Problems with an old P2K Loco

My mother has a beautifully superdetailed and weathered BL-2 loco that unfortunately will register a direct short even with nothing but the truscks and frame on the track (with the wheels of course).

Is there any way to get this loco to run on my Digitrax system short of spending 3 times what we paid for it to get a DCC friendly replacement frame?
 

cidchase

Active Member
Hi Chessie,
I am a little vague on your problem, :confused: but I think you are saying that
it's a non-decodered loco. If it's shorting out, it would do the same on DC.
I think that you only have to worry about isolating the motor if installing a
decoder. ;)

Running on address 0 causes the DCC signal to bias toward one side or
the other, providing speed and direction control for one non-dcc loco
or consist. :cool:

As long as the loco will run on DC, it should work on DCC address 0. Letting
it sit idle on the track for a long period of time may cause the motor to overheat. :mad:

Maybe you're really asking something else :D :D :D
 

CN1

Active Member
Maybe I'll give it a try :confused: :confused: :rolleyes:

My mother has a beautifully superdetailed and weathered BL-2 loco
Life-Like Proto something, right? :confused:

that unfortunately will register a direct short even with nothing but the truscks and frame on the track (with the wheels of course).

So it's short-out when on the track.
DC or DCC? Is there a decoder in it? :confused:
Have you check for loose wire inside? :confused:

Is there any way to get this loco to run on my Digitrax system short of spending 3 times what we paid for it to get a DCC friendly replacement frame?

Yes! ;)

*Take loco apart
*Inspect Trucks, make sure no wires 'hanging" or loose
*Isolate motor. electrical tape underneath
*Re-wire motor, trucks and light as per decoder

Decoder Install Primer: http://home.neo.rr.com/mrwithdcc/primer.html
The world of DCC: http://www.tttrains.com/dcc/
Decoder install on Life-Like GP-9 (may or may not be applicable)
http://www.tttrains.com/dcc/lifelike.htm#locomotive
:wave:
 
I actually found the problem.

And yes it is a Proto 2000 BL-2 in Western Maryland paint with many extra detail parts added that she picked up on ebay.

It ran fine on DC and it ran fine on DCC for a while. then I ran i one night and packed it away for the night in it's box and the next day it refused to run registering a direct short. (this was with an MRC AD#&) sound decoder)

I stripped it down to the bare fram with nothing but the trucks and wheels on it and it was still shorting.

I didn't strip it down quite far enough.

I put Just the trucks on the track one at a time and one set of the trucks was the cause of the problem.

Life Like uses the plastic drive gear with the metal wheels that push into the gear. unfortunately it is hollow all the way through the gear and apparently when I packed it up it somehow was jarred enough to cause one of the sets of wheels to make contact accross the gear and short the track.

Seeing as this P2K has an open frame motor I will be remotoring it with a can motor and new brass flywheels soon anyways.

Just goes to show that sometimes the simple solution turns out to be the best.
 
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