Hi all. I recently got my hands on a Key Imports FEF-3 and sent it up to my favorite DCC supplier (mostly because the owner is a member of my club and gives me a nice discount) and he installed a MicroTsunami sound decoder in it for me. It ran great for the first 15 seconds on the track and then it started having contact issues (it would stop, the decoder would restart and it would go again after a second or two) and every few times it would need a nudge and then it stated shorting out my system all together. I have the NCE PowerCab as my DCC system and so far I have checked a few things such as whether or not the metal brake shoes were making contact with the wheels/drive rods and such and I can't see where they would be so at this point I'm stumped. This is my one and only brass loco and I have absolutely NO idea what to do. I would send it back up to my guy, but in all honestly he is swamped with business and I don't really feel like waiting the 6-8 weeks for turnaround if someone here on the forums can help me. Thanks in advance guys!!!
Do you have an Ohmmeter? Brass is tricky. Often kapton tape slides off or wears through (in my experience) particularly at the motor. That might be a good place to start. But what I would do is read across your pickups at the wheels. Then move to your leads, then to your dcc controller and motor, checking continuity at each spot. A friend's engine was actually making poor contact at the pickups, however his wasn't shorting out... so not the same issue. I've got a brass sd40 that's shorting out, but on my end it looks like paint was used to insulate... paint that is now wearing away. But I haven't had a chance to thoroughly investigate. I'm sure there will be much better answers than what I have offered. That's just my limited experience and knowledge in the matter. Good luck!
I do, but honestly I wouldn't even know where to begin to start testing. I am kind of nervous about taking it apart at all due to the fact that I have very little experience with anything smaller than HO in the dis assembly department. I know that while it was taken apart for the decoder install, the motor was insulated using silicone. I might have to revisit that and see if maybe there was a small gap in the silicone perhaps?
My feeling is that she suffer of the "usual" problem on brass : connection between tender and engine ..... Right-rail pickup is provided by all four right-side drivers (there are no traction tires). Left-rail pickup is provided by the four left-side tender wheels. All the rest of the wheels are electrically neutral. Current is transferred from the tender to the engine by way of a stiff metal wire on the drawbar (a notoriously unreliable scheme). Usually I replace the Drawbar-only connection with a wire and a micro connector like this: http://www.litchfieldstation.com/xcart/product.php?productid=999003182&cat=0&page=3 Given your "declared" very little experience, my suggestion is to give back to your friend to fix. Just my cent.
This answer won't fix your problem but regarding your friend and the 6-8 week turn around time. Since you just got it back and it only worked right for 15 seconds the problem is with the installation and it isn't up to you to fix it. Maybe you got a discount, but you still paid him. He needs to wait on starting "new work" until his "old work" actually works. Your install isn't finished yet. I install home theaters. If a customer who's house I left yesterday calls me and says there is a problem. I go back that day, not after the next job is complete. Now, on the subject of getting in there and fixing it yourself. If you are really uncomfortable about working inside this loco then you may want to avoid it. It's one thing trouble shooting your own work, but it can be a whole other issue when the work was done by someone else. You don't know what he did in there and before you can fix it, you need to figure out this method and that could result in further damage. At that point, if you do send it back to him, he would be within his rights to bill you for even more work and you may very well wait the 6-8 weeks, as he will need to figure out what you did and may have to start all over. When I go back to a job that I completed earlier, and someone else has been messing with the wiring, it's not uncommon to have to go back to square one and that's always at the customer's expense as it wasn't ME that messed it up. I'm not saying you can't fix it yourself, just that you shouldn't have to. It'll probably be an easy fix anyway for him. He'll know the problem areas and go right for them. Craig
