Micro Train FT Woes...

[strummer]

You're right: there's just enough play for the board to slide forward, up and out. 

I have the whole thing apart now; the only difference between the front and back is that there seems to be a bit more space between the hex nut and the worm on one end:will play with that a little and see if it helps...

Mark in Oregon

[strummer]

You're right: there's just enough play for the board to slide forward, up and out. 

I have the whole thing apart now; the only difference between the front and back is that there seems to be a bit more space between the hex nut and the worm on one end:will play with that a little and see if it helps...

Mark in Oregon

UPDATE:

That bit of an adjustment seemed to help with the initial "hitch" noise; there does appear to be a bit of a wobble, so I'm guessing that, even though I can't detect it when they are removed and rolled along the track, that issue is truck-related. And that d*mn headlight still won't work! It was fine until I started to mess with things...   

MIO

[peteski]

It does make more sense that the hitch is somewhere in the truck (the double worm gear, idler gears, or the gear on the axles).  Usually it is piece of debris stuck in one of those gears. It can be as small as a single grain of ballast,  If those gears have lots of grease on them, the debris might be difficult too see.

Is the headlight LED wired to the the circuit board or  is an an LED with long leads soldered directly to the board?

[strummer]

I cleaned the trucks when I had them out, although anything is possible.

The LED is soldered to the board with long leads reaching out towards the end of the loco...

MIO

[peteski]

I cleaned the trucks when I had them out, although anything is possible.

The LED is soldered to the board with long leads reaching out towards the end of the loco...

MIO

If you really, really, really cleaned all the gears then maybe one of the gears has a damaged tooth?  Otherwise I don't know what else could be causing cyclical bind in the truck.

As far as the LED goes, if the wires are solidly connected then maybe the LED burned up somehow? Or  maybe there are some damaged traces or components on the board?  That board should be a simple circuit. If the motor works then the LED should also be getting power.

[strummer]

As an update to this now almost year old (!) post.

I decided to look into this one more time, and I got the loco running very well again.  The major issue was that one of the truck side frames was slightly skewed outwards, caused by the fall, no doubt. I removed that piece, ran it under some hot tap water and gently bowed it back into the proper (more or less) shape. That seemed to take care of the wobble.

I then soldered a small light bulb to the LED contacts, to check to see if that problem is the LED itself or the circuit board;the bulb did not work either, so I think the only remaining issue is that, for whatever reason, the circuit board is messed up. It's weird, because the motor contacts are part of that board, and the motor works just fine.

Have an inquiry to MT for a replacement board...

Mark in Oregon

[Sdynamo]

Did you try reversing the leads on the LED?  It will only light up when soldered with the correct polarity.

[MK]

But he tried a small light bulb and that didn't work.  So it's not a polarity issue with the LED.

[peteski]

There likely is a current-limiting resistor on the circuit board for the factory-installed LED. If you replaced the LED with a regular bulb, then the chances are that it will not light up (because the bulb needs more current than an LED, and the resistor is limiting the current).

[strummer]

Good point.

So since the motor runs (which it does), and the brush contacts are soldered to this circuit board (which they are) does then that mean the board itself is ok, so it's the LED that's somehow gone bad?

Mark in Oregon

[peteski]

Good point.

So since the motor runs (which it does), and the brush contacts are soldered to this circuit board (which they are) does then that mean the board itself is ok, so it's the LED that's somehow gone bad?

Mark in Oregon

The LED could be defective, but so could be something on the decoder board (like the function output transistor).  If you aren't sure about the polarity of the original headlight LED and/or the solder pads on the decoder, you could try to hook up the LEDs in both directions and test it both ways. Like Sdynamo mentioned earlier.  Make sure the headlight function is turned on and  the loco is set for forward direction.

If you have a spare 1000 ohm (1k ohm) resistor hanging around and a 9V battery (or a DC throttle) you could hook up the LED and resistor in series then hook them up to the battery (or the track output of a throttle which has the speed knob cranked up about half way).  Connect the LED in both directions and see if it lights up). If it does  then the decoder is the problem.

[strummer]

OK, just to be clear; this is NOT a decoder we're talking about, as I'm (still) running straight DC.

The "board" in question is just the simple factory-installed circuit board which I guess controls the lighting, depending on the direction.

I guess if MTL can come through with a replacement, this is all moot; hopefully, I will hear from them this week... 

Mark in Oregon

[MK]

There likely is a current-limiting resistor on the circuit board for the factory-installed LED. If you replaced the LED with a regular bulb, then the chances are that it will not light up (because the bulb needs more current than an LED, and the resistor is limiting the current).

Good point Peteski!

[peteski]

OK, just to be clear; this is NOT a decoder we're talking about, as I'm (still) running straight DC.

The "board" in question is just the simple factory-installed circuit board which I guess controls the lighting, depending on the direction.

I guess if MTL can come through with a replacement, this is all moot; hopefully, I will hear from them this week... 

Mark in Oregon

Then the most likely defective component is the LED.  There is no way you can try it in both polarities (or test the LED out of the circuit, using a resistor and a battery)? Or have a spare LED you can try in the MTL light board?  This should be a very easily repairable problem with just some basic tools and components.

[strummer]

I removed the LED took a bulb from an Atlas/Kato RS3 and tried it; no dice, so I guess the problem must be the board itself.

Since I need some additional items from MTL, hopefully they'll be able to supply me with a board as well...

Mark in Oregon