would go forward, friction at the wheels of the trailing truck was not overcome by the swiv
In the digitrax.com site under MANUALS & INSTRUCTIONS, they have 2 facts about “GP38-2” and also in General “P2K” engines. The separate front number board lights are wired to gray wires which are used by the decoder for other functions, so if the DH163LO decoder is used, it may or will cause signal errors. In DC mode, they pose no problem. Bulbs can be changed to LEDs or wired to other light CV’s. My main problem will some P2K engines is the axle gear hub will crack causing mismatch to spur gears and a bad engine hop under load or stalling. Best bet is to get quite a few spare gear axles. Jerry Lummis
Gentleman,
Okay here is the verdict on my Santa Fe P2K GP38-2. I printed out his forum and took it home with me on Friday to take all of your ideas into consideration. First, I tried taking the circuit board off and flopping it around to attach to the smaller circuit board. The engine did the complete opposite. I then noticed that in fact all the lights did work. I then tried what Larry T of Walther’s told me to do and Don Gibson was correct about it just running opposite. I then had a flash of inspiration to take apart me P2K GP30 and use the big circuit board from it. Low and behold my GP38-2 ran perfect. So all in all, it is the circuit board that needs to be replaced. Since I will be changing this engine over to DCC, I’m not too worried about it and until then I will just run it backwards behind my GP30 (which the problem with it was nothing. The noise went away after a few laps around the track.)
Thanks guys for all your help. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Zak