I spent a lot of time attempting to service my FA1. I fixed it so well it no longer works!
Now I have aCanadian Western FB1 that works fine but has a dead partner.
Has anyone ever attempted to cut down an FB1 frame to fit the FA1? It seems such a waste to have an FB1 that I have no use for.
Hi Doug,
What do you mean by dead?
Do the motors work?
I have MU’ed FA-1’s to FB-1’s so a single Revolution controlled both.
You could connect the FB trucks to the FA to check them.
4 wires between them and you can have 16 track contacts & perfectly synchronized locos.
Jerry
I’m not getting any response from the motors. The pins for the front motor got bent after working on the motors so much.
I straightened them and was able to plug them back in.
When I put it back on the tracks both motors were still dead and I wiggled the front plug. I heard a very small spark and in the process of trying to get it to work the breaker on the power supply flipped.
Check the polarity of the motors as to how they are picking up power
Mike
Hi Doug,
Perhaps these images may be of some help:
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jerry_mccolgan/aristo-craft/FB-1%20with%20AD322.jpg)
It has been awhile but if I recall correctly most of the parts from an FB-1 are interchangeable with the FA-1 (same generation).
First I modified a FA-1/FB-1 set to DCC but then changed them to work off a single Revolution.
Jerry
Thanks. I’m going back to work on it Monday and those just might help!
Hi Doug,
The FA/FB-1’s are not very complex but bear in mind:
Mine are older generation (prior to the plug & play circuitry)
Don’t trust the wire codes.
Beyond that friends who have sent locos to Aristo have been very pleased with the repairs and costs. Some have reported different but I can only speak of what local friends have experienced and told me.
Good luck,
Jerry
This is a tool I invented to make it easier to remove the FA/FB-1 top unit from the frame:
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jerry_mccolgan/aristo-craft/FA-1%20Tool1.jpg)
It is just a piece of coat hanger cut to fit and pull the frame up and away from the top piece (after removing the mud flaps and partially removing the bottom of the hand rails).
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jerry_mccolgan/aristo-craft/FA-1%20Tool2.jpg)
I’ve owned and worked on a few FA-FB-1’s I think they are some of the best locos made by Aristo.
(http://freightsheds.largescalecentral.com/users/jerry_mccolgan/aristo-craft/dyard1.JPG)
http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips2/fa_tips.html
Jerry
Perhaps you have the wires backwards…
i’m pretty sure that the trucks on mine are wired opposite each other in terms of wire color. try running the loco with only one truck on the track. if that works…break out the aligator clips and chase the problem.
Is the FA1 and FB1 wired the same way? I just sat down at the bench to see what I did!
If I recall correctly the FA & FB are wired the same except for the obvious (lights etc.). I am sure the frame wiring is the same (as long as they are the same generation).
The circuit reverses the polarity between the front and rear truck (or they would run in opposite directions).
I once bought a bunch of new FA-1’s & FB-1’s on clearance just to upgrade my older FA-1’s & FB-1’s to the then latest drive units. All I had to do was swap the new frames including the new motors and plug the old top wiring harness into the new lower units.
Jerry
Another failure today and I fear the motors are fried.
I had trucks go on mine. That’s when my railroad contacted EMD and it became a FA1 m. I replaced the alco trucks for usa geep trucks and modified the stack for the repower. It runs a whole lot nicer with the Geep trucks.
