# Aristo Craft Dash 9 Not Working



## pipedoc55184 (Feb 21, 2009)

I have a CN dash 9 that I just bought 2 days ago, it was running just fine and all of a sudden it just stopped. The lights and smoke unit are working great but no matter what I do the engine will not move. I have taken the front motor out for trouble shooting, when I jumper the leads for the motor block it runs fine, when I touch the outside boxes on the board on the front truck the lights come on, when I touch the inside boxes on the board the rear motors fire up and run, I can't figure out for the life of me why this thing stopped running, it is almost like the motor switch is off but it's not, I have swithed it several times and still not action. I did touch the inside box and the outside box with the power from the transformer, the odd thing about this was when I turned the smoke motor switch on/off the motors would go on/off. I did try to get the motors out of the box but this seems impossible and trying to do this I think I broke the solder points on on the motor grabs, but after jumping the motor block it still runs but the solder point is deffinatley compromised. Any help is appreciated as this engine has only run for about 30 minutes, seems to be a power pick up problem but if that was the case I would think the lights and smoke unit would not work.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Did you say that the motors run with power from the rails when the smoke switch is on? 

It's wired wrong, you may have to return it. 

Greg


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## pipedoc55184 (Feb 21, 2009)

No, it doesn't run when the smoke switch is turned on. When I touch the power wires from the transformer to the board under the trucks the engines run and when I shut off the switch the motors stop running, I am not sure if it's because of the way I am appliying power or not. My understanding is that the outer contacts (boxes) on the board under the truck are the track pickup leads and the inside contacts are the motor feeds. I have just taken off the top of the engine and I don't see any burnt or blacked out points on the board. Do you know what wires are the motor power so that I can check them with a VOM. It is just odd to me that it just all of a sudden stopped running. I just sent an email to Aristo Craft to inquire about them repairing the engine.......I will not hold my breath for a response but am hoping for one....it's just frustrating because it just seems it should be something easy due to the fact that the lights and smoke unit all work....the darn thing just won't move!! 

Thanks for your response


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

The 2 strips in the center are the motors, the long strips on the outer edges are the track pickups.

Looking at the 2 center strips, you will see a total of 4 little "fingers" that SHOULD be making contact with the circuit board. Since they are not made of springy metal, they will collapse over time.

You can CAREFULLY insert an x-acto blade in them to bend them up slightly. In the picture above, the 2 on the right are ok, and the 2 on the left are completely collapsed.

*http://www.elmassian.com/trains/mot...ver-basics*


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## pipedoc55184 (Feb 21, 2009)

I have posted pictures of the motor block in my profile because I can't post them directly here for some reason. The best I can tell the leads are all raised well for them to hit the truck board. Do you know what wires feed the power to the motors to the main board and what solder points to verify that I have DC votage in and out? The engine is taken apart completely at this point to access the wiring in the engine, I just don't want to go so far that I can't get this thing back together....I am waiting for a new board and I am going to give that a shot, after that I have no idea what to do, I guess I will list the thing on Ebay as parts......

























_(SteveC Mod.)_


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Well I did identify which connectors on the motor block are the motor leads... 

I would either box it up and send it back to Aristo, or you can email me some pictures and I'll post them with directions on where to check the best I can. 

Did you pull the motor blocks yet? That's pretty simple... 

Greg


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I sure hope you can get it running along again soon!! Greg is a great help also!! 

So I don't want to jump the gun, but if for some reason it just does not come together for you, We can talk about your getting rid of it - as is..!! I can work around it's short comings, as my fleet is battery operated and modified for extreme pulling loads!! 

Thanks - Dirk 
DMS Ry.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

It is possibly the motor switch gone bad. I have seen this and just soldered jumpers across the switch.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

re-reading your post, seems the motors are not connected to the power... 

Powering the track pickups lights the lights, so power is getting to the main board. 

Powering one set of motor contract powers the other motor. 

Seems that Dan's idea is the most likely... it is where I would look first... 

Greg


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## pipedoc55184 (Feb 21, 2009)

I thought about the motor switch being bad, I cut the wire feeding power, on the board there are 6 solder spots, 3 pairs, I tried to apply power to each spot and the motors never came on. When I test power with a VOM on the smoke unit, it also has six solder spots, when I test it I get 29V DC on the lower 2 pair and 0 on the top pair, when you switch it off you only get 29v DC on the lower pair, now on the motor spots no matter what pair I test I never get 29V DC, so I am assuming also it might be bad, do you know what I need to solder together to bypass the switch? I do have another board coming, just bought it on Ebay for $61, so I will have that available to try as well, thanks for all your guidancel, it's been very helpful to have this available to listed to other ideas.


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## pipedoc55184 (Feb 21, 2009)

I got the new board and the Dash is running great!!! Seems the thought of the motor switch being bad was right on, as detected by the VOM as well. Thanks for your help, anyone interested in a Dash 9 board with a bad motor switch, inquire within.........or maybe Ebay. Thanks again!!


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Are you willing to continue to debug the problem?

I'd jumper the motor switch first... you will have to get at it and then take a picture...

basically it will have either 4 pins or 6 pins (I think they have 6)... if you get it out and take a picture we can help.

But since it's new, why not send back to be repaired? removing the switch to replace it will be something few can do.


Greg


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## [email protected] (Mar 28, 2014)

Yesterday My Arsistocraft dash 9 caught fire,it was somthing inside the motor swith on the main board on the loco.Is this a common problem?


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

You really want to start a new thread, if you really want an answer, not hop on a thread from February.

Your locomotive catching on fire is not a common problem.

Greg


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