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Yesterday, I ran my Frisco ten-wheeler for, oh, say 20 minutes, and all was well.

Today, it is behaving very erratically.  When I power up the track, the cab, firebox, and class lights burn steady, but the headlight flickers rapidly at time but burns steady at others.  It does not respond to commands in a consistent manner.  It will move a bit and then stop, move and then stop.  It might run very fast for a few feet and then crawl.  It might just move a fraction of an inch and then stop.  Sometimes, continuing to turn the wheel on the remote will make it lurch along, sometimes not.  The bell might ring when the button is pressed but the whistle won't.  Or neither will work.  Most of the time is simply ignores me.

I have verified that the pick ups are clean.

The ten-wheeler is on Track 2:  the remote is working fine controlling an engine on Track 1.

Another TMCC engine runs fine on Track 2 with no other changes (which I think pinpoints the problem as being on the engine).

I have reset the engine and also readdressed it.

I would appreciate any leads on trouble-shooting.

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OK, here's the latest, which is good news but also a mystery.

I went to the layout tonight wondering what would happen if I switched over to conventional operation.  Well, the engine just sat there as I dialed up the power.  Hmmm.

THEN I noticed that the wire from the Command Base to the Powermaster had come loose.  Ooops.  Hooked it up, and switched back to Command, and the engine runs fine. 

Duh.

But there remains a mystery:  why did it respond to the commands somewhat/sometimes?  I guess maybe the wire was coming off but was not all the way off, but I have no idea what loosened it or knocked it off.

Anyway, thanks for all the help, guys!

While it works best if the wire is securely connected, it's possible for the signal to propagate to the engine without a good or any physical connection. I have run an engine on completely isolated test track on the bench while the base was on and only connected to the main layout.

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
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