USA TRAINS BIG BOY NOT WORKING

TONYWARD50

TONYWARD50

Tadpole sexing</br>
A friend of mine in Yorkshire has contacted me to say he bought a USA Trains loco earlier this year, but has only recently tried to use it as he has been abroad for 6 months - it's a bit difficult to carry a Big Boy through customs !
The lights work so power is obviously going to the track but the engine does not move. He is using a Bachmann Dynamis system
My first thought was that the Dynamis is too low-powered to move a Big Boy as the current draw would probably be too much.
Am I right in my thinking and what could he do to isolate the problem. I do not have much experience of one of these beasts.

Regards
 
Is it an analogue (dc) loco or digital (DCC), or some other control protocol like MTH?

I guess as he is using Dynamis, it is assumed to be DCC, so addressing could be an issue.

If he is using the Dynamis outdoors with the Infra-red control, then Dynamis might not work.

Need more information....
 
The BIG boy manual suggests that the loco would be DCC ready and include Pheonix Sound.

There are indeed switches to switch the motors on/off.

The manual can be found here.....
http://www.usatrains.com/pdf/bigboymanual.pdf
 
"DCC Ready" doesn't imply that it has a decoder fitted. Has he fitted a decoder?

Assuming a decoder is actually fitted then the Dynamis should be able to read the decoder in programming track mode (I assume the Dynamis can program decoders?)

If the loco is too much load then the Dynamis would cut off power? Could be the voltage is a bit low?

I'd suggest finding a straight DC supply and trying it on that. An LGB start-set controller should at least move it I'd have thought, although would probably eventually overload.

<edit>I notice the features include a "delayed start" to allow sound and smoke to turn on first. Perhaps he's not allowing enough time for that to work, or perhaps that feature is confused by attempting to run unchipped on DCC system?</edit>

as Gizzy says, we need more info about the state of the loco, especially whether it has a decoder?
 
ntpntpntp said:
I'd suggest finding a straight DC supply and trying it on that. An LGB start-set controller should at least move it I'd have thought, although would probably eventually overload.
Click to expand...

USA Trains locos do have a reputation of being "amp hungry" In the event of a modest controller failing to move it I suggest fitting an ammeter in circuit and switching the motor switch on and off. The ammeter should read higher with the motors switched on even if the loco doesn't move.
 
Yep I'd guess not enough amps too. Sure we ran a friends one, loco only, on 5 amps but it does need some current to power up sound before it moves. Is he using the 5 amp booster with Dynamis? Certainly the basic unit won't have enough umph but does the booster actually give 5 usable amps? I found with Gaugemasters 5 amp unit it didn't and you got some strange effects with two USA locos and that Big Boy is very heavy.
 
Since they have two smoke units, a very loud sound system and are very heavy I would expect them to draw a lot of amps. When running my USAT SD-40 diesel I had to turn off the smoke or my LGB 5Amp transformer would cut out after 20 minutes running.
 
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