New Challenger Challenged - Front Power Truck Freezes Up

[lashedup]

Thanks for the report Max. I've got one here that was dead on arrival. Sounds come on but it doesn't budge. I've been torn between sending it in and letting Athearn deal with it or digging into it myself.

[peteski]

Thanks for the report Max. I've got one here that was dead on arrival. Sounds come on but it doesn't budge. I've been torn between sending it in and letting Athearn deal with it or digging into it myself.

Is the drivetrain not moving at all or only one of the engines is stalled with the other one running in place?  This is the condition Max described (one engine was uncoupled from the motor).
Can you hear the motor spinning (slipping)? Or the motor and the loco is not running?  You might have to mute the sound (F8 key) to check for motor noises.

[mmagliaro]

Max, did you end up with one for your own layout?

No.  It's a nice engine, but it's just too darn big to use on a small layout like mine.

[u18b]

Some day.... (sorry- may not be soon)

I'll post a complete description for disassembly of the trucks.

I burned out the little bulb on mine... and to get to it, you must take the entire truck almost completely apart.  ENded up replacing it with a micro-LED.

I saw no instructions on the web, so disassembly instructions are needed for do it yourselfers.

[mmagliaro]

Some day.... (sorry- may not be soon)

I'll post a complete description for disassembly of the trucks.

I burned out the little bulb on mine... and to get to it, you must take the entire truck almost completely apart.  ENded up replacing it with a micro-LED.

I saw no instructions on the web, so disassembly instructions are needed for do it yourselfers.

Ron,
You mean the headlight on the new Athearn Challenger is an incandescent bulb?   
I notice that on this engine I've been repairing, the headlight does not work.  The taillight does (in reverse).
I am only running it on DC, so it was remotely possible that the headlight simply wouldn't come on unless the
command was sent to the decoder.  But that would be a very remote possibility indeed.  I have never seen
a DCC engine I've had on my DC-only layout that didn't light up the headlight on DC.

So now you have me thinking the headlight bulb on this one I've got here is also burned out.
How did you burn it out?  Did it just fail by itself?

[peteski]

Ron,
You mean the headlight on the new Athearn Challenger is an incandescent bulb?   
I notice that on this engine I've been repairing, the headlight does not work.  The taillight does (in reverse).
I am only running it on DC, so it was remotely possible that the headlight simply wouldn't come on unless the
command was sent to the decoder.  But that would be a very remote possibility indeed.  I have never seen
a DCC engine I've had on my DC-only layout that didn't light up the headlight on DC.

So now you have me thinking the headlight bulb on this one I've got here is also burned out.
How did you burn it out?  Did it just fail by itself?

I can't answer your bulb question (I have not taken my model apart yet  ), but I do know that many (or maybe even all) of the decoders control the DC functionality of headlights depending on a CV setting, and on what was the state when the decoder was last operated on DCC.

Wouldn't the parts diagram give a clue whether that is a bulb or LED (I don't have mine handy to check)?  But for example the Life-Like (Walthers) 2-8-8-2 had a bulb for the front headlight and LED for the tender headlight.

[u18b]

Max,

Mine is from the first run.    Bought it second hand.
Bulb incandescent.

I have no idea what the newer runs have for lights.

As to how I burned it out---

First, the decoder with sound died.   

So instead of spending 100 bucks to replace the sound decoder, I just hot wired the wiring harness so I could run it in analog.  (I'm an ingenious and resourceful kind of fellow.)

After I got it running and was enjoying it, some time later I hooked up the headlight wires.

And when I turned up the throttle and saw the beautiful burst of incandescent color- I suddenly remembered there was no resistor in place.
(I'm actually an idiot).

So now my Challenger is still analog- and now has an LED with resistor.

[mmagliaro]

Here's a very large format photo that shows how the joint should look AFTER it's fixed, with an explanation and labeling of what was wrong with it.

[np1969]

Thanks for the report Max. I've got one here that was dead on arrival. Sounds come on but it doesn't budge. I've been torn between sending it in and letting Athearn deal with it or digging into it myself.

I discovered today (1/13/18) that I also have one of these defective locos. I bought it last summer or so, but have not had time or opportunity to put in on the tracks until today. Sound works, motor doesn't. The best guess is that there is a factory defective connection between decoder and motor.

It sits there and goes "chuff-chuff." Horn works. Bell works. It does not move at all. I will spare all of you the agonizing details of trying to get it to move.

I sent an email to Athearn for a will-call UPS pickup order because there is no way I should have to spend another penny of my money to get their factory defective product replaced with a functional product.

I think all of you know the response I will get.

Roger - NP1969