I have a Rail King 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler Steam Engine, Item No. 30-1585-1. The engine will light up and start only after it sits for an hour or so. For example, this morning I started the engine, ran it for a few minutes and then shut it down (0 volts). Then I immediately tried to start it (18 volts) and nothing happened. After it sits a few hours it will start up as it should and it will run forever but if I shut it down it will not start up. I tried leaving the engine on the track with the power on but that did nothing to change the situation. I contacted Tony at Trains and Things in Ewing, NJ (great store, great customer service) and he suggested that perhaps it needs a new drawbar. I might mention that when I got the engine it would run only in reverse. Tony did a reset and that solved that problem. The engine mis-behaves in both conventional mode and DCS. What are your thoughts?
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I think my first step would be to test the boards outside the engine and see if they misbehave. Perhaps you should suggest that to your repair guy. Troubleshooting is simply eliminating possibilities until only one remains. A big first step would be to eliminate the boards as the issue.
Clean wheels for good ground, and good pickups for center rail. This could just be continuity of power. But if it really is a time based board issue, that is a weird one. G
THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES. The end result was replacement of the draw bar, apparently the electrical connections in the bar were defective. Thanks again to all who replied.
@FELIX posted:THANKS FOR ALL THE REPLIES. The end result was replacement of the draw bar, apparently the electrical connections in the bar were defective. Thanks again to all who replied.
Interesting. Any idea how after just sitting there bad draw bar connections would suddenly work again? Was the engine moved?