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Post by tjdreams on May 6, 2024 14:12:00 GMT -5
Will these use the same decoders -- TCS and Digitrax drop in decoders? TCS has a new decoder which fits for the SD40 and later. The TCS-1561 AZL2D5 that was to fit in the SD40-2 was Recalled due to production problems. All though Some Dealer websites may still have it listed (But Not Available) It has since been completely removed from any listings on the TCS Website.
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Post by tjdreams on May 4, 2024 23:53:11 GMT -5
Picking up where I left off yesterday. I Remove and cleaned all of the loco's wheels and gears. To access the wheel wipers which are mounted to the top of the chassis with a screw, the boiler body must be removed. The Boiler is held on with 3 screws. One under the front Pilot truck and 2 screws located just under the back of the cab which can not be accessed with out first removing the tender. Removing the drawbar screw from the loco will allow you to shift the tender to the side just enough to access the screws holding the boiler on. Once the Boiler was off and out of the way I also took the tender body off (4 screws on the bottom one in each corner) so I could inspect the wiring. As expected I found a few wiring issues in the tender circled in yellow the wire has broken free from the ring terminal at the bolster circled in orange wire is barely stuck to the side of the solder tab. circled in green only 1 strand of the wire is still connected to the soldered pad circled in red a melted piece of insulation hanging off the wire and the heat shrink tubing isn't even covering the bare wire. Note: This is not the first time that i have seen the insulation melted off the wires on one of these. The solder used on these connections appears to have a very low melting point. Its my guess that something shorted out causing the wires to get hot enough to melt the insulation and soften the solder to the point that the wires started coming loose. After I repositioned the heat shrink tubing and trimmed the wire ends i soldered them back in place. And With the boiler out of the way i was able to remove the wheel wiper assembly and bend them back into place. Re-checking the wiring for shorts, Re assembly and re-quartering the drivers is a job for next weekend David Attachments:
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Post by tjdreams on May 4, 2024 13:10:30 GMT -5
I'm next! Since I MAY have been one of the "few others" you mentioned... Any burned wires? Bring it with you tomorrow. Yup you were. and no not yet. But considering they had tender pickup, Tiest GS-3 should have ran even with out getting power from the drivers So I'm expect to find at least one broken or otherwise damaged wire in the tender. (Maybe even burned/melted like yours) David
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Post by tjdreams on May 3, 2024 21:10:40 GMT -5
Continuing my inspection I found that one of the wheel wipers at the rear set of drivers was bent sticking up above the wheel flange and not making contact with the wheel at all, The one on the other side was also bent slightly out of place and had some of fuzz caught up between the wiper and the wheel flange. After removing the front and rear bogies along with the gear cover plate it was easy to see that the one wiper was completely bent out of place and not making contact with the wheel at all. Well the next step is clear I will have to remove the drivers so i can clean and try to bend the wheel wipers back into their proper positions. But That's tomorrows job I'm done for tonight. David
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Post by tjdreams on May 3, 2024 20:11:57 GMT -5
As some of you may have read in the AZL Brass Pictures & Information Sharing ThreadTiest van Gool was having some trouble with a AZL Brass GS-3 and has asked me to take a look at it for him. And I know of a few others who are having trouble with poor or non running Brass Loco's, So I have decided to start this thread to post my findings and repairs in hopes that it may help others with similar issues. This is where we started Brass Train Experts (I am only a new member), I need some help, I have a BEAUTIFUL SP Daylight GS-3 and a GS-4. Thank you Sven for hooking me up! Issue I am having is the GS-3 that is not running. Only if I push down the back of the loco it runs for a second or so and stops again. GS-3 Not Running -HELP! Thanks! -Tiest After receiving the Loco I placed it on my test track for a test run and got the same results Tiest did in his video. As I posted in the Brass sharing thread My initial thoughts are that the wheel wipers are not making proper contact with the wheels or possibly a loose / broken wire. My next step was to place the loco upside down in a foam service tray and look at it under my Digital Microscope. The first thing I noticed was how dirty some of the wheels were (In the yellow circle) Next with the help of a home made 0.5mm fiber optic light slid in under the wheels (Circled in Red) its easy to see that when shifted to one side the wheel wiper is not making contact with the back of the wheel flange on the Front left driver (Fireman) side. For those who may not know, Yes the axles are supposed to shift side to side. With out the side by side movement the loco's would not be able to navigate the turns in the track. As such the wipers need to maintain contact with the wheels through the the entire range of movement. On the other side it appears like a bunch of fuzz and other crud caught up between the wiper and the back of the flange. David
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 27, 2024 15:37:10 GMT -5
What I'm seeing in your video is a wheel wiper issue. The wipers are not making proper contact with the wheels. Also their should be more than one wheel making contact so their may still be a loose wire somewhere in there. You can try cleaning the back of the wheel flanges. I would start with a pointed micro tipped cotton swab dipped in 91% IPA. If cleaning dose not help, It may need to be disassembled so the wheel wipers can be adjusted and the wiring checked. This is not something the inexperienced person should try, As re quartering the wheels is not easy. and no spare or replacement parts available for these brass Loco's.
The wheels sticking out to one side when not on the track is normal The leading and trailing trucks are slotted to allow side to side movement and rotation as it goes around a bend in the track.
