Help needed with 4-6-4 Hudson PS 3.0 locomotive!


K

kev_800

New Member
Hi Everyone:

My model RR experience is next to zero, so please forgive me in advance if I am not being clear.

I have a MTH 4-6-4 Hudson PS 3.0 locomotive with attached tender in O gauge. It was purchased in about 2012 or 2013. It has always seemed very finicky with the z-1000 controller that I originally used it with, so I purchased a DCS Commander unit and used the Z-1000 transformer on it. I haven't used it all that much - once or twice a year on Lionel Fastrack layouts that we put on the floor (non-permanent). The commander unit seemed to make everything so much easier to run, and it worked just fine for one day.

Anyhow - the locomotive won't take any commands from the commander unit. The tender seems to be receiving commands just fine and plays all of the PS commands I send it. However, the locomotive has suddenly stopped working. It won't blow steam and the light does not turn on. Most importantly, the locomotive will not move when given power on the SMPH gauge. It will not work under the conventional power either. I have checked all the connections and everything seems OK.

When I do a track signal test, I received a 10 and a blank (0).... the second number reflects return power. This seems to indicate that there is no connection between the center rail and an outuer rail through the locomotive. Is this a wiring problem? If so, is there a way I could fix this myself? The nearest hobby store to me is 100 miles away. The only thing that I did before this happened was to wipe down the rails with a lightly damp paper towel with 91% rubbing alcohol. The tracks had a fair amount of black material on it, which I removed. Could this have damaged the track in some way?

Thanks for any advice!
 
I would refer to these pages on the MTH website http://mthtrains.com/troubleshooting-o-gauge-proto-sound-30-equipped-locomotives. MTH's DCS system is a Proprietry system, i.e. only made and available in MTH brand locomotives, so best to go to the "source" for any problems.

As far as the black residue on the tracks, that is common to any electric trains that pickup their power from the track. In the case of trains that use a digital control system of any type, clean track and the loco wheels that transfer not only the electricity, but also those digital signals to the loco's decoder, cleanliness of both is essential. Your problem may be as simple as cleaning both of grime.
 
Just noticed that you have 3 rail, also clean the rail wiper/s for the 3 rail and check for wear. I'm not familiar with what form the MTH ones are, but 3rd rail wipers often wear a groove in them.
 
So, after your suggestions I took a closer look at the under-side of the locomotive - no significant wear. Then I placed the locomotive back on the track, and jiggled/pressed the connector between the tender and the engine while there was power on the track in DCS mode, and the engine lit up and started moving. Then it suddenly stopped halfway around the track. It seems like there is faulty wiring inside the connector. Have you seen this before? Is there any way I can fix this, short of sending it in to the manufacturer for repair? It seems awfully premature to be having these kinds of problems with the locomotive with so few hours on it - probably less than 12 total.
 
Also, thank you for your post. Your link to the trouble-shooting guide had this information which I examined:

"Check the drawbar connection. Without a secure connection between the boiler & tender, the separate circuit boards will not be able to communicate. Check the wires coming from the internal electronics to the drawbar."

In order to check the internal electronics to the drawbar, I guess I'll have to disassemble the locomotive? Oh boy.
 
Haven't any experience with modern steam locos (Modern diesels, HO scale, DCC control (DCS and DCC are incompatible), but we do have a member with a BLI HO steamer who is having similar loco/tender connection problems in the same type of connection. Unfortunately in today's manufacturing scheme of things, final testing of "stuff" is now in the hands of the consumer. If you got it from a brick & mortar retailer (shop), give them a call, see what they suggest. If they're an authorised MTH service facility, they should be able to fix it, other than that, it may have to shipped to MTH. Here's the link to the various departments. The find a service center one should show if there's one near you http://mthtrains.com/service As it will still be under warranty, if it was new, let them handle it, if you attempt a repair and fail, you could void the warranty.
 
I've had problems with those connectors. Depending on which type you have, you may need to disconnect the connector and clean the connections with cleaner like denatured alcohol.
 
bnsf971 said:
I've had problems with those connectors. Depending on which type you have, you may need to disconnect the connector and clean the connections with cleaner like denatured alcohol.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That is a great idea. I will try to clean the connectors first and see if that works before I disassemble the locomotive. I'll try to let you know how it goes.
 
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