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Steam Engine surges on curves only

kjstrainskjstrainsOGR Forum Member

I have Premiere Steam Engine, DCS 2.0 that behaves oddly when entering into curves only.  I have had this engine for 7 months and have had no problems with it until now.  I have been running this engine almost every night for the past several weeks.  I am running DCS 4.20.  When it first enters into any curve, the lights on the engine go off but the engine speeds up like it is going into conventional mode.  When exiting the curve or even before exiting the curve the lights come back on and it resumes normal DCS operation.  It will do this weather it is in forward or reverse.  Again, it does this on any curve, but runs normally on straight sections.  

 

Things I have done so far…

-Reset the engine to factory defaults.

-Clean the Track

-Clean contact rollers on the engine

-Reconnected tetherless drawbar several times

-Adjusted the screw on the tetherless drawbar on the engine

-Put the engine on different track – same results

-Ran different DCS steam engine on the same track – that engine ran normally.  However, this engine does not have tetherless drawbar.  I don’t have another engine with tetherless drawbar. 

 

Based on the above I have concluded it’s not the track.  I thinking it might be something with the connection with tetherless drawbar but not sure?  Has anyone had this happened before and what did you do to correct it?

 

Thanks

Ken

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G GGGOGR Forum Member

Make sure the connector inside the engine is firmly connected to the drawbar.  Same with the tender side at the swivel.  This does sound like a wire issue that is moving as the engine enters the curve and loses a connection.  Probably the +5VDC or the Return PCB ground which causes the MUX board to lose power (turns headlight off and lose tach which effects speed control).  I hope it is a simple connector plug issue.  G

kjstrainskjstrainsOGR Forum Member
Thanks G.
 
Tonight I reseated the connector on the Engine and Tender.  Verified that both are firmly connected to the drawbar.  However the same problem continues. I checked both of the screws on the engine and tender that hold the drawbar.  I even tightened and loosed the screws to see if that made any different, but it did not.  I did notice that the problem begins when the drawbar is at the widest point on the curve and once the drawbar recedes even a little bit from the widest point the engine returns to normal operation.  The headlight, marker lights, and cab light all go off and I lose control of the speed of the engine.
 
Might be a dumb question, but I am wondering if I put the engine on wider radius curve if that would make a difference or if there is something mechanically wrong with the drawabar?  Up until this point the engine has worked fine on 0-42 curves. The owners manual does say to use 0-54 curves, but since it was running fine since I bought it I did not see the need to purchase 0-54 curves. 
 
 
Originally Posted by GGG:

Make sure the connector inside the engine is firmly connected to the drawbar.  Same with the tender side at the swivel.  This does sound like a wire issue that is moving as the engine enters the curve and loses a connection.  Probably the +5VDC or the Return PCB ground which causes the MUX board to lose power (turns headlight off and lose tach which effects speed control).  I hope it is a simple connector plug issue.  G

G GGGOGR Forum Member

Are there any nicks in the wire insulation?  I would turn the tender swivel by hand and see if any wires are stretching under tension.  Possibly allow more flex or free play in any wires that are too tight.  Same goes for engine side.

 

Then can you run the engine with tender shell off and see if it still does it.

 

Same with engine shell off, thought this may not be possible if the engine has the MUX board in the shell.  Mux needs to be powered to have the tach get power.   G

kjstrainskjstrainsOGR Forum Member
I will have to look at the wire insulation a little bit closer.  I don't remember seeing any nicks on the wire insulation.  The swivel on the tender moved without any tension.  At first appeared to be too lose when I looked at it earlier, but was not sure how lose it should be.  I will see what happens when I run it without the the shell on the tender.  If that does change anything, I will get new wireless draw-bar and try that.  I will be out of town for the next week for Christmas, so I will have to do that when I get back.  Thank you G. and Paul for your help.  I will let you know when I get back into town.  Merry Christmas!
 
Originally Posted by GGG:

Are there any nicks in the wire insulation?  I would turn the tender swivel by hand and see if any wires are stretching under tension.  Possibly allow more flex or free play in any wires that are too tight.  Same goes for engine side.

 

Then can you run the engine with tender shell off and see if it still does it.

 

Same with engine shell off, thought this may not be possible if the engine has the MUX board in the shell.  Mux needs to be powered to have the tach get power.   G

kjstrainskjstrainsOGR Forum Member

I just got back in town.  I bought Wireless Drawbar Set.  The biggest drawbar was 40 mm in the set, but when removing the original drawbar, I notice it was 45mm.  I decided to try the 40mm.  I no longer have the issue of the engine surging on curves and the engine operates normally even on 042 curves.  However, it does not run smoothly on that size curve because of the smaller drawbar.  I realize I will need to get 054 curves.  However, should I order a 45mm replacement drawbar from MTH too? 

Marty RMarty ROGR Forum Member

Anyone have a source for 45mm drawbars, or even longer? I wanted a longer one, for my Berk last year and Midge, at MTH, didn't have any. Ideally, I'm looking for a 45 and a longer one. With the stock 45, the tender snapped some upright piping, off the back of my cab (running reverse, through O-54, skirt down). I do have an email in to Midge, but it's a busy time of year.

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