MTH J 611 (20-3630-1) stops on curves

Does it do the same thing facing the other direction? Any insulated rail track there? Think you are on the right track with the tether issue.

Sounds like the plug going into the drawbar on the engine is not fully seated.  The plug resides in a housing and it MAY not be seated correctly resulting in the contact with the drawbar not being seated properly.  To verify this, place the engine and tender on a test track, on rollers.  Connect the drawbar and power up.  Run either forward or reverse and slightly jiggle or move the engine side of the drawbar to each side.  What happened?  Did the engine stop?  If it stops, the tether inside the engine must be reseated in the drawbar and the retainer ring must be reattached.  Let us know.

bruce

Bruce, I’ll do that later tonight and report. Thanks. 

Good evening Ed, I have had trouble with my two MTH PS3 Pennsy M1a with the drawbar on the tender end coming disconnected.

My layout has developed a couple of slight dips which has made my track slightly uneven.

When these two engines would travel thru these slight dips the engines would either stop or hesitate and then take off.

To solve the problem I ran a black zip tie around the drawbar and the upper pin assembly that goes down thru the drawbar.

After this addition I have not had any more issues.

My MTH PS3 Pennsy K4 has a black plastic piece that slides up over the square hitch pin tightly which holds the drawbar up in place.

 So far this engine has not given me any issues traveling thru the same slight dips in the track as my M1a's.

I hope this is all that's wrong with your J.

Mark, thanks for the input. My track is level, I don't think I have the same issue. My Bavarian which has the same tether arrangement has no problems on the same area of the track. 

ed

Bruce, I placed the engine on the rollers and it started right up.  The sounds were fine.  However, while up on the rollers I did try to move the tether as you suggested and on the rollers, it moved very little, not at all the swing on the turns.  After attaching and re-attaching the tether , I t put it back on my layout. Much to my surprise it started to run normally...but, not for long. It started to crap out on the loop. Track signal a 10 and 18v at that spot.  Some times I just lose the sound for a short time then it comes back now it stops running but sounds work again.  Same symptoms.  I examined the tether and the male/female plug pins and it all seems in order.  I'm open to further suggestions.

Thanks,

Bruce, good talking to you this evening. See you between 11-1:00PM tomorrow.

Check engine pcb for cracked solder joints, and or replace tether. G

Any update?

I noticed the chuffing stopped before the engine did. It Could be loose/broken wire where the plugs go in. My friend had the 2010 run of the big boy and had simmilar issues. Turns out it was a loose wire or 2. The wires are underneath the cab of the locomotive. (Locomotive side) of the drawbar but it can happen anywhere. 

ToledoEd posted:

I started up my 611 this morning and all was fine until it started into an 0-72 curve, then it stopped abruptly...as if the power suddenly was cut off. Track power was at or near 18v and signal was a 9-10. This is the only MTH engine I own that has started to behave this way. It happens on the O-72 and 0-60 curves. Once I move it to straight away it performs flawlessly. That means I get about 15 ft of travel than it enters a curve and stops. This phenomenon showed up a few times in the past, rarely, and not consistently as it does now.  I'm thinking the problem is unique to this 611 and may have something to do with the tether? I have one other MTH steamer, the Bavarian S 3/6 (20-3398-1) and it does not do this on any of the curves.  If there is any test that would identify the issue or fix etc., that I can do...I'm not afraid to open up the shell...I'd like to try to fix it before I haul it off to a Tech.  Thanks.

Here's a short clip (FYI it does this going  forward or in reverse):

I had a new Dreyfuss that had a poor insulator on the drawbar.  When it would go around a curve it would have a small short that slowed it down badly on curve.  So much, I thought it was all the wheels on the NP tender.  Jason with MTH helped me with this and the tech found the inside of the tender bar mounting hole at the engine was grounding against the retaining pin.

Turn the engine around, and see if the problem goes away.