Foam rubber over frame?

[Joetrain59]

Came across an Atlas C420 in LIRR blue wave scheme, that is running oddly. It takes a lot of voltage to get it moving, but led's light with much less voltage. Thought maybe it was a dcc unit, but it's not. So I took shell off, and there's a strip of self adhesive foam rubber over the top of circuit board. Never saw this on any new loco before. Have another Century from same order, it runs fine, but have not removed shell to compare. It's not easy to remove this foam, as it comes off in little bits. Want to open up frame to see if all of mechanism is in place properly.
 Joe D

[up1950s]

Came across an Atlas C420 in LIRR blue wave scheme, that is running oddly. It takes a lot of voltage to get it moving, but led's light with much less voltage. Thought maybe it was a dcc unit, but it's not. So I took shell off, and there's a strip of self adhesive foam rubber over the top of circuit board. Never saw this on any new loco before. Have another Century from same order, it runs fine, but have not removed shell to compare. It's not easy to remove this foam, as it comes off in little bits. Want to open up frame to see if all of mechanism is in place properly.
 Joe D

Sounds like the original owner had an issue with the shell / chassis mechanical interlocking and maybe used carpet tape or something .

[Joetrain59]

Rich, these were bought brand new from BLW!
 Joe

[up1950s]

Wow , maybe a querie to Atlas to confirm that product was OEM is in order ?

If they say no , and knowing BLW / Pete wouldn't try to pull a fast one , maybe somebody pulled a fast one on him .
step 1 .. Maybe somebody had bought that loco from elsewhere then screwed it up .
step 2 .. Maybe that same somebody bought another from BLW and did a swap and return to BLW so now BLW unknowingly has the bad one .
step 3 .. BLW sells what he thinks is new to you .

[Joetrain59]

Will remove shell from other C420 in a while, fingers need to warm up!. Oh entirely possible someone returned loco to BLW, after tinkering with it. Then on to see what trouble is lurking to make performance goofy.
 Thanks,
 Joe D

[Joetrain59]

Other loco has same foam rubber over frame halves. Has anyone else seen this on other Atlas locos? Makes me want to check older and newer releases of C420 I have. Have to photo and video later.
 Joe D

[Curtis Kyger]

I have seen this on a couple Atlas C420, however both were purchased used.

[Joetrain59]

What I don't like is that it's right over those clips that go between frame and PC board. Will photo now. Hopefully pix viewable in a while.
 Joe D

[Joetrain59]

Should be a photo here.
 Wonder if I shouldn't just tear down loco, and if possible, soak frame halves in alcohol for a minute or so. Will shoot a video of erratic performance in a bit.
 Joe D

[nscalbitz]

Looking at that I'd wonder if some official 'unofficial' assembly QC work is getting done to maximise output/ minimise 'on-hold' defectives, without the contract purchaser knowing about it.
Regards DaveW
from 2018.

[up1950s]

That frame looks not new , looks like weatheing overspray , then new truck side frames added and stuck in a new shell and sold as a new unit . Somehow BLW wound up with it . Somebody gets a new chassis and motor and you wound up with his old guts .

[mu26aeh]

And it looks like someone wrote numbers on the windings of the motor, don't think the factory does that.

[peteski]

And it looks like someone wrote numbers on the windings of the motor, don't think the factory does that.

Actually I've seen a number of new 5-pole motors with numbers written on the armature poles. I suspect they do that at the factory when balancing the armature.

While it looks suspect, the black paint on the frame might be factory applied (to hide the exposed area of the underframe under the walkways).

The foam is probably there to put down-pressure on the light board (so it makes better contact tieh the motor's contact strips.  While that is suspect, I suppose it could have been installed at the factory.  @Atlas Paul  might be able to provide a more authoritative answer. Not wanting to bother the Atlas CEO, I would have normally asked @Cory Rothlisberger , but since he no longer works at Atlas, it might not be appropriate. 

[Joetrain59]

MU, I have seen plenty of motor poles marked up for a count. Other loco also has black overspray, so I think Peteski is right about that. Could not post a video, as MPEG is unsupported here, and file size way too big. Throttle has to get turned up at least 3/4 way on MRC Tech4 to get problem loco to move.
 Going to start a teardown. Will send e-mail with photo to Atlas asking about this.
 Thanks,
 Joe D

[Joetrain59]

Have this loco apart now. Spinning motor while still in one frame half, It would cog a bit at one spot. The feel of it wasn't good, like "gritty". I was thinking a pole hitting a magnet? But now with motor removed from frame, it spins better, but need to bench test it. Then another oddity shows up. The flywheels look as if they were balanced with some sort of putty. WTF? Never saw this ever before. Will get back into this Monday evening.
 Joe D