Current pick up on locos

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Current pick up on locos - Some locos work well right around the layout while others stall at various points.

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Trevor G		#1 Posted : 08 February 2025 01:48:24(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 20/09/2021(UTC) Posts: 19 Location: Bay of Plenty, Tauranga		Hi, My name is Trevor and am noe retire. I have Marklin for many years. Probable 50 or more but due to work & moving houses as I moved around New Zealand I never had much chance to set uo a decent layout. Space was usually an issue as well I have now retired and my Wife has been full of encouragement to get a layout running. I now have a layout in the making and probably about 30M of track plus numerous points. My issue is I have about 18 locos and many run the complete track area with no issues whatever. However some locos (and these can be new or old) stop at various points along the track and also some but not all points. I have cleaned the track, checked there is power at every stud. Sighted the runner by eye to see that it is straight. All seems to be in order but I still get these dead spots. As I say not every loco. I have 6 brand new locos and the rest are DCC converted by myself. I have both new & old stopping so I don't think it ids the conversions. Any ideas please?


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RudiC		#2 Posted : 08 February 2025 11:14:15(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 28/01/2024(UTC) Posts: 59 Location: Nordrhein-Westfalen, Aachen		Difficult question, without any further hints... You seem to have eliminated every single point of failure, so there's not much I could propose to do. Do those locos short circuit, or do they lose power connection? In the first case, measure the distance between elevated PuKos (studs) and turnout tongue; there must be a small gap, a few tenths of a millimeter. You may need to replace the turnout if PuKos are worn. In the second case, try to increase the slider's tension by carefully bending downward its two bronze (?) flat springs, just a millimeter or two, so it extends about 2 mm beyond the loco's wheels. Make sure it is centered and straight.
		Regards, Rüdiger (Rudi)

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JohnjeanB		#3 Posted : 08 February 2025 12:11:03(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 04/02/2011(UTC) Posts: 3,550 Location: Paris, France		Hi Trevor Nice to have you with us. Here a fellow miniature trains fan from France, fanatic of Märklin since...1961. Since you have cleaned the track the issue is one of these: - the wheels must be clean using Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton bud. - the studs ("Pukos") made of iron are prone to rust so some cleaning with a little piece of hard wood is good - the contact between the wheels / axles and the frame is not good. Cleaning: in most cases a tiny drop of oil on the bearings and let it run for a little while - the slider of course has been cleaned but is it very FLAT? -no gondola, just STRAIGHT. Make also sure that the link between the flat spring and the ski is very clean Finally, the locos need some action. After a week of not using the train, current pick-up issues start. Here is for fun my layout if you are interested my layout Cheers Jean
		My layout videos latest vid marshalling yard My Layout

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mbarreto		#4 Posted : 08 February 2025 17:27:58(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 18/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 1,333		Running an analogue locomotive and making it pass many times in the track zones you have problems helps cleaning the pukos in those zones. The slider must be clean, of course. Basically the slider will rub the pukos. The analogue locomotive uses a type of motor that does not stop abruptly if it doesn’t have voltage momentarily. Other thing you can do is try to figure out if it is the slider that lost contact with pukos or the wheels are not in eléctrical contact with the rails. You just need to test one of these. For example you may connect a voltmeter to the slider and the brown wire. I never did this. My experience is that track is dirty most of the time and only sometimes are the wheels. Usually I clean the rails with a proper rubber. For the pukos I do first as Jean said and after I run an analogue locomotive or a digital that runs well on the dirty zones severas passes.
		Best regards, Miguel Mostly Märklin H0.

