This is from Baldwin info from years ago:

Attention should be given to the slipping of the driving wheels in a Mallet locomotive. If the wheels of the forward group slip frequently, while those of the rear group do not, it is an indication that steam is leaking past the high-pressure valves, and these should be examined for blows. If the valves are in good condition, and the wheels of only one group slip, the unbalanced pressures resulting will tend to stop such slipping. Any continuous slipping can occur only in both groups of wheels simultaneously, and should be corrected by throttling the steam and using sand.

More can be found at

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/blwmal00.Html



Morris

Actually, enamel-coated wire is a good selection for a fine wire that must be flexible, such as lead wires to a tender truck.

Enamel-coated wire is used in practically every electric motor. It certainly is not new.

If you've ever had to remove enamel coating to solder a wire to a terminal, you may have noticed that the coating is quite durable.

Morris

Furthermore...

Remove the bottom of the ashpan. You'll find the various wiring connections under there. A red wire and a black wire run to the driver pickups.

There should be two wires of the same color to each terminal as follows:
Red to R
Black to L
Yellow to M+
Orange to M-
Blue to L-
Green to L+

The "bare" wire is enamel coated.

The cracked cylinder is not unusual. Your fix is easier than sending it back.

There are pick up wipers for the drivers. For some reason, yours may not be either touching the back of the wheels or somehow got otherwise disconnected. Poke around the cover plate and/or trace the leads to find the break.

Morris

Here ya go...

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=40115

Here ya go...

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=83670

I strongly suspect that your addition of lights is nothing more than a coincidence with the shorting problem.

These engines (the ones without sound) have a design problem with the pickup system that's held in place by the cover plate under the drivers.

Bachmann may not be in a position to fix this quickly, because the problem can not be solved by replacing the locomotive; rather, some sort of a thin insulation sheet must be installed between the bronze wiper system on the cover plate and the axles. (This is what remedied the problem with the sound versions).

If you're real handly, you can do this yourself with some clear plastic sheet (such as that used for windows) and a modelers knife. And if you're quite good, you may be able to do this with less time and effort than to pack up the engine for return to Bachmann.


Morris

I'm not sure what you mean by "permanent" ink, but inkjet printers need a special decal paper that has a special coating to prevent ink from beading up.

I've had good luck with Micro-Mark's Inkjet decal paper.


Morris

Quote from: SteamGene on April 15, 2007, 08:46:34 AM
"Out of stock" means "We don't have any and don't expect to get any more." 
"Back ordered" means "WE don't have any now, but more are expected soon."
So Lanny was telling you where you could now search for one.
Gene

"Out-of-stock" means there's none on the shelf right now.

"More are expected soon" means they're on order with Bachmann, and as soon as Bachmann gets them and sends them to Micro-Mark, the shipment will be made to the customer.

Morris

Larry,

This topic is thoroughly covered in previous posts listed under the heading "The spectrum Decapods"

You can fix the problem yourself if you have a bit of modeling skills. See my instructions for how to do same under the above heading.

Regards,
Morris

Maybe you could try running it on straight/analog DC and see if it makes sound. It would at least tell you if the sound system works at all.

Please let us know.


Morris

Here you go...

http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Product&ID=40220

Hey Bach-man,


Perhaps it would be easy for the factory to set CV116 closer to a pretty good value than the decoder's default value.

A little experimentation with the engineering models could establish the initial factory setting. For example, on the On30 Forney, it would be CV116 = 110.


Morris

Yup...make sure F8 is not set to "sound off."

It may be possible that the speaker became disconnected, somehow. Although, if you get a bit of a peep at startup, that may not be the trouble.

You can also try setting CV30 to "2" and reset the decoder to factory settings. If that restores the sound, then you can reprogram the addres.

You may need a program track booster, like the SoundTraxx PTB-100, to make everything work correctly.

Morris

That's what it means.