Looking for some help diagnosing an issue. Recently purchased UP Big Boy LC 2.0 in late December. Overall the engine is great, but chasing a ghost in the machine that may be related to the engine or tender. What is happening is that around curves, it seems to cause a quick short in the track, that is immediately reset by the direct lock on and then occurs again, sometimes 3 times or more in a row. As the breaker resets the legacy signal is still present so the engines moves forward only to trip the breaker again. Once this series of breaker trips has occurred and it moves past the curve, or I push it past the curve the engine runs flawlessly for minutes/hours with no issues. All other features are working. The issue does not re occur until after it is powered off and sits on the track overnight when the issue occurs again. Below is my set up and what I have currently investigated, hoping someone who owns this engine or has had this problem with another engine can help.
- engine controlled by cab 2, track powered by 180W bricks through tmcc direct lock on, only run command
- running on fast track, curves are 048, issue is not common to one curve, occurs at top or bottom of lay out, but only going into or out of a curve and only when in the curve, does not occur on the straight track between each of the curves
- have cleaned and replaced the curve track and bent pins to make sure I have good contact, and when the short occurs have even wiggled the track to see if that would reproduce or correct the short, but it does not
- issue only seems to occur once the engine starts up for the first time each day, once it has been running and passes the curve for the first time it does not re occur, even if you shut the engine down and restart, but if it sits overnight it appears to happen the first time it is started
- Interestingly enough, if start up occurs on a straight section the issue does not occur until it reaches the first curve and again only on the first start after it has sat on the track unpowered overnight
- I have run other engines at the same time and alone and no others create this type of short
- I even thought that maybe the smoke unit was drawing to many amps and causing breaker to activate, but the problem exists even with the smoke unit off. Also of note, after the series of breaker tripping the smoke unit seems to be super charged for a little while and then resumes normal smoke output, not sure if that is a symptom of the issue or a consequence of the engine powering off 3 or more time in a short timeframe
- And to clarify when I say short, this is only based on the breaker tripping, I see no sparks as you may see when you have a derailment
I am left not knowing if the engine or tender is creating a short on the track, but not sure why the breaker resets it self without the short being corrected, or is the engine in the curve drawing too many amps and that is activating the breaker?
Appreciate your help in advance.
Thanks
Frank
