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Brass steam locomotive shorting problem Locos and rolling stock
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New member 17 posts Essemo New member 17 posts
Essemo

I have a few brass steam locomotives and while I know they can be fussy about trackwork, I have got them running with no issues apart from one exception.

The one loco I'm having trouble with is shorting out under the tender. I think it is because this tender has a lot of underframe detail that seems to hang very low and I think the parts are sometimes touching the rails and causing the sparking and shorting.

My question is what are the recommended ways to solve this? I was looking at insulating paint and wondering if I could try coating tbe underframe details with it? Has anyone tried that or are there some other recommended actions?

Thanks in advance for any responses/suggestions.

 

Steve

 
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joef MRH Founder 17,461 posts
joef

Photos?

If you can post some photos, we can offer you more specific troubleshooting advice. Ideally, provide these views: Tender on the rails, low angle left side view Tender on the rails, low angle right side view Underside of tender with trucks on Underside of tender with trucks off Full view of loco and tender on the rails With those photos, we can offer more specific advice. Otherwise, could be a lot of things — trucks hit the underframe, tender rides too low (needs raised), or who-knows-what…

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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GeeTee Regular poster 147 posts
GeeTee

Check the wheels and trucks first

The first thing to do is make sure all the wheels and trucks are correctly oriented , trucks can sometimes get turned around, and wheels installed incorrectly during replacement or maintenance .  

If the details are causing shorts , I would either reorient them , glue , re- solder or remove them so they don't   cause an issue.  

Some of the time the wheels can short to the truck frame if the journals are drilled to deep. In that case you have to either change to wheels with longer axles or go to a plastic truck or change to new trucks.

As a last resort , swap out the tender.
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Larry of Z'ville Frequent poster 984 posts
Larry of Z'ville

Need some clarification

Does the unit run at all?  or does it short when the power is applied.  

Does it move for a while & short on specific locations, like on a turn out or a curve?

If it is shorting all the time, can you eliminate the short by lifting one of the tender trucks off the rails?  

The answers to these questions will help point the way to the solution.

Joes pix will definitely help as well.

So many trains, so little time,

Larry

check out my MRH blog: https://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/42408

 or my web site at http://www.llxlocomotives.com
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railman28 Regular poster 194 posts
railman28

and

in addition to the spots mentioned; Tender making contact with the engine frame.

 

Bob
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David Husman dave1905 MRH Author 9,834 posts
David Husman dave1905

Tender

Quote:

I think it is because this tender has a lot of underframe detail that seems to hang very low and I think the parts are sometimes touching the rails and causing the sparking and shorting.

The first thing and the most obvious is the tender underbody detail, if it is indeed hanging down far enough to touch the rails as you described in the original post, that's a problem right there and an obvious defect.

Either the details aren't attached properly, are bent, or there is something wrong with the trucks that let they come down close enough to touch the rails.  There ought be a good 1/8 to 1/4 inch between the underbody details and the top of the rail.  If they are touching the rails, that's an immediate red flag.

Dave Husman

Visit my website :  https://wnbranch.com/

Blog index:  Dave Husman Blog Index
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