# Trouble with LGB 22892 Mallet



## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

Need some help with a 22892 SVR Mallet w/Factory MTS. It is cutting out a speed step 4 with 4 amps showing on the controller. From speed step 1 thru 4 it climbs 1 amp per step. It normally runs with about 1.2 with sound full out. All works fine otherwise. I'm thinking one of the motors is bad but both seem to move easily by hand and don't look to be dragging when running. Not sure where to start, looks like a bear to take apart. Any ideas or recommendations on who to send to?


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

That's funny they routinely run at 1 amp...little more but never 4 amps...something is going on, don't know what........when you are testing it is it just the engine running/ Or are you pulling cars also...either way 4 amps a lot for an LGB motor........I have 1 of those and 5 more Uintah's...YES they are a bear to take apart...AND get back together...maybe remove the motors one at a time, and test each one.......easier to take the motor blocks apart then the boiler.........if you run them outside..is there something interfering with the axels/...wheels causing a drag?

I have 6,(various LGB mallets), and they all run flawlessly
Bubba


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

Usually a motor causes this, but it could be the decoder or a motor block out of quarter.

Easy to verify quartering, do this first.

Make sure there is only a 90 degree offset for the wheels on both motor blocks as anything else will cause the side rods to bind.
I had one engine where 1 wheel slipped on the axle and caused binding, so verify both sides of the motor blocks.


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

At slow speed, step 1 of 14 it runs fine, any higher and the amps go up. I can turn the wheels manually pretty easily without any binding. 
I have downloaded the drawings off the Gartenbahn website. Now to separate the motor blocks to see if one or the other is causing it, or maybe the control board.
Steve


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## Cougar Rock Rail (Jan 2, 2008)

It acts just like a motor gone bad to me. If you flip the loco on it's back and run it, then put your hands on the wheels to put a load on it, what does it do? Also repeat in reverse and see if it's any different. Do you know what year it was made? Normally Buehler motors don't fail prematurely but there was a batch of them that didn't last long for whatever reason.


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

Isolated front and rear motors from the controller and connected each separately. Found the front to be bad, moved to the rear and same problem. Moved the rear to front and no problem, just to make sure the controller wasn't contributing. Now to order a new one and replace. Fun will be putting it all back together.


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Maybe I'm not keeping up here. ..
But based on your conclusions...
It sounds like you have a problem in the drive..also..at the rear..

How can a motor be bad in one location...yet be good in another...
Not the motor to me..?

Recalculate please!!

Dirk


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

Dirk,
I guess I explained it wrong. I isolated the motors from the controller leaving one connected at a time. The front motor pulled the high current, the rear motor did not. I connected the rear motor to the front controller and it worked fine. I then connected the front motor to the rear controller, it pulled the high current again. The high current problem moved with the motor not with the controller position. Hope that explains better.
Steve


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

;-)


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

LGB runs the motors in parallel in all of the engines I have seen.
Extra swapping was not needed.
To test a motor block, just put power on the 2 outter pins of most LGB loco motor blocks (Chloe uses the 2 inner pins for motor)


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

New motor came in today and install went pretty easy. Test run worked, now to put it back together. A project to finish tomorrow.


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## SLemcke (Jun 3, 2008)

The mallet is back in service.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d42VU6J6DJQ&feature=youtu.be


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