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mike c		#5 Posted : 08 February 2025 18:43:45(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 8,217 Location: Montreal, QC		One problem with converting DC locos to AC operation is that the locos originally collected the + from one rail and the - from the other. Many times, modellers simply reconnect one pole to the third rail slider and leave the other pole to serve as ground (return). If the return is only to one rail, this can cause interruptions when there is a weak contact. For models that I have had converted, I made sure to replace the wheelsets with uninsulated ones as much as possible or combined the wheel/axle contacts together for optimal return connection. For coaches, I have found that inverting one of the wheelsets can often solve the ground return issue. The problem is that once any modification is done, the models cannot be used on DC tracks unless they are reverted to original. When your locos get stuck, check to see if a sideways nudge gets it moving again. This can be a sign that one side or the other is not making proper contact with the return (ground). In that case, you may want to examine the wheel/axle contacts, the spacing of the wheels and whether there is dust/detritus accumulation on the contact itself. Regards Mike C

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Trevor G		#6 Posted : 08 February 2025 19:41:49(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 20/09/2021(UTC) Posts: 19 Location: Bay of Plenty, Tauranga		Originally Posted by: RudiC Difficult question, without any further hints... You seem to have eliminated every single point of failure, so there's not much I could propose to do. Do those locos short circuit, or do they lose power connection? In the first case, measure the distance between elevated PuKos (studs) and turnout tongue; there must be a small gap, a few tenths of a millimeter. You may need to replace the turnout if PuKos are worn. In the second case, try to increase the slider's tension by carefully bending downward its two bronze (?) flat springs, just a millimeter or two, so it extends about 2 mm beyond the loco's wheels. Make sure it is centered and straight. Thanks. AS far as I can see there are no short circuits. Will try in he darks and see if there are any sparks. If it is a short it is short lived as it does not show on the CS. Other times when along the track and no turnouts they just stop. As other locos go straight over these same sections I am leaning to the conclusion that it must be loco related. This would indicate a slider issue as I cannot think of anything else. Trevor


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Trevor G		#7 Posted : 08 February 2025 19:49:06(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 20/09/2021(UTC) Posts: 19 Location: Bay of Plenty, Tauranga		Originally Posted by: JohnjeanB Hi Trevor Nice to have you with us. Here a fellow miniature trains fan from France, fanatic of Märklin since...1961. Since you have cleaned the track the issue is one of these: - the wheels must be clean using Isopropyl Alcohol and a cotton bud. - the studs ("Pukos") made of iron are prone to rust so some cleaning with a little piece of hard wood is good - the contact between the wheels / axles and the frame is not good. Cleaning: in most cases a tiny drop of oil on the bearings and let it run for a little while - the slider of course has been cleaned but is it very FLAT? -no gondola, just STRAIGHT. Make also sure that the link between the flat spring and the ski is very clean Finally, the locos need some action. After a week of not using the train, current pick-up issues start. Here is for fun my layout if you are interested my layout Cheers Jean Thanks Jean, All good points and probably not attended to fully enough. Will give them all a going over to see. Love the layout.


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Trevor G		#8 Posted : 08 February 2025 19:55:10(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 20/09/2021(UTC) Posts: 19 Location: Bay of Plenty, Tauranga		Originally Posted by: mike c One problem with converting DC locos to AC operation is that the locos originally collected the + from one rail and the - from the other. Many times, modellers simply reconnect one pole to the third rail slider and leave the other pole to serve as ground (return). If the return is only to one rail, this can cause interruptions when there is a weak contact. For models that I have had converted, I made sure to replace the wheelsets with uninsulated ones as much as possible or combined the wheel/axle contacts together for optimal return connection. For coaches, I have found that inverting one of the wheelsets can often solve the ground return issue. The problem is that once any modification is done, the models cannot be used on DC tracks unless they are reverted to original. When your locos get stuck, check to see if a sideways nudge gets it moving again. This can be a sign that one side or the other is not making proper contact with the return (ground). In that case, you may want to examine the wheel/axle contacts, the spacing of the wheels and whether there is dust/detritus accumulation on the contact itself. Regards Mike C Thanks Mike, The old locos are Marklin so already 3 rail. Sorry I did not make that clear. I take the point of the wheels not making full contact. Although being Marklin there should be connectivity on both sides. There is power at all the points where the stalling occurs so I still thing it is loco related. Therefore all suggestions are being taken on board to try out. Quite likely to be different issues on each loco.


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