This past week I completed some customizing on the Grizzly Northern's newest and fourth Russian Dec and started running-in at the club on Saturday. However after about an hour of smooth running at medium speed the loco stalled and refused to respond, although the DH123 decoder proved to be good. Testing without a decoder, with a shorting plug installed and using 00 address there was no typical sizzle to be heard.

In subsequent testing with a multimeter I found an open circuit at the loco connector terminals connecting to the motor, as compared to about 30 ohms for an operable Russian. Therefore it looks as if the motor has burnt out or gone open circuit.

My problem at the monment is how to gain access to the motor. Referring to the loco diagram I have removed screw 00219 securing the front bottom frame to the cylinder saddle, screw 10109 securing the rear bottom frame to the central split block holding the motor and screw 10181 holding the draw bar, which also appears to run through to central split block. However  I still haven't found the secret to releasing the cab and boiler from the bottom frame, in the same way as for a 2-8-0. What am I missing? 


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Isambard

I received a Tsunami-eqipped Spectrum 2-8-0 from MicroMark in mid-March but have run it only about two hours total in trying to sort out intermittent behavior.

The sound characteristics are great, however the loco would run smoothly for a few minutes but then start speeding up and slowing down or stopping, at the same time making a variety of sounds on its own e.g. bell, whistle, brakes etc. At first the behavior seemed to occur on modules in a power district that is furthest from the Digitax command station/booster, but then became more general and appeared to increase awith running time . Logging off and then back on seemed to temporarily cure the problem. Resetting CV 008 to 008, cleaning the track and drivers and changing from N to HO voltage made no difference.

In looking for loose connections I first found that the loco/decoder functioned with either the loco drivers or the front tender truck alone on the rails, but not with only the rear tender truck on the rails. Removing the tender body and examining the internal wiring, including under the decoder board, and gently probing with a multimeter for continuity from the axle pickups to the decoder input terminals, all appeared to be normal. However on reconnecting the loco and tender I found that the decoder would now work only if the loco was on the rails i.e. the front tender truck connection was gone.  I then ran the loco for a few minutes - it ran normally, broke into intermittent behavior and then stalled, emitting the now familiar variety of sounds but more ominously a groaning/humming sound from the loco itself. Powering off and then back on (for a very brief time) had no effect.

At this point, it would appear my only recourse is to send the unit to Bachmann but before I do so I'm curious to know what has been the experience of others with the new sound-equipped Spectrum series? I have a no-sound Spectrum 2-10-0 Russian, also recently purchased from MicroMark, that has been with Bachmann since 22 Feb for repair.