Brand New Genesis Diesel D. O. A.

Are you able to start/run it in conventional?

Hi Marty,

I'm not set-up for conventional, but, I'll set-up a small test track and I'll get back to you with the results.  Thank you for the suggestion.

Chief Bob (Retired)

Hello Again Marty,

I tested her in conventional mode as suggested and Zip, Zero, Nada just like in DCS Mode.  Any help would be appreciated but I'm thinking she's gonna go back to MTH as soon as I receive a RMA from them.  Thank you for your time.

Chief Bob (Retired)

I'm guessing it lost power to the boards.  Could be as simple as a wiring issue, or maybe not...

Sending it to MTH sounds like the path of least resistance.

The board could have died too.  No response can also occur if something fails on the board and shorts it on the DC side.  Back to MTH for a new engine is the way to go.  G

I'm trying to be optimistic.

Guys, I would give a shot of pulling the power plug to the board and putting it back in.  I am sure we have all seen that one.

First, let me thank all of the "Senior Tech Guys" (I impart that with the utmost respect) for their input.  You guys have more knowledge in your "Pinkie" finger than I have in my whole body.  That being said, I have decided to send the engine back to MTH on principle.  The fact that it is Brand Freakin' New and it wasn't in my procession for 24 hours before it went Ka-Put!  I have purchased a few MTH and Lionel engines that needed to be "Fine Tuned" but those pieces were previously enjoyed and I did what needed to be done.  Further, with a little help from you guys, I probably could fix it myself but I shouldn't have to 'cause it's Brand Freakin' New! (you get the idea).  Once again, this goes to that whole "Quality Control" thing that gets talked about here from time to time.  I further fully understand that if it is Man Made, it will fail at some point but not the same day.  Believe me, if this engine didn't run when it was tested in front of me at the train shop, I certainly would not have plunked down 400+ US Dollars and told the nice man that, "I can probably fix it when I get her home".  Really?  Again, thanks gentleman, but this puppy's going back to MTH and believe me, I'm not a Happy Camper at this point!

Chief Bob (Retired)

Don't hold back Bob, tell us what you really think.

I have to agree, QC certainly isn't what it used to be.  Stuff like this happens occasionally.  Not that it'll help, but many times the electronics croaks after a very short time, it's called Infant Mortality in the electronics industry.  There's an upside down bell curve of failure rates, it starts very high for the first few hours, drops to the low side and then ramps back up near the end of useful life for most electronic products.  This is also why critical electronic systems are typically "burned in" during manufacturing.  For Aerospace stuff, we had a 168 hour burn-in with temperature cycling for every unit before it shipped.  Obviously, consumer stuff doesn't get the benefit of this level of testing.