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New loco problem or is it?


jagger14

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Morning All,

 

Hope this is the right section to post.

 

I was recently bought a new Jubilee from TMC for Christmas which looks stunning. Bearing in mind this is my first new engine in roughly 10 - 15 years, I was expecting to put it on the track and do the running in process for an hour in each direction without much trouble. Unfortunately it is very sluggish straight out of the box and only moves for a couple of cm then stalls again requiring a push to get it going (the track is clean etc.).

 

Is this normal or have I got a bad one?

 

In the past I would have said it just needs a run but that a bit difficult when it wont run more than 5 to 10cm in one go... :(

 

 

Cheers for any help

 

Rob

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Morning All,

 

Hope this is the right section to post.

 

I was recently bought a new Jubilee from TMC for Christmas which looks stunning. Bearing in mind this is my first new engine in roughly 10 - 15 years, I was expecting to put it on the track and do the running in process for an hour in each direction without much trouble. Unfortunately it is very sluggish straight out of the box and only moves for a couple of cm then stalls again requiring a push to get it going (the track is clean etc.).

 

Is this normal or have I got a bad one?

 

In the past I would have said it just needs a run but that a bit difficult when it wont run more than 5 to 10cm in one go... :(

 

 

Cheers for any help

 

Rob

None of my Farish locos have behaved like that when new - could it be something to do with any finish applied by TMC affecting wheels or pickups?

 

Do the wheels look dirty?

 

Might be best to take up with TMC ASAP.

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Will have to I think.

 

It does have a medium weathering applied but I would have thought if that had affected anything they would have sorted it out. Surly they test the locos before they send them out?

 

Hello Rob,

 

I've had this problem with a few weathered locos from TMC.  I think they do test them before weathering - I've never had anything weathered by TMC that's had any kind of long-term problem - but I nearly always need to give the wheels a really good clean to get any kind of consistent running.  I use a combination of carefully applied IPA and a trusty old minitrix wheel cleaning brush.

 

I think the Farish Jubilees are pretty good runners, but if you're still having problems after a good wheel cleaning I'd give TMC a call and send it back.

 

Good luck,

 

Mark

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Thanks for the information. I will play around a bit more and see if I can adjust the pick ups etc. The wheels were spotless though straight out of the box. I am guessing it picks up on the main driving wheels as the tender has traction tyres. I was wondering if it was something to do with the connection from the tender to the loco.

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If they were a little overzealous with the weathering, it may be possible that something got into the tender drawbar contacts, but I'd be surprised given how secluded away these are. Far more likely that the wheel blackening/weathering material has fouled the pickups or the pickup wipers don't press on the wheel backs consistently and so might benefit from a little tweaking. Even though there are traction tyres, pickups are fitted to the tender as well. I have had a couple of models where adjustment to the tender pickup wipers has also helped.

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I'd be very careful here if you have to start disassembling loco. That's not what I'd expect to do on buying a new loco. I appreciate that TMC have weathered it , But it's frankly unacceptable if this has resulted in poor running. they should have tested it after weathering and as weathering is a normal procedure for them I'd have expected them to have taken care not to have clogged the pickups or painted the wheels .

 

Unless it's a simple wipe, I'd send it back with a strongly worded note!

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If you can cradle the locomotive so that you can turn the 'drivers' by one hand (I have been known to use an Asda Fig rolls box lined with kitchen roll as a make shift cradle before!), then you may be able to clean the wheel backs and treads using a cotton bud and IPA, being very careful to not overload the cotton bud with IPA or contact any part other than the face of the wheel which is used for pickup. This should remove the worst of the weathering material which may have strayed on to the wrong parts of the wheels. That leaves the chemical blackening to deal with, and this should wear away relatively quickly as the pickup wipers work their way through it, though that can be helped by lightly running a fibreglass pen over the wheel backs to remove the worst of the blackening...not all of it, let the wipers do that, but just enough to get it moving well enough to do a running in turn.

 

If the wipers do need tweaking after cleaning, it can be a fair bit fiddly. As noted, its a bit far to go with a new model, as is cleaning off excess weathering material which should have been checked for. I'd err towards contacting TMC before you begin cleaning...I must admit though, I'm guilty of completely stripping them down at times, mostly through curiosity and future reference if (when) I need to service them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

just an update...

 

I managed to clean the easy bits without taking it a part which improved things a little bit. Rightly or wrongly I then decided to pull it around with my 47 as it kept stopping every couple of feet when it hit a dirty spot on its own. After running around slowly with my 47 in both directions for 20mins it seems to have cleaned itself and it now runs like a dream on its own!! :).

 

If I do order any more custom weathered items I will make sure I ask them to check it before they release it. Maybe they do and this one slipped the net, The trouble was worth it,  it does look fantastic I have to admit!

 

Just need to work out where my speaker is going to go now ;)

 

thanks for everyone's help!

 

Rob

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