Hi all, it has been a while since i posted.

Got my hands on a nice used Santa Fe set today out of a local estate sale, but i am not sure witch one i have.... got the 37622 box with it and a 4063 box.... but i don't think does are the right boxes for it...
The set seems to be delta digital, it has sound (engine, bell, whistle and horn), it has the two A units and the B unit coupled permanent to each other. Both A units have 5 pole motors with permanent magnets. The slider is on the B unit. One A unit has the decoder (???) witch are two boards back to back, with one having 4 dip switches and two pot meter and the other board 8 dip switches....
Anyone here that knows witch model # this is supposed to be?
Serial # on the A units are H8128643 & M8094211

Now the issue i am having is that every time it goes over a turnout the slider seems to create a short circuit. It shorts out the 6021 controller and the set obviously stops dead on the track....

I am using the train on C-rails, the slider is 62 mm long and as said, sits under the B unit. Is it possible that the slider is wrong or is something else wrong?

Regards from Aruba

Jean-Pierre

Lets see if this works... never attached a pic to a message on this forum...




Jean-Pierre

Here you go...



That is a good point!
Looking at pictures i found a Santa Fe #3362 that came with a similar set up as mine (A-B-A and slider on the B unit), but the slider seems to be shorter on that one, the booklet on the # 37622 states the slider should be # 7185, same as on mine.
When i push the slider up i don't think it would touch the axles, but bend edges are very close to the front and rear brace of the wheel boogie.
I am going to try to insulate those edges with insulation tape to confirm this....

Otherwise, a shorter slider would be the solution??

Jean-Pierre

Thank you Ak

The number in the front lights is "339", so it looks indeed to be a kit-bashed set based on #37622 and a second A-unit.

There is indeed no insulation around the axles of the B-unit and looking closer to the truck with the slider i just found also that the head of the bolt used to connect the permanent coupler is quite long, M*N shoulder bolts #75303 were used (found a bag in the #37622 box), there is also a possibility that this touches the inner corner of the back side of the slider....

So i have some insulation work to do this afternoon to see if i can remedy the fault!

Thanks
Jean-Pierre

Sounds to me like the decoder is at fault, i.e. gone. I am collecting F7s for a decade, and my first acquisition was a used 37622 which - only after a couple of years - was the first and up to now only original F7 decoder to die on me. I replaced it with a simple EUR 30 decoder by ESU,which did not let me down. This meant the end of bells and whistles, as I did not bother to invest in "reviving" the sound functions.

My F7 A-B-A article 3662 came with one decoder controlling two motorized F7A units.

One of our forum members once described how he converted a formerly analogue F7 A-B-A Demonstrator set (article 3349) to digital by installing a single decoder to control two motors:

Edited by user 17 April 2022 15:56:00(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

OK, just found and corrected another issue....

The lamp in the A unit i removed the motor from stayed on all the time, no matter if "function" was on or not or the train was driving forward or reverse. The light in the 1e A unit worked as it should.

When the previous owner kit bashed the 2e A unit to the train, he only ran the yellow wire from the light back to the decoder and instead of connecting the orange wire to the other side of the bulb, he connected that side to chassis ground.....

I am now wondering if that might have been the issue all along of the bad driving behavior? The bulb just pulling to much current from the decoder for it to work properly with two motors....

I'll re-install the motor next week-end and see if that theory makes sense... we'll report back!

Jean-Pierre

Update:

No luck when re-installing the 2e motor back.... the train returned to the "stop and go" behavior.
Additionally, the lamp in the second A unit, although now working at "normal" clarity (was kind of dim before) still does not want to change over when changing direction (stays lit all the time)

So it looks indeed the decoder is partially gone!

That said, i also bought the Burlington double A unit from the same estate. This one was upgraded with a 5* motor and a MLd decoder. Next tinkering plan will be to install that decoder in the Santa Fe and re-install the 2e motor and move the decoder and soundboard from the Santa Fe into the Burlington.....

Alternatively:
Anyone ever attempted to rewire the original sound decoder board to another decoder?? Looked at the diagram at https://www.bogobit.de/sound/29848-f7/ but could not put my finger on it yet how to proceed with such an "operation"

Regards
Jean-Pierre

How about swapping the shells, truck covers and fuel tank instead? That requires only a brief screwdriver intervention (instead of a more risky work with a soldering iron).

Oh yes, but that was above my pay scale. Therefore, I discarded the sound option and limited the "operation" to install a 30 Euro decoder by ESU. I mean, the bells and whistles are nice, but the regular Marlin motor noise is already there anyway...