Large Scale Central

LGB Forney Not Running

General Discussion
#1

We had a disastrous first day of our Christmas open house because my LGB Forney would run for a few feet and then stop. It’s RC/Battery with RailPro installed. The engine has always run flawlessly until today. When I pick up the engine the drivers run. When I put it on my wheel rollers it runs. When its set down it runs intermittently. The gears look fine.

I’m wondering if it is a RailPro issue are something with the motor/wiring, etc.

I’m open to thoughts and suggestions. And as an aside none of my engines wanted to run today…very frustrating.

I appreciate your time.
Richard

#2

Are there any Error Messages on the RailPro handheld (Triangle with exclamation point). If so, the error text is on the (i)nfo page.

I’m assuming the battery is fully charged.

#3

Hey Jon,

As a matter of fact I did see triangle with exclamation point. But can’t remember if the engine was off and so no signal…I’ll have to check it out.

The battery is fully charged.

Thanks,
Richard

#4

is there any chance, that the track can somehow short out the motor?
(like not interrupted pick ups from the wheels?)

#5

My system is completely RC/Battery. No track power.

#6

I believe what Korm needs to know, are the original track power connections still hooked up. If they are, your battery power is shorting out through the track.

#7

No, I removed the track power connections when I did the conversion. The thing is this engine has run flawlessly since the conversion until today. I did send my RailPro hand controller back to Ring because it wasn’t charging. I wonder if a load setting was changed?

#8

I turned everything on tonight and the engine would not move. Again, picking it up and just holding it the drivers worked and never stopped. Placed it back on the track and it wouldn’t budge. I hate the thought of having to open it all up and troubleshoot…but I guess that’s what I have to do.

Thankfully our club president is delivering a diesel switcher tomorrow morning on loan before our second open house. And I charged my Bachmann Connie and it seems to work…will do a test run in the morning. So there is hope still!!

Thanks for all the suggestions.
Richard

#9

Even if a load setting was changed. It wouldn’t just quit. You can see the load setting on the main loco screen when the loco is selected. Right above the loco photo will be an engine and cars. The more cars, the higher the load setting.

Run it again when you have a chance. When it stops, press the i button (Information) and see if there are any faults reported.

I don’t think there is anything other than Motor Full Load Current that could have changed causing your issue. If that’s the issue, you will definitely get a Fault message.

#10

Will do!! Thanks a bunch

#11

I did a test run a little bit ago. The engine started down the track for about 30 feet and stalled. I pressed the “i” button on the handheld and reported no faults. When the engine was running it showed a percentage of voltage but when it stalled the voltage reported zero. This is with the handheld set for the engine to run forward and at about 30%.

So my guess is the issue is with the motor and wiring…

The good news is my first G scale engine, a Bachmann Connie that has been sitting on the shelf for several years charged up and made a successful run around the layout. So we will have trains running for our day 2 open house.

#12

That sounds like a battery issue to me. Maybe the battery’s BMS is shutting down, then resetting? Do you have a different battery to try?

#13

I have a battery in the cab that is the primary and one in a trailing car. The stopping happens with both.

#14

OK. I’m stumped, and at a loss for characters. :frowning:

#15

With your on going issue, you seem to indicate it runs fine when no resistance is present i.e. off the rails and on rollers(free wheeling bearings), but stops when resistance is there. So I’d check drive train issues.

#16

I run Rail Pro and all my engines are LGB and I run battery power only. Did you remove the brush pickups in the motor blocks that rub on the wheels and the track sliders for the electrical pickups. Not that this has anything to do with what your problems is, but just a thought.

#17

Yes, all of that was removed when I did the conversion a few years ago. The engine has run beautifully with no issues for these few years until just this weekend. Now that our Christmas open house is over I can take the thing apart and take a look inside.

#18

Isn’t this loco one of the dual worm types, with drive to each axle and the rods do nothing but whiz around?
And doesn’t it have a big weight in the boiler?
I’m with Dave. Suspect the worm mesh is shifting and stopping the loco, or shorting something. Or stopping those silly brass rods from hitting the motor brushes.

Let us know what you find, please.

#19

I am not familiar with this locomotive however from what I have read it sounds like it’s “back to basics”. It certainly sounds like a load/resistance issue “as stated”. I’m putting my money on the motor or connections with a focus on the connections. Usually a drive train issue will make noise of some sort alerting a gearing issue. However if the motor doesn’t have enough load input going to it then it will stall under load or perhaps the motor it’s self as at fault.

That make sense?
:rooster: