New F3 Superbass shorts transformer

Exactly what transformer are you using?

I have sent both the powered b unit and the powered a unit back to Lionel for repair. This is sad for Lionel but I have confidence. That they will repair them in a timely manner. I was told at York that the manufacture for the F40 ph which was a nightmare for Lionel would not build any more for them. These new F units have the same caristics as those. I do wish Lionel would address the opthion of close coupling better and provide us that option,

Fred Brenek posted:

Exactly what transformer are you using?

 Lionell ZW-L.  When only 1 truck is on, no problem.  When both trucks are on the track, that’s when I have the Bzzzzzz and flashing red light on the transformer.

Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:

Fred Brenek posted:

Exactly what transformer are you using?

 Lionell ZW-L.  When only 1 truck is on, no problem.  When both trucks are on the track, that’s when I have the Bzzzzzz and flashing red light on the transformer.

Is it the same truck that's ok for transformer when you place it on the track or it  doesn't matter which truck goes on the track, when both are on there is an issue?

Pinched wires under the shell???? 

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

Bryant Dunivan 111417 posted:

Fred Brenek posted:

Exactly what transformer are you using?

 Lionell ZW-L.  When only 1 truck is on, no problem.  When both trucks are on the track, that’s when I have the Bzzzzzz and flashing red light on the transformer.

Is it the same truck that's ok for transformer when you place it on the track or it  doesn't matter which truck goes on the track, when both are on there is an issue?

Either truck by itself OK.  Both at the same time is the problem.  No pinched wire when I pulled the shell.  

Sounds like they crossed the wires from the pickup rollers and truck frames inside the car. They used to use red wires from the pickup roller and black wires from the truck frame but many items today just use black wires.

First use an ohmmeter and see if reading between the two pickup rollers reads zero or close to it. If not read between one pickup roller and the other truck frame. If that reads close to zero the wires are crossed inside. Usually the power wires are tied together with wire nuts. If they appear to be shorted then you can try and follow the wires from each pickup roller and see if they are twisted into different bundles and correct it.

Pete

Laidoffsick posted:

Pinched wires under the shell???? 

You were the closest.  I removed the truck and found the roller pickup wire had been pinched where the truck goes through a mounting collar plate which attaches to the frame.  Picture is below.  I would suggest others look for this as it is a very small space that the wire is landed.  I lucked out with this since it is the non-powered Superbass with no motor.

On another note my observations upon unpacking and preparing the A units and the B.:

1) The powered A units had Styrofoam bunk in the gears.  That is a place to look at closely.

2) One of the A units had a screw rattling around inside.  I removed the shell and out fell a screw that was obviously stripped.  I will look for where it might go.  I suspect is  in the mounting assembly for the switches and volume pot.

3)  The Superbass non-powered B unit had a missing nut for the screw that holds the coupler on.  The result is that it flops around uselessly.  Need to find a nut.

4)  On the Superbass B unit, one of the stacks had fallen off.  I re-glued it and now it is fine.

Probably the wrong thread, but I do agree the "blocking and tackling" quality inspection is obvious.  Fortunately not fatal in this case to warrant the slow process of return and repair.  Just my 2 cents.  

On to York!

Slugger posted:

I too am having the same issue with my Superbass B unit shorting out my transformer. (I started that other thread last night as I didn't see this thread.) And this is not the first issue I've had with this unit or the AA. My experience unpacking these units:

1) The B unit's one coupler and truck were hanging loose without a screw.

2) The powered A unit's door above the pilot was broken and pushed in. Whatever upper latch was used to pivot/hold it in place had broken off. 

3) A detail piece was broken off the powered A unit. No idea where that came from.

4) There was something rattling around in the powered A unit. No idea what it was.

Plus the additional styrofoam all through the wheels issue. I immediately sent the units back to the dealer and they repaired all those problems. The AA units are fine but the B unit is shorting out my PowerMaster. I never tested the B unit the first time because of the truck issues, and I guess no one else bothered testing these units either otherwise QC would've identified this issue. This is my first time with any sorts of issues with an engine new out of the box, so perhaps I've been lucky...

@Bryant Dunivan 111417 I'll have to take a look to see if that's what causing my problem too. Did you have to take the shell off to remove the truck?

Shell comes of.  Look strait down and you will see the plate held down with 4 screws.  After removing the screws, lay the frame on it's side without disconnecting anything.  The area will be wide open to look at.

Slugger posted:

 

@Bryant Dunivan 111417 I'll have to take a look to see if that's what causing my problem too. Did you have to take the shell off to remove the truck?

This is a Liondrive engine. To check the wire attached to truck (see pic above) you don't have remove the shell. Just rotate the truck 90 degrees and it will drop down. With the wires still attached it won't drop far but you should be able to inspect the wire where it mounts to the truck.

Pete

Norton posted:

Slugger posted:

 

@Bryant Dunivan 111417 I'll have to take a look to see if that's what causing my problem too. Did you have to take the shell off to remove the truck?

This is a Liondrive engine. To check the wire attached to truck (see pic above) you don't have remove the shell. Just rotate the truck 90 degrees and it will drop down. With the wires still attached it won't drop far but you should be able to inspect the wire where it mounts to the truck.

Pete

Better yet Norton.  It will make it easy for me to check the other truck.