# Wierd DCS Problem - Solved!!!!



## stumpycc (Jan 2, 2008)

The Bachmann Annie, affectionately referred to as The R.E.K. RR Annie, came down sick this past Sunday while pulling a 39 car Coal Train at a local Hobby Show.        The little engine had just proved it could pull all those cars when suddenly, it started acting very strange and was running full power even tho the throttle was set at 24 SMPH ( scale mile per hour ).        
        The timed chuffing and smoke were out of sync and it seemed as tho the little engine had lost it's "mind". 
  Not having the tools available to properly inspect the Annie and try to fix it, the owner, Stumpycc ( Cliff Couch ) decided to take the little engine home and let it rest. After consulting Annie's Doctor, Dr. DCS ( Ray Manley ) Stumpy decided to trouble shoot the problem, even tho he was fearing the worst, ( a bad DCS Board ), and the Doctor being out of town and unable to make a house call, he proceeded to open the little engine up and take a look inside. 
 
   Once the Annie was open, he discovered a partially bare wire for the motor where it plugs into the control board. But it didn't seem to be causing the problem. So, with jumper cables hooked up to the Tender and the engine plugged in, Stumpy started playing with and jiggling the wires. What he discovered was that when the wires to the brass strips along the bottom of the engine were moved, or if he squeezed the frame rails together, the motor would speed up. Also, when trying to remove excess grease from the drive train, the motor sped up and stayed there, running wide open.
   After consulting Dr. DCS over the phone and thru e-mails, Stumpy decided to spray some Electro-Motive cleaner into the motor vents and around the back of the motor where the excess grease was.
 
                            I am very HAPPY to REPORT that the Little Bachmann Annie will 
                                                         Live!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I had the Doctor switch the wires on the motor connector the night before so the Annie would always start in the forward direction. ( this was a minor problem but an easy fix and one we didn't notice when we put the DCS system in the Annie /Providers/HtmlEditorProviders/Fck/FCKeditor/editor/images/smiley/msn/confused_smile.gif&160" align="absMiddle" border="0" src="/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wink.gif" />
 
      The grease from the worm gear worked it's way into the electric motor creating an internal power bleed, therefore causing the motor to go "Full throttle ".
  I ran her for about 45 minutes at 16 SMPH  and it didn't mess up once. I used the PFA/Direction sequence, the labored chuff, increased the throttle to 60, and then back down to normal, about 15, and it ran FLAWLESSLY!!!!!!!!!!

 Cliff


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## Tom T (Jan 2, 2008)

Cliff, 

That is good information to know, as the Annies I believe have a reputation for running a bit warm. After hauling 39 cars, she must have been hotter than a pistol! Really surprised she didn't strip a gear during that pull! 
While I'll never haul that many cars, I do grease my gearboxes pretty liberally, so it is good information! BTW, it would have been interesting to have had an amp meter on the power supply during that haul. Bet the numbers were way up there! 

Regards,


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## stumpycc (Jan 2, 2008)

Now that you mention it, ( I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time ) It did smell like burnt popcorn oil. As a matter of fact, it smelled that way for a couple of days, it was almost sickening. So, yeah, she got pretty warm. That is why I thought maybe we had messed the board up. 

Cliff


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## stumpycc (Jan 2, 2008)

Well, I guess being premature in celebrating is a bad thing. I got the engine cleaned up, lubed wverything up and got it back together and it is surging. At any speed. it isn't wanting to take off like had been, but it won't keep a steady pace. Will have to do some firther investigating, someday but not right now, my nerves and paitence are shot.

  Cliff


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## stumpycc (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry about the previous post, I am just frustrated. I did notice that as I was putting it back together that when I put the side rods on it, it developed a little hesitation. I figured that was because it didn't have a load on it. 

It will run fine up to about 6 or 7 mph then it starts to hesitate. I cleaned off a section of track thinking it was dirty track but that didn't help. It seems to do it at the same places on the track. I shut it down ( with the E-stop ) and then brought it back up online and it didn't help. I did a feature reset and that didn't help either. I unplugged the TIU and started to run track power, it went about four feet and then the 5 amp fuse blew. I am thinking either the wires need to be put back like they were for the motor or their is an open power bleed in there somewhere. 

I have also noticed that when I mess with the brass tangs in the bottom of it, it wants to mess up. I think I will just let it set for awhile and make it think about how it is acting and let it decide if it wants to straighten up or be abolished to the shelf as an oversized paper weight. Lol


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## Rayman4449 (Jan 2, 2008)

I'm glad we got it fixed up.  There wasn't much question it was a reader problem.  Looking back on it now I was surprised I didn't hot glue those wires to the reader board to beging with as I do that on all my conversions.  The fact that motorblock assembly can move just a bit was the ultimate issue.  The rocking back and forth weakened the wire.  I probably shouldn't let you sit with me while I do your conversions as I must be getting distracted.  I always do a full battery of tests after each install.  LOL  

Raymond


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## stumpycc (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Ray, I am glad we got it fixed too. Next time I get a conversion done, I will just drop the patient off and pick it up later....LOL 
To explain what had hapened, the wire that controls the voltage from the optical reader to the motor had gotten weak from the motor rocking back and forth, creating an "open" to the motor. So, Ray resoldered the wire and then covered it in hot glue so it wouldn't happen again. Another lesson learned. 
Now, to have some fun with trains!!!!!


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