My 1999 PS1 RailKing Hudson has decided to not move forward or reverse. It goes from neutral to fast chuffing sound. I reset the engine to factory default (#18 on the features list where you hear 3 clanks and 3 clinks to confirm the reset), but still no luck. I am using a post-war Lionel ZW. It has run fine for 2 years with the ZW. Any suggestions would be helpful.
Thank you,
Dave
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Did you try replacing the battery? Probably a good place to start.... Any reset will not stick with a weak battery and apparently there are 2 parts to feature 18 reset. The first whistle reset features 1 to? (this part I don't know) and the second whistle reset everything else.
My MTH Proto 1 Hudson does the same thing. Ran fine now no movement.. I never tried to do anything with it. Sits on a shelf. Waiting to hear if you get yours going.
Sounds like a bad plug, or socket. It could be a loose pin on the engine tether connection board. The motor is not getting any power.
Well it's funny how it happened. It was running at normal speed around the loop and then it just stopped with the chuffing sound going really fast. Will let you know what fix works.
Dave
Chuck is correct. Take the engine shell off and look at the 4 pin socket that the tether plugs into. You have a solder joint on one of the pins that went to a cold joint (no contact). Touch each pin with a tab of flux then hit all 4 pins with a hot solder iron. I see this very often. While you are hitting the pins with a hot iron, keep the plug in the socket.
Exactly the same thing recently happened to my Commodore Vanderbuilt Railking Proto 1 engine and my technician did same thing Chuck and Marty said, and now it runs great. I thought it needed a new tether, but all it needed was a good soldering job in connection with the socket pins.
Dave, if I were you, I would first try to fix it yourself exactly as Marty stated. If thst does not work, take it to an expert like Marty or Chuck.
Thanks for the suggestions. I have experience with electronics, circuit boards, soldering etc. Will let you know what I find.
It turns out that the the white wire (1 of for wires in the tether) has a short in the molded end of the tether. Found this using a voltmeter that has an audible continuity function. So, for now I will connect a single wire using a miniature single disconnect plug, replacing the white wire. The rechargeable battery is good at 9.2 volts. Hopefully it will run like normal again. Stay tuned.
Dave
You should use the MTH 8.4 volt battery or a NEW BCR. Good job in finding your issue.
Engine runs again! I added a jumper wire (black and red combined) with a mini connector to bypass the white wire in the tether. Thanks to all of you for your advice. While I had the engine all apart, I also inserted a small bridge rectifier in line with the motor so that the heater element produces more smoke at normal speed.
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