This might be a touch out of the ordinary...
The resurrect-ee is my 30-1129-1 RK Big Boy. I figured it would be a better fit for test running my 24-pack of Menards flatcars than the scale one, which is having issues with the vertical alignment of a couple of my test-track curves.
Now, it is a PS1, and last night, I stuck the original battery in a dual 9v charger, along with a RadioShack NiMH. The oddball thing is that the MTH NiCd's charge came right up to spec and is holding steady while the NiMH is still half-baked (this is using a battery tester that supposedly puts a load on the battery being tested). This loco has only been run once since new, and that run was just back-and-forth on the dining room table. Thus this particular battery has had only one discharge/recharge cycle.
My digital voltmeter is showing a steady 9.4 (NiCD) and 6.5 (NiMH) volts respectively, but I don't know if I'm using the proper setting on the voltmeter (looks like 20V DC range, but I can post a photo of the settings dial if needed). I put the original battery back in, and this is where things get odd, at least in my experience.
--Loco runs in both directions without hesitation (starts moving at about 12v) and the headlight works...but I get no chuffing during movement, only 'white noise'.
--During the inital "try to get it moving phase", it would throw off a few chuffs while sitting still, but since I got the unit moving, no more of that.
--Sounds cut out immediately when power is interrupted.
--In neutral, all the usual idle noises play (in fact, it's doing so as I type this)
--While moving, I can trigger the whistle and bell (I'm using a Z4000)
Anything I'm overlooking? I have the unit idling at about 10V with the tender shell off right now.
---PCJ