Quote from: jestor on December 20, 2009, 09:52:28 AM
You mentioned that it had been run mostly on DC.  Did/does it run OK on DC?  If so, we can go from there.

Good thought jestor.
From memory it was fine on DC but I will go back and test it.

Michael

Quote from: NarrowMinded on December 19, 2009, 08:17:55 PM
Not sure which wheel sets the forney uses in the trucks, but I had a side dump car that had a bad wheelset and would cause the loco to run as you described, I tore the loco apart twice before discovering it was the axle on the car that I left on the track while testing the loco. maybe one of the trucks has one of these bad wheel sets.

NM

Thanks for the thought NM.
While the Forney is behaving erratically other locos on the layout are running fine (at the same time while testing the Forney) which would still suggest the problem is with the Forney.

Michael

Hi Tim

Thanks for your comments and your valuable in-depth description.

I have done as you suggested including switching the truck around but it didn't solve the problem.
However it may have bought me one step closer to a solution.
While the truck was off I tried running the loco and it ran absolutely terribly.

This tends to suggest that the problem could be with the drive wheel pick ups. (These where cleaned earlier but now deserve a closer look)
If the Drive wheels are not transmitting a good current to the loco and it is mainly reliant on the rear truck then that could explain its erratic stop/start running

regards
Michael

Hi

I wonder if anyone else is having problems with their On30 Forney .. or if anyone can offer me any suggestions

I have the Forney with Tsunami sound (Bachmann equipped)

I have had the loco from new (about 2 years) and it has not had a lot of use.
It was mainly used on DC but recently I upgraded the layout to DCC
Since changing my layout to DCC the forney has been behaving very erratically. So much so that I can no longer risk running it around the layout as it will suddenly stop in the middle of a tunnel on straight track.

Heres the scenario

- Start driving loco
- some time moves 1/4 in and stops ... other times will travel 5 or 6 feet before suddenly stopping or hiccuping
- when it stops often it will start again on its own after a second or so ... occasionally  it wont start at all until I push it.
- mostly it stops on points but also stops on straight track
- If I clean the track and points it runs better but will still stop and start erratically
- the erratic stop-start is less frequent on cleaned track


Other things I have noticed that may or may not be relevant.

- MY OTHER BACHMANN & BROADWAY LOCOS DON'T HAVE THIS PROBLEM AT ALL
- IT HAS NEVER BEEN DROPPED

- When it stops and then starts again the headlight starts flashing on and off
- Erratic behaviour happens in both forward and reverse but is worse when going forward
- Very occasionally the entire layout shorts when it stops (only very occasionally does this happen)
- When it stops on uninterrupted track (not points) it is often in the same places (straight track with no joins)
- some of the main drive wheels show pitting.


What's been done so far

- Wheel have been cleaned
- the loco has been stripped and the wheels and wiper contacts cleaned.



thanks for any suggestions

I am not sure if anyone can throw any light on my problem.
I recently bought two of these 0-4-0 gas locos brand new and one of them has a sticking problem.

It has been stalling  a lot on points. I assumed it was because it was only a four wheel pickup and the points have plastic frogs. Often when it stalls it wont start again by simply pushing it or even moving it to another section of live track ... I have to push it down and forward to physically start the wheels moving .... the loco then bursts into life and is away ... it appears that the motor/drive is somehow sticking and siezing.

Last night I compared it with the other loco of the same type that I bought at t he same time and discovered that the other loco goes great over the points, even at very slow speeds, so the stalling appears to also be an issue with the faulty loco.

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated.

thanks
Michael