That’s a new one. I’ve never seen an electrical problem manifest itself in stiff or binding chassis. Any chance something on the boiler is pressing down somewhere it shouldn’t? (First thought would be the reverse lever or something possibly pushing against the motor.) If the motor had been running flawlessly for an hour, and nothing changed between then and when you put the boiler back on the chassis, that’s where I’d look first–something in that process that introduced a mechanical bind. Could be something as simple as a piece of plastic or metal hitting a wheel. If the binding is timed to the rotation of the drivers (i.e., always binding in the same position) then it’s definitely mechanical. First, step - pull the boiler back off and see if it goes away. If it does, it’s likely some quirky mechanical thing. If it doesn’t–and you’re sure there’s no mechanical bind–bypass the on-board electronics and hook power directly to the motor–(make sure you get the power to the leads going directly to the motor, not the leads coming from the track that connect first to the filtering board.) If it runs smoothly when power is applied directly, then gut the filter board, and hook power from the on-board PC board directly to the motor and try again. If it still surges, then gut the on-board PC board so the track power goes directly to the motor if it still surges when power is applied directly to the motor, it’s either mechanical or the motor’s shot.
Later,
K
For the headlight, I wouldn’t use an incandescent bulb, I’d use an LED, but a properly-colored one. You can use the same resistor that’s in series with the stock orange LED.
Later,
K
