Poor running new Hornby Ruston 48DS

[Lambolavis]

Hi there, recently got a Hornby Ruston 48DS model for my brother and it has some Very peculiar running. Very juddery almost stop start as it goes along the track. It’s DCC fitted with a Hornby 6 pin decoder.

cleaned the track and had a mooch at the pick ups and all seems as it should be.

any help appreciated.

[The Johnster]

I find it pretty amazing that these little things work at all, never mind as well as the reviews say they do. 

 

Fault finding is a process of elimination.  The most likely cause is a DCC chip issue, and we can isolate this by removing the chip and trying the loco on DC; a 3V or 9V battery with the terminals across the rails will do if you don't have a DC controller.  At this point, should the chip be the issue, I cannot help you further as I do not know much about DCC, but the information you now have is sufficient to identfify a duff chip and send the loco back to whoever you bought it from for replacement. 

 

If the chip is ok, then we are a bit more into my territory.  Apologies if some of the following comes across as the thing with egges and grannies, but process of elimination needs to be taken in stages or it becomes confusing and meaningless.  Firstly, have a look at your track, especially (since you've already ensured it is clean) that it is level and that the sections are smoothly joined to each other.  Then, and again you say you've already looked at them. check that the wheels are clean, not just the tyres where they contact the rail but also the backs where the wiper pickups bear on them.  Next, look at the pickups; are they clean. and do they bear on the backs of the wheels as they should irresepective of the wheelsets' being at the extreme ends of their sideplay range.  Be careful if you need to adjust the pickups, they are quite delicate. 

 

All ok but she's still not running smoothly?  Open the loco up, and have a look at the soldered joints to confirm that they are solid; that is, pickup strip to DCC feed wires. DCC feed wires to chip holder, chip holder to motor feed wires.  If the loco is under warranty, and there is a problem here, send it back, otherwise have a go yourself if you have soldering experience.  At the same time, make sure nothing is likely to be short circuiting (a dead giveaway of this is if the loco runs well with the body removed but not with it attached). 

 

Still no joy?  Ok, this is where we might need to get a bit brutal.  Have a look at the coloured grease lubrication, as this can lead to trouble in two ways, either or both.  It is prone to picking up crud if the loco is used in dirty conditions, and to solidifying if the loco has been stored for long periods.  Of course, you will not be able to assess how long it might have been in transit or stored in a warehouse or dealer's stockroom before purchase, and the grease hardens at unpredictable rates in different conditions of temperature and humidity.  If it's obviously not lubricating any more, it is probably physically restraining the motor and gears from running freely. 

 

Using your finger, gently revolve the motor or the wom gear on it's drive shaft to ascertain for yourself that the motor, gears, and wheels are all revolving smoothly and are not being restrained by anything fouling them or hardened/dirty lubrication.  Look out for pickup strips that might have inserted themselves where they shouldn't, and reposition them; this is a problem I have sometimes encountered with spoked wheels.

 

Very carefully, because of the feed wires, remove the keeper plate, the plastic piece beneath the chassis that holds the wheels and axles in place and on which the pickup strips are mounted.  Drop the wheelsets out, and attack them, the gears, the axle channels, and the entire area with a rattlecan electrical switch cleaner; this should be powerful enough to blast off most the solid/dirty lubricant.  Leave the thing alone for a few hours, or overnight, and carefully re-assemble it, applying fresh lube as sparingly as possible.  Use a non-mineral machine oil (your local model shop, not neccessarily railway, the sort of place that does R/C cars and boats will do, will advise and probably sell you something suitable.  I apply mine with a hypodermic syringe; the oiling points are shown on the user's manual leaflet that came in the box with the loco.  If you haven't got one, you can downloaded them free as a pdf from Hornby's website; it will also show you how to dismantle and rebuild your model. 

 

Test run the chassis before you put the body back on, and if it is successful, test it again with the body attached to confirm that nothing is fouling anywhere it shouldn't be.  It should now be running to spec; if it isn't, ask again!

[Kaput]

Running with or without the match wagon attached?

 

The Hornby decoders are fairly poor so I'd be a) testing on DC and b) getting a better decoder (unless it has the same issues on DC)

[Lambolavis]

Thanks for all your help. I don’t have DC but I’ll figure a way to test it.

 

as for decoder it was chosen because I’d read that some Decoders won’t fit in the loco but if it’s an issue any other suggestions will be of course welcome. 

[pauliebanger]

3 hours ago, Lambolavis said:

 

 

as for decoder it was chosen because I’d read that some Decoders won’t fit in the loco but if it’s an issue any other suggestions will be of course welcome. 

 

Depends what you've been reading. There's space enough for a ZIMO sound decoder, speaker and a substantial stay alive to provide reliable running.

 

 

 

Best regards,

 

Paul