Large Scale Central

One of my LGB Moguls takes more track power to run

Thanks Eric,

I will certainly take the drives off and check.
I am not sure I am clear what you mean by the rods or plates unless you are referring to the metal strips that lay across the pickups and that the shoes sit on top. If so, I’ve checked those multiple times already and don’t see any issue.

I can touch power leads to the metal strips, shoes, barrel of each brush and to the drivers and nothing happens.

Tim

Eric, haven’t you also mentioned having to re-solder a soldered connection or two in your loco repairing threads ? Just in case there are any between the pick ups and motor in this loco

Timmy I think you will find the tender has the board in it that controls the current to the motor which is why the loco on its will not run.

OK …just a shot in the dark here and after reading the manual that I posted earlier. Have you tried running the loco with the 4 position switch in position 2 or is in it position 3? Just a thought.
0…All power off
1…Power to lights as smoke generator
2…Power to lights,smoke generator and motors
3…Same as 2 but factory preset.

From your recent findings and looking at the wiring diagram it clearly sounds like it is only picking up power from the tender pickups and not the loco pickups. From what I have found on the internet the Moguls have twelve (12) track contacts (6 drivers, 2 shoes and 4 tender wheels with track contacts). However with out actually having the loco in front of me and a multimeter I can’t really say much more other than guess? The wiring diagram doesn’t show where cable #152 goes into the motor block. So my educated guess would be that the 2 inside pins are the pickups from the tender. I would also “guess” that the problem is within the pickup wiring inside the motor block from the wheels and pickup shoes to the motor itself. (if that makes sense)

https://www.onlytrains.com/manuals/23191-1.pdf

Yes. The motor tab connecting the motor to the bus bar bringing up power from the drivers and shoes had an intermittent connection. At someone’s suggestion, I soldered across the tab to the bus ( LGB Olomana - Smoked Buehler Motor). Many of the connections are basically held in place by pressure, so if a bus bar gets bent, even a little, it may not make the pickup from the driver or skate. I’ve learned this the hard way, by either not taking care of things during disassembly resulting in minutely bent parts and by reassembling the locomotive incorrectly, leaving things out of place.

Eric

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For what it was worth, my 2018D has the board in the boiler ( LGB 2018D Mogul - Cable From Cab to Tender Kaput). The picture is well down on the thread. Newer models may be different.

Eric

This is not exactly TRUE as I have been working on operation “W.O.M.A.N” for the past 30 yrs and I still do not have it figured out!

Rooster, you might need a spreadsheet, like me.

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hallpass3

Bill,
Perhaps you and Timmy can work out a spread sheet on the LGB Mogul that takes more track power to run cause …ahhh never mind.

Poser?
bus bar?
skate?

No idea what those terms mean…

Whoops…

  • “Poser” was a typing error. Should have been “power.” I corrected this.

  • “bus bar.” This is a large piece of metal used to bring power from one area to another and from which other things, like motors, lights, smoke units, etc. draw power. I am not sure if this is what the correct term here, but it is what we called things like this on 1:1 scale ships. As I am using the term here, these are the brass strips and, on models like Olomana, metal poles that bring power from pickup points, through the chassis, to the various loads.

  • “skate.” Another term I picked up along the way on this forum. This is a synonym for pick-up shoes, those metal plates that drop down from the chassis and “skate” along the rails to help draw power from tracks to the train.

Eric

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Ah… that makes sense. Got it!

I have another LGB Mogul on the bench at the moment converting to Blunami and battery power. I should be finished when the final part arrives on Tuesday. Once completed I will tear into LGB 23191 Mogul again and check the pickups and wiring to the pickups and possibly solder/wire the pickups directly if I can see and figure what wire goes to what.

I did check the 4 position switch in different positions with no difference.

When I did have it apart I did notice that the plug that plugs into the 4 poles above the motor was loose and not a tight fit. Perhaps that might be the issue. I will check that again once I drop the motorblock again.

Timmy,

Your mogul is way different than my older model! That four pin connector, however, was what failed on my mogul. I had to cut it off at the circuit board and solder in a new one.

Once you crack it open, do you think you could take a picture of the “guts?”

Eric

For troubleshooting, your Mogul should be able to operate by its self without being connected to the tender.
But Moguls should be connected to their tenders that provide two additional track pickup points that provide supplemental track power to your Mogul’s main circuit board. Turn your Mogul upside down onto some type of craddle to hold it steady…I use a foam craddle. Then with your DC Power Supply turned on to 5 - 10 volts, touch the two wires from it to the front wheels set and the motor and lights should activate; then do it with the slider shoe set; and finally the rear wheels set. If your Mogul’s motor doesn’t start moving when you do this test, then you know there’s some problem on one or more of the internals in the motor block. Sometimes the metal strips that contact the carbon brushes inside the motor block are not seating properly.

Note that your LGB 23191 Mogul was produced in two different configurations: One has a 6-Pin DCC Interface Connector for connecting a DCC Locomotive/Function Decoder or DCC Sound Decoder; the other version has a factory-installed MTS/DCC Decoder, non-sound. Note that the LGB locomotives produced by the original LGB Company with their MTS/DCC Onboard Decoders Installed do operate a little differently in DC analog power than just the DC analog operating locomotives. On many DCC/DCC decoders for large scale, there’s a 1 - 2 volts reduction at the output terminals on the decoder from the voltage at the track. The decoder also applies momentum control to the motor’s operation which isn’t present in the basic DC analog boards installed.

For your Mogul which weighs about 7 pounds, you should use a DC power supply of at least 2 amps for optimum performance.

What’s the latest status on your efforts to fix your Mogul’s operation?

Fixed!

This mogul which I purchased brand new from the local train shop a number of years ago is the newest of the 6 moguls I own. It has never, ever run very well which I’ve always found odd as the other 5 moguls which are much older run perfectly! Don’t know why I never checked it prior but I discovered a few weeks ago that the loco does not run unless it was connected to the tender. My guess is that is why it never has run well. I’ve dropped the bottom multiple times to check the pickup shoes and the metal strips the shoes sit on but have never been able to get the loco to run by itself not connected to the tender. However… that is all fixed now as I’ve converted the loco to battery power, remote control with the Blunami decoder. It now runs great!

Yeah, track power kinda sux. :innocent: Dead rail is the only way to fly!

Well… actually… track power has worked just fine for ALL of my 51 locomotives for the past 23 years. This one mogul is the only one I’ve had problems with. With that said, I’ve converted now 3 of my locos to Battery/Blunami. I don’t plan to convert the remainder.

Is your RR indoors or outdoors?