# LGB Genesis with Airwire - Problems!



## acmartina (Jan 6, 2008)

Hi,
My son received a LGB Genesis for Christmas and he is very excited. We tried it out on track power around the tree, and it worked fine. Today we took it out to the workshop to set it up for outdoor running on battery power. I followed the same procedure that I have used successfully for other LGB locomotives (F7, Mogul, 2-4-0 starter loco), which is

Remove sliders
Remove pick-ups from each wheel
Remove bridging pieces (that connect fore and aft pick-ups
Remove middle two pins
Battery (18.5v li-ion) and Airwire in trailing car
Feed output from the Airwire directly into the auxilliary power port in back end of Genesis
 It runs successfully for about 15 seconds, and then stops. If I turn off the power for a few seconds, it will run again for a few seconds. If I let it sit for longer, I can get another 5-10 seconds. I swapped the Genesis out for an Aristo RS-3 (no other changes) and it runs find, so I don't think it has anything to do with the Airwire or battery. 

The behavior sounds very much like a poly-switch fuse of some sort, but I don't see anything on the circuit board that ressembles one. It is also reminiscent of a similar problem I had with my F7 that I never resolved except by using a lower voltage battery -http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/35/aft/113297/afv/topic/Default.aspx
http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/35/aft/113297/afv/topic/Default.aspx 

Any ideas? 

Thanks. Steve H.Cypress, TX


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## Bill Swindell (Jan 2, 2008)

I would suggest that you hook the battery car to the wires that were used for pickup on the truck. That way, you wil be putting in your power exactly where LGB put it.


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## acmartina (Jan 6, 2008)

Bill,
Thanks. We just came back in from doing just that and it works fine! I soldered an Aristo-type connector to the center two terminals of the plug to the rear truck. So I guess I will put one at either end (for MU possibilities) and leave the rear socket for its intended purpose! 

Studying the board, there does appear to be a single poly-switch. Since the rear plug is intended to provide power for lighting cars, maybe it has something to do with protecting the lights. The F7 appears to suffer a similar problem although I do not recall seeing anything ressembling a poly-switch. It only has a problem with higher voltage batteries (18.5 v works but not 22.2, whereas the Genesis could not handle even 14.8). I guess I will need to re-wire that one as well.

In any case, it does feel good to get it working! My son is a much happier camper now!! Thanks.

Steve


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

LGB did start adding poly type fuses/switches at the connection on engines to the trailing cars. 

Some of the engines draw more current at low voltages due to dc to dc converters for 5 volt lights and smoke units. See thru F7's have an additional power board. 

These can give problems when muing 2 or 3 engines even with track power. 

Also, there are polys on the circuit boards in some of the engines.


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## acmartina (Jan 6, 2008)

Thanks Dan. I went ahead and tapped into the track power connectors to the trailing truck and put an Aristo JST type connector fore and aft for battery car and future MU. I think I will go back and do the same for my F7.

Steve


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

You could just jumper the polyfuse, but it is there mainly to protect the circuit board etches. Track power units are now hitting 15 to 20 amps and the engine wiring and board etches will not withstand a short from a derailment. Keeps me busy with jumpers on burnt etches circuit boards form all manufacturers.


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## pimanjc (Jan 2, 2008)

Check out my two threads about wiring the Genesis for battery power. Although I used QSI, the tie in to the LGB power is mostly the same. I have numerous pictures. Search under LGB, Genesis, or pimanjc. 

JimC.
http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...spx#129884

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...spx#139860

It sounds like you have the problem resolved. Congratulations.


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## acmartina (Jan 6, 2008)

*UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 2011*
Eight months have passed and we have had a lot of fun with the Genesis. In the meantime, I managed to locate a couple of LGB Amfleet cars to go with it for my son's birthday. I also picked up a Phoenix P8 and a new AirWire G2 that we would like to install in the locomotive (rather than trailing car). I have been studying Jim's wonderfully detailed posts that he linked above on installing the QSI Magnum + G-Wire. I have used the QSI+G-Wire in several Aristo loco’s but for LGB loco’s, I have relied on AirWire in trailing battery cars. So this will be my first onboard installation of the AirWire + Phoenix combination!
I see three possible paths to follow –


Complete re-wire of the Genesis, bypassing the existing PCB entirely (similar to Jim’s post - http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/35/aft/113100/afv/topic/Default.aspx#139860).
Use the DCC connection on the PCB with the 10-pin connector from All Electronics as detailed in Jim’s other post - http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx
Simply move my current scheme to the interior of the locomotive – i.e. connect the output from the AirWire G2 to the track-feed wires so the PCB takes it as DC from the track.
 While the complete re-wire (1) is obviously the most foolproof solution, it also looks like a fair bit of work that I probably don’t have time for right now. Maybe in the future. So I am debating between (2) and (3). 


The latter is the easiest solution and should work no different than it does now, which is really just fine. But I am curious about the advantages of wiring it up like a DCC decoder (2). I should add that my understanding of the inner workings of DCC is very limited so please bear with me.

Here is the mapping (from Jim's post) of the LGB PCB pins to the QSI Magnum. The wire colors are based on the All Electronics connector. 











Comparing the pin-out descriptions for the AirWire G2, I came up with the following mapping for the AirWire G2.


















Questions –
[*]I presume the battery connects directly to pins 8 and 1, along with the two connections to the PCB (as shown in my sketch). Is that correct? [*]What about the two Grounds from the PCB (Black 1 and Black 2)? The AirWire G2 does not have any pins designated for ground. However, the manual recommends using shielded wires for the motor wires and provides pins for grounding the shielding wire. Is this where I would connect the two black wires? [*]The AirWire G2 connections for the headlights are on the low-voltage side (limited to 12v I believe) so I am not sure this presents the same problem as the QSI where they appear to see the full battery voltage. Is that a correct assertion? [/list] 
I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or insights. 

Thanks,

Steve H.
Cypress, TX


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Realize that the pictures you have of the QSI connections have the forward and reverse light connections reversed. The silk screening on the actual adapter board is correct. 

Greg


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