Problem with R2219 Blackmoor Vale

[SR Rich]

Hello

 

Hopefully there is someone out there who can help me.

 

I have a model of R2219 Blackmoor Vale, It will not run with it's tender or a merchant Navy tender.

It will run very happily engine only, the tender will work behind a merchant Navy, so I have concluded the problem lies with the wiring on the engine but it looks exactly the same as the Merchant Navy is wired.

 

Richard

 

[145 Squadron]

Richard

 

The two brass strips that sit at an angle on the loco drawbar can get bent such that one or both touch the centre post on the tender - as they are wired for opposite polarity pickup you get a dead short when coupling up any tender with this arrangement. the cure is to carefully bend the brass contacts away from the drawbar centreline. Do it a bit at a time to ensure you dont break them.

 

Good luck

 

Tony

[steviesparx]

I would think either the brass contacts on the loco drawbar as previously suggested, or that the loco is wired reverse polarity - is it the original tender ?  Did it ever run properly?

And running on DC, does it run in the same direction as the Merchant Navy ?

 

I once bought a bargain priced 'return' Hornby A3 which would not run when coupled to any tender, but ran perfectly without. Examination of the wiring didn't suggest any tampering, which pointed to faulty wiring during manufacture....I'm sure mid-night shift, loco number two hundred and something could easily fall prey to mis-wiring...

Edited July 24, 2017 by steviesparx

[SR Rich]

Hello

Thank you both for the solution, I have a perfectly working light pacific.

I would think either the brass contacts on the loco drawbar as previously suggested, or that the loco is wired reverse polarity - is it the original tender ?  Did it ever run properly?

And running on DC, does it run in the same direction as the Merchant Navy ?

 

I once bought a bargain priced 'return' Hornby A3 which would not run when coupled to any tender, but ran perfectly without. Examination of the wiring didn't suggest any tampering, which pointed to faulty wiring during manufacture....I'm sure mid-night shift, loco number two hundred and something could easily fall prey to mis-wiring...

 

Yes the loco does run in the same direction as the Merchant Navy and thankfully not mid-night shift mis-wiring.

 

Richard

 

The two brass strips that sit at an angle on the loco drawbar can get bent such that one or both touch the centre post on the tender - as they are wired for opposite polarity pickup you get a dead short when coupling up any tender with this arrangement. the cure is to carefully bend the brass contacts away from the drawbar centreline. Do it a bit at a time to ensure you dont break them.

 

Good luck

 

Tony

 

Tony, you were spot on, it was the metal strips touching the center post.

 I looked at every other option and overlooked the obvious.

 

Thanks again.

 

Richard

[RFS]

Richard

 

The two brass strips that sit at an angle on the loco drawbar can get bent such that one or both touch the centre post on the tender - as they are wired for opposite polarity pickup you get a dead short when coupling up any tender with this arrangement. the cure is to carefully bend the brass contacts away from the drawbar centreline. Do it a bit at a time to ensure you dont break them.

 

Good luck

 

Tony

 

I had the same problem with a rebuilt Merchant Navy. Same solution - gently bend the strips outward so they no longer touched.

 

Although the loco now ran fine, further investigation showed the tender pickups weren't working.  The internal tender wiring wasn't properly connected and that needed sorting too. 

[bike2steam]

Tony, you were spot on, it was the metal strips touching the center post.

 I looked at every other option and overlooked the obvious.

 

Thanks again.

 

Richard

A common problem with Hornby tender locos, I've had many 'repair' jobs from other modelers with this same problem, the Hornby tender locos in my collection are permanently coupled/wired to prevent it.

[Chrisr40]

This is very useful as I need to replace the pick ups on my Canadian Pacific. Thanks all

 

Chris