Locomotive Repair Help Needed.

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wstevenson94

New Member
I have a locomotive that I received fro Christmas that is not running correctly. I do not want to send it back the company and I do not feel comfortable attempting it myself. I would rather pay someone else for the repair. The locomotive is a Broadway Limited Paragon Rolling Thunder EMD E9 Sou #198 (5810). If you know of someone who could help please let me know. Any information will be greatly appreciated.
 
I have heard a lot of a lubricant they use on the wheels will cause sporadic operation, have you cleaned them since attempting to run?
 


Did the locomotive run well for a time? Have you cleaned the tracks, or metered them throughout to see if there is continuity when power is applied? Have you performed a reset to factory defaults? Sometimes the decoder gets scrambled and a reset will work. If you do this, remember that the new address will return to the default '03'.
 
Locomotive did not run well out of the box. Tracks are clean and all other locomotives run fine. Factory reset was done and did not help performance. Thanks for your reply. All help is appreciated.
 
Unfortunately, it appears that you got a dud. Sorry. I would suggest contacting BLI and as for a return authorization.
 
wstevenson94 said:
I have a locomotive that I received fro Christmas that is not running correctly. I do not want to send it back the company and I do not feel comfortable attempting it myself. I would rather pay someone else for the repair. The locomotive is a Broadway Limited Paragon Rolling Thunder EMD E9 Sou #198 (5810). If you know of someone who could help please let me know. Any information will be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
What exactly are the symptoms? I mean, "Not running correctly" could mean many things. Do the lights come on, Does the sound start, does it stutter, does it run in reverse, does it not go slow, does it not go fast.

What system are you using to power it?
 
BLI locomotives come with a coating of grease on the wheels. I guess that's to prevent corrosion during shipping and storage until sold.
One of the best ways to clean the wheels is with a strip of paper towel wetted with paint thinner. Lay the paper towel across the track and drive the loco over it to spin the wheels in the paint thinner. Do with one set of trucks at a time to the other trucks can pick up power from the track. You'll prolly see black strips on the paper from the crud that is coming off the wheels. When the paper towel shows clean, you're done.
Do not ever use a wire type brush, file or sandpaper on the loco wheels. That creates scratches in the Nickle silver coating that will collect dirt pretty fast.
 
Ken that reminds me of years ago when I had a trix wheel brush.
Just sit it on the tracks, place a loco on top, then crank the juice and watch the light show! Literally arc welded the wheel surface! 😆
 
D&J RailRoad said:
BLI locomotives come with a coating of grease on the wheels. I guess that's to prevent corrosion during shipping and storage until sold.
One of the best ways to clean the wheels is with a strip of paper towel wetted with paint thinner. Lay the paper towel across the track and drive the loco over it to spin the wheels in the paint thinner. Do with one set of trucks at a time to the other trucks can pick up power from the track. You'll prolly see black strips on the paper from the crud that is coming off the wheels. When the paper towel shows clean, you're done.
Do not ever use a wire type brush, file or sandpaper on the loco wheels. That creates scratches in the Nickle silver coating that will collect dirt pretty fast.
Click to expand...
I've tried talking this member through the whole cleaning process in an attempt to at least find/cure the cause of the issue (he describes it as running jerkily ) but he doesn't feel comfortable doing any of this as he is a total newbie in the hobby. He's looking to see if anyone can recommend someone where the loco could be sent (apart from being returned to the manufacturer) to to be looked at.
 


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