Large Scale Central

Troubleshooting LGB 22382 Christmas Streetcar

Problem Solving
#1

I am a long time lurker and this is my first post.

I have a LGB 22382 Christmas Streetcar that I bought new several years ago. It has very few hours, probably minutes, on it since I did not run it every Christmas.

The problem is it’s very sluggish when running on the track or when I connect a power supply directly to the electrical pickups. At 12 VDC it draws 2 amps with the wheels free spinning. Does anyone know if this current draw is normal? I am thinking it drawing too much current and that is why it’s sluggish.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Michael

#2

Michael welcome aboard. Questions, questions, questions.

Did you buy this new or used?

Did you run this around the tree on the carpet or bare floor?

Are you able to take this item apart to view and clean the working bits of the drive?

Others will ask other questions but the above will allow insight as to whether or not it is a mechanical issue or dirt in the works. You would be surprised at what will be drawn into an electric motor while it’s running.

#3

David Marconi,CHHN said:

Michael welcome aboard. Questions, questions, questions.

Did you buy this new or used?

I purchased it new.

Did you run this around the tree on the carpet or bare floor?

I actually ran it on a wooden ledge, straight track using one of those Aristocraft automatic reversing units.

Are you able to take this item apart to view and clean the working bits of the drive?

I removed the bottom plate of the trucks to view the gears and they look good, greased.

Others will ask other questions but the above will allow insight as to whether or not it is a mechanical issue or dirt in the works. You would be surprised at what will be drawn into an electric motor while it’s running.

I assume there is a motor on top of each truck. I did not take it apart far enough to see the motors.

thank you,

Michael

#4

Others will chime in, but did you clean the truck, pick-ups, and track?

Though new, when was it made and how long has it sat in the package. Removing the factory grease in the gears and replacing with fresh lube may correct the issue. Oil all spots referred to on the literature and a break in run at a slow speed may free the works.

Look for lint, hair, dust around axles and moving parts

Just clearing the basics here to get to the issue. Not having it in hand doesn’t help as does not seeing it run. Also check to see if you can see any damage around the working parts.

#5

A dual motor LGB engine (no smoke on steam) with no load should not draw more than .5 amps. 2 amps is way too much.

Can be a bad motor, or debri on the wheel/axle giving the motor a big load.

#6

Dan Pierce said:

A dual motor LGB engine (no smoke on steam) with no load should not draw more than .5 amps. 2 amps is way too much.

Can be a bad motor, or debri on the wheel/axle giving the motor a big load.

I found an exploded parts diagram. Looks like there is a circuit board that has plugs that go to the motors and lights.

Does the circuit board have any electronics on it for the motors?

Could it be the circuit board that is causing the excessive current draw?

I guess I will need to try and disassemble to get to the motors and circuit board. Looks to be 12 screws on the bottom. I hope that is the way to gain access to the motors and circuit board.

Any tips or advice to disassemble would be very much appreciated.

thank you,

Michael

#7

The 22382 has the LGB onboard DCC decoder and drives the sound unit via the SCSI bus. The red connector in the center of the board is the SUSI interface which gives the sound unit power, ground and SUSI sigmal. 2 of the black connectors go to the motor block and the other cable is for the switch. You can unplug the susi cable and/or one motor cable to see which one causes the issue, or it can be the DCC decoder board.

#8

Thank you all very much for giving me some troubleshooting advice, very much appreciated.

I troubleshot the problem down to a motor by unplugging one at a time. I removed the defective motor and to confirm it is the motor and not a gear or wheel issue, I applied DC voltage directly to the motor with it removed from the gearbox and it is drawing approximately 2 amps. While the other motor is drawing very little current, I may replace it as well because it has a slight burning smell when I apply voltage to it.

Does anyone know the part numbers or where I can purchase replacement motors?

thank you,

Michael

#9

The motor is the LGB standard short shaft motor (62201). Dealers should be selling these around $60 US. Be sure to add a small amount of grease to the brass gear when installing a new motor.

#10

Did that fix it?
Depending what you feeling that a burning smell is, it could be just the motor brushes.

#11

The post was last year. The original guy may have disappeared.

#12

I hope not, that would be an unfortunate consequence.

:innocent: