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Offline Bahner  
#1 Posted : 27 May 2019 03:59:07(UTC)
Bahner

United States   
Joined: 18/11/2017(UTC)
Posts: 166
Location: California, East Bay
Back story: Not too long ago I bought a Minitrix 12264 R4/4 analog steam locomotive. I've put 20-30 hrs. of run time on it and it's never missed a beat. Today, I had it running for about a 1/2 hour, then went to lunch (unplugged the transformer during this time) and then when I came back to run it a bit more it wouldn't move at all (however, lights front and rear would come on).

The first thing I checked, after taking it apart, was all the gearing from the main worm gear to the smaller bottom gears and all turned freely. I then dismounted the motor from the gearing and ran it with power pick-up from the wheels. Dead motor. I then hand turned the motor shaft and after a bit of stuttering I could get the motor to run at a variety of speeds. Then I reversed the power via the transformer and I while I can feel the motor trying to turn, it just won't turn the shaft. So, basically, the motor turns one way (albeit a bit reluctantly), but not the other way. I can turn the locomotive 180 degrees, and get the same results (motor turns one way only).

The next obvious thing was to try a different locomotive and it went forward and backwards without any issues.

I'm at a loss to explain this behavior since I'm not sure how these locomotives processes the polarity (if it isn't just a 'plus/minus' directly to the motor). Anyone with experience, please chime in as I'd like to fix this instead of sending it off for a long stay at Marklin/TRIX, if possible).


Thanks,

Ralph.
Offline kiwiAlan  
#2 Posted : 27 May 2019 14:57:42(UTC)
kiwiAlan

United Kingdom   
Joined: 23/07/2014(UTC)
Posts: 8,082
Location: ENGLAND, Didcot
Originally Posted by: Bahner Go to Quoted Post
I can turn the locomotive 180 degrees, and get the same results (motor turns one way only).


Ralph.


This sounds like one of the brushes has collapsed and the brush spring is now acting as a ratchet on the armature.

thanks 1 user liked this useful post by kiwiAlan
Offline Bahner  
#3 Posted : 27 May 2019 15:21:07(UTC)
Bahner

United States   
Joined: 18/11/2017(UTC)
Posts: 166
Location: California, East Bay
Originally Posted by: kiwiAlan Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: Bahner Go to Quoted Post
I can turn the locomotive 180 degrees, and get the same results (motor turns one way only).


Ralph.


This sounds like one of the brushes has collapsed and the brush spring is now acting as a ratchet on the armature.



Thanks for that. I do suspect the motor, but being of the enclosed type, I can't see what's going on inside. Just seems unusual that after 20-30 hours of normal running that it would fail, but stranger things have happened.

Looks like a trip to Marklin/Trix warranty service department is in order.


Ralph.
Offline Bahner  
#4 Posted : 31 July 2019 06:56:04(UTC)
Bahner

United States   
Joined: 18/11/2017(UTC)
Posts: 166
Location: California, East Bay
I sent this 'Made in China' locomotive (first released in 2012, but bought new from a retailer last year) off to Marklin in Germany and I received this reply: 'Due to missing spare parts unfortunately a repair of the item is no longer possible' and that they'll send a replacement item (of my choice) with a similar value. Unfortunately, the other steam locomotives that show as 'available' on the Marklin (or Trix) online shops are quite a bit more expensive, so we'll see how this goes.

Shame really as the R 4/4 locomotive was a very smooth and quiet runner right up until it malfunctioned, but good to see Marklin making the effort to send me a comparable replacement.
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