Need some advice. I have a Marklin F7 A-B-A (8819) set that was connected by unsightly wires running between them. I had the Stiskas remove the wires and separate them. They look much better, but now what do I do? I have draw bars included but what about power to both A units? I know nothing about electrical aspects of locomotives. These are Alaska Railroad and I hope to sell the set. If someone wants it 'as is' please contact me.
OK, I ran these and, like Marklins do, they ran like banshees. One is faster than the other. When lashed together will this be a problem in the long run?
When Marklin made these they used a zener diode which allows the lead engine to run full but the back unit at a slower rate so they do not bunch up, like their ICE units. Once the Stiskas removed that diode they run at full in both directions. JD
This makes sense, but since one runs faster than the other I will assume its the lead engine and will note its road number. Thanks for the info.
alaska set Karin, you should contact Glenn and Sandy Stiska. They will be able to give you the best advice and explanation. They have eben doing these modifications for many years and their work is amazing.
Speaking of Alaska....Who has Alaska MT passenger cars that they can part with. I have been looking for months for a set. Thanks in advance for anyone interested in selling theirs.
Karin, I think they removed the diode so that is not the reason why they run differently, I suspect that there is something else, check the brushes and clean the slow one and try that., can you post a picture of the units? JD
Karin, Doing the conversion to individual units required a bit of rewiring and reconfiguration inside. If I remember correctly, originally, one unit provided all of the electrical connection to the right rail, and the other unit provided all of the connection to the left. This was done because of the length of the A-B-A. Some of Marklins specialty tracks and reverse loop, etc would not work properly. Anyway, The unused electrical connections on some of the trucks can become tarnished or dirty. The Stiskas do very good work, but maybe they forgot to double check all of the wipers and pick-ups for good connection on one of the locs. You could also check the circuit boards for good connections and bad solder joints. Also, check the contacts for the headlight. A partial short there can cause some strange behavior. Dan S.
Very good news! When run separately on the test track each one runs at the same speed as the other and the lights beam very well on both! I can see now that it was very much worth the cost to send the set to the Stiskas. They made sure both motorized units ran perfectly.
Hal an I, is happy for you. We like Alaska. One day want to go and see the icebergs. Do you have Alaska layout? I used to live in China but not as cold as the Alaska.
