Today while operating my Lionel EP-2 (Product #6-18384), I noticed a massive design fault with the center PCB for the "A" and "B" wiring harness.
But first some context, I was testing my engine around the San Diego 3 Railers layout to check how well it plays with the switches and I came across a switch where it would derail at any speed. And I decided to go the other way through the switch, which also had a side track where it can become an insulated block. I took it through the switch and into the block and all seemed fine for the first few seconds. Next thing I knew the engine completely lost power (but the breaker did not trip) and it later struggled to get steady power, even on track that was just cleaned. I did some investigating and trouble shooting. I found that when I connected power to the "B" side pickips, only the classification lights would come on and the TMCC boards would not start up. I put power only on the "A" side power pickups and the TMCC board started up, but the rear lights were not working.
Upon disassembly I checked the wiring on "B" side of the engine and everything seemed to check out. I also just to happened to have the middle section removed as well and I discovered the middle PCB in this state.
I tracked back the wires from where the burnt trace was and sure enough it lead to the center pickup roller. So what appears to have happened, is when the front half of the engine went into the insulated block and lost power. The only way it could get power was from the other pickup roller, which also went through this PCB. And the trace was not able to handle the current from the motors and the TMCC boards, so it burned up and broke. I did do a temporary fix to the PCB, where I found a jumper wire and held it on the back of the PCB with electrical tape (on the solder pads that were open). And the unit ran just as it did before this happened, which was perfectly.
I will be repairing this PCB tomorrow and repairing it in such a way that this will on longer be an issue in the future. So stay tuned for the pictures. But basically all I will be doing is soldering a jumper wire in between the 2 connectors on the back side, the thicker wire will be able to handle much more current than the extremely thin traces. So it won't burn up as easily. However I will be applying that fix for all the pins on this PCB, just to ensure that it will have rock solid connections for years to come.
