I am building a new layout and its about half done and I hooked up some feeder wires just to get the feel for the layout. All my diesels run fine and have no problems but when I put my bli j-1 on, it just shorts out. I have no idea what the problem is and any help would be greatly appreciated
There are a myriad of things that could be wrong. But the first thing to check is to make sure the tender wheels are on properly. One wheel wheel set turned the wrong way will short out the whole works.
Check to make sure the plug between the tender and loco is securely seated and that the individual contacts are straight.
Another thing to check is the wiring between the tender and the loco. a bare wire here could be bad news.
Lastly, check to make sure the wheel Gage on the drivers is right. Sometimes the plastic axles crack and the metal parts touch which causes a direct short. It this seems to be the case send it back to BLI for repair. These big locos are a real pain to disassemble/ assemble.
Before you do anything else, give BLI a call. Their customer service is pretty good and they may be able to make a few more suggestions and narrow down the possibilities for your problem
Good luck,
How about first putting it on a straight piece of test track right on your bench. Maybe it’s your layout; maybe it’s the loco. You’re going to have to puzzle out which one.
Ed
If everything else works, those everythings are all okay. The J1,and not the layout, its wiring, nor the other locos, is the problem.
Have you forgotten, perchance, that you did some work on the J1 before you tucked it in for the long sleep? Maybe disssembled someting…took off the boiler shell for a peek, maybe removed the trucks on the tender and you might have reversed them, or maybe just one of the axles? Did that last one meself seven years ago. Cost me a decoder and a return to BLI. Fortunately, they didn’t charge me for my own carelessness. Well, to let myself off the hook, it was more like ignorance; I didn’t know the axles had to ‘line up’.
If it worked when you picked it up off the layout, something has changed since that day. You might find it worth your while to lift the boiler or the tender shell (I believe that one might just be a pry-off) to see if a solder has come apart and you have a bare wire touching metal.
-Crandell