Prarie Shadows by Rapido Trains FP4 A&B not picking up power

[Paradise275]

I got theses locos a few years ago from Prarie Shadows. They ran very well and were a joy to own.
I put them away for a year or two, and, when I went to run them again, the pickup on both units was poor.
I contacted Prarie Shadows and they said to take the trucks off and stretch the springs that provide pick up.
I did this and cleaned the wheels and the contact point for the spring but with no better results.
Does anyone have an idea how to fix this?
Rick

[peteski]

RIck,
After few years of idle time there will likely be oxidation or hardened lubricant on every electrical contacts.  You have addressed some of those points. I suspect you will have to clean the remaining contact points, from the wheel threads, to wheel pickups, chassis pickups, and even possibly motor contacts.

[Paradise275]

Thanks Petski. As usual, you are the go to guy with the right information. Thanks once again.
By the way, the Norfolk & Western steam loco your fixed for me, still works like a charm. The decoder still is amazing.

[peteski]

Thanks Petski. As usual, you are the go to guy with the right information. Thanks once again.

Glad to help out!

By the way, the Norfolk & Western steam loco your fixed for me, still works like a charm. The decoder still is amazing.

Excellent!  Good to know.
In the meantime I also serviced one of those locos/decoders for another Railwire member.  QSI is still around, but they seem to be struggling. I hope they will get back into business and make smaller N-scale sized decoders which will not just barely fit in an N-scsale tender.  I agree that those decoders are amazing.  way ahead of their time when they were manufactured 15-20 years ago.