An embarrassing confession...and a mystery...

[scottmitchell74]

An embarrassing confession...and a mystery...

In the Angry Thread I chronicled how my EWS Class 58 started sputtering and smoking  (as God as my witness) about 2 minutes into running-in. I checked other locos on the track to make sure, and everything was fine. So I tried the Class 58 again...about 30 seconds later, the same thing. Full stop, smoke pouring out of it. So I box it up and set it aside to start dealing with MRD and whatever I needed to get it taken care of.

So I'm dealing with MRD and DCC Supplies, trying to get satisfaction, fretting, being generally unhappy. When I was getting ready to pack the thing up a couple days later, on a whim I test-run the Class 52 and I wanted to take one last look at the Class 58's behavior, just so I could explain exactly how/when it happens. Well, it kept running, and running, and running!  I ran it 30 minutes one way, then 30 minutes the other way. It just kept on rolling. Lights work, not getting hot, not smoking. Granted, it's still loud but for over one hour straight it didn't falter. It never derailed. I let it sit for a couple hours and ran it some more. Just fine. 

So I'm mystified. What am I missing here? Why the stoppage and smoking and now the good behavior?

Anyhow, I'm happy now that I have a solid-seeming runner.

[Snowwolflair]

Something like this

Its a diesel what do you expect 

[austinbob]

I think its called Murphy's law and, it knew you were gonna send it back so it was on its best behaviour.
No seriously, sounds like an intermittent short somewhere.
I would let DCC supplies know and send it to them anyway.

[silly moo]

My Dapol Q1, which had a DCC decoder installed in it, went up dramatically in a puff of white smoke on our club layout, I thought that was that and decided to take out the decoder to see if it could be used in another loco.

Both the loco (running on DC) and the decoder (in another loco) have been fine ever since. Touch wood.

[ntpntpntp]

Classic symptoms of oil on the motor, it burns off the oil and off it goes quite happily.   Unusual with brand new unless the factory managed to over-do things.  Also happens if the brushes aren't bedded in.

[scottmitchell74]

No idea what was wrong with the loco but oil sounds a possibility. Glad your satisfied with it and it's all worked out ok

Thanks escafeld. Your help was awesome, and I was all prepared to take it as far as I could with MRD. That's part of my embarrassment...I narrowly missed sending back what would have been found to be a perfectly fine loco.