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 26, 2024 18:15:56 GMT -5
Here we need your help: Sven, I do have one issue - the GS-3 does not run. I think it's because the back two wheels on the loco are not touching enough. When I push down on the backside of the loco it runs for a second or so but then it stops. Tested same with the GS-4 which shows no issues. Thoughts? Thanks and have a good evening! -Tiest Since you said it runs for a second or 2 when you push down on the back of it and it's recently been shipped My initial thoughts are it could be a loose or miss aligned wheel wiper, a loose/ broken wire that is not making proper contact I would start by putting it under my digital microscope and visually checking to see if the wheel wipers were making contact with the back of the wheels flanges on both sides at the same time. Their should be a tiny bit of side to side movement in each wheel set gently push each set side to side and watch to make sure the wheel wiper remains in contact with the back of the wheel flange at all times. Edited my response after watching your video's i don't think its a short hook a Z scale power supply to the track, and slowly turn it up to about 50-60% throttle (5-6 Volt) try gently pushing side ways on the cab first one way then the other. If it moves its likely a wheel wiper not making good contact with the wheels, If it dose not move use a tooth pick to gently move the wires running from the tender to the loco around a little. Try pushing the wires upwards towards the cab. If the loco starts to move you have a loose or broken wire.
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 26, 2024 4:24:43 GMT -5
I think it started back in January 4, so only about 112 days. But who counting? David Its been down Longer than that It went down right after they launched the first of the Black Friday Specials in November 2023 The site was hit with a malware attack last night. Our web guru John has been putting the pressure on the hosting company to get it resolved. I will post an update once we are back.
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 24, 2024 15:49:16 GMT -5
EMD BL2 Western Maryland Chesapeake & Ohio Bangor and Aroostook 8 Boston and Maine Railroad 4 Chesapeake and Ohio Railway¹ 14 (Ordered by Pere Marquette Railroad prior to merger) Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad 2 Chicago, Indianapolis and Louisville Railway ("Monon") 9 Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 5 Electro Motive Division 1 Florida East Coast Railway 6 Missouri Pacific Railroad 8 Western Maryland Railway 2
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 22, 2024 18:30:09 GMT -5
Dave Is that a GP 38 or GP 35 repaint of WM. Looks great! MTL GP35
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 19, 2024 16:12:48 GMT -5
The Grooved notches for the flanges to sit in are set for N scale. Z trucks sit crooked unless you offset loco/cars closer to the back or front. However the Rokuhan Roadbed Track is a perfect fit between the raised area. Note I removed the backdrop and front Lexan dust cover so you can see how it looks with out aa blinding glare from the camera flash
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 17, 2024 18:19:02 GMT -5
New ownership ok but it looks like its going to be run by the same people who took over about the time they started going down hill. I hope they learned from their mistakes. Only time will tell.
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 14, 2024 15:43:25 GMT -5
Judging from that picture I would be a bit concerned about how well this one runs. If you look closely at the side rods it appears that they are not in a straight line which leads me to believe someone has had this one apart and didn't Quarter the wheels properly when they reassembled it. While it could be nothing it sure looks like that rear driver (the one under the cab) is one tooth out of sink with the others.
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 14, 2024 15:13:44 GMT -5
There were 3 Z scale versions released at the end of the year in 1998 for $499.99 each The Brass Body's were made by OCS Micro Castings In Korea, and mounted on a Marklin made 2-6-0 chassis, Additionally They came in a well padded cardboard box's with a yellow lid Similar to the ones AZL was using for their Brass releases around that time. MTL #16000: Southern Pacific Lines 1798 was supposed to of had a slightly longer Vanderbilt style tender MTL #16001: Southern Pacific Lines 1785 was supposed to have a slightly shorter Vanderbilt style tender MTL #16002 Southern Pacific Lines 1681 had a box type Tender They pop up on eBay from time to time usually in the $500 - $800 range. If your looking to buy one make sure it runs first. As Bryan said I have repaired several of these and can tell you first hand, Repair parts can be expensive and very harder to find. David The Sept/Oct 1998 issue of Z-Track Magazine has some info on them www.ztrack.com/back-issues/back-issues-digital/1998-back-issues-digital/4-5-Digital
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Post by tjdreams on Apr 13, 2024 9:46:45 GMT -5
I can't understand the... casual? lackadaisical? attitude many modellers take toward tractive effort, triplex So You want to design your layout based on the Tractive Effort Standard of Z scale locomotives? Well I guess you are going to be Disappointed Because there is No such Standard in Z scale. Which pretty much explains "the... casual? lackadaisical? attitude many modellers take toward tractive effort" Why should we care about a standard that dose not exist and probably never will in Z scale. Just like the real thing the tractive effort of each make and model of locomotive is going to vary according to its size, it's weight the number of drive axles, the motor and gearing. But more than just those things your track work is going to play a huge roll in what a given loco can pull. The percentage and length of grades, the radius of curves, the number of turnouts and crossings, and the respective location of each of these things in relationship to the others. Top that with how much the rolling resistance of each car changes as more cars are added to it, as it roles around a curved track, through a turnout, over a crossing or up a incline. The only way your going to calculate all these variables is to buy the loco's and cars you want, build a test layout and take the required measurements yourself. Me well i would rather spend my time building my layout and running the trains than doing all that research and testing but if knowing the exact tractive effort for each of your loco and doing the research & calculations is what your into then by all means go for it and enjoy yourself. David
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