New Lord Nelson 4-6-0 TTS Faulty. DCC

[OzzyOzborne]

I bought the above Hornby loco brand new in April last year. Not a local retailer.
With numerous family COVID issues I only took it out the box yesterday .......it went fine for about a minute.........then stopped?
The TTS sound works fine........but there is a humming sound which gets louder as you increase the power.
The retailer cannot help me as it’s out of warranty.
I’m a novice so could do with some advice on what it could be and what to do? Any ideaswhat to try would be great
Or where to send it to get fixed?

[Bigmet]

It's probably still OK, so don't worry. What has most likely happened is that the drive line between motor and wheels has locked up. (The motor is still getting power, that's where the humming is coming from.)

Turn the loco upside down, and very gently try all the driven wheels for movement - they should all rock forward and backward with just fingertip pressure, if there is slack in the driveline.

If you find one or more of the wheelsets won't move at all, there's the trouble. Now you have to look closely at the side rods - can you see where one is caught - the connecting rod on the leading driver crankpin is common, but there are several other possibilities such as the crosshead and piston rod displaced.

If all the driven wheels will rock, it is likely the lock up is in the gear train. If it is this, or you just cannot see what is causing the lock up, worth a call to Hornby service on Monday: they are typically good at dealing with such problems, worth stressing that you are new to the hobby and need help.

[OzzyOzborne]

Hi

Thanks for the advice……..yes when I turned it upside down none of the large wheels would move. Slight finger tip pressure released them and the train ran fine. The large wheels seemed locked but moving them left and right very carefully cleared the jam.
However it keeps stopping and the wheels are locked…….all the rods look fine but it looks like it’s something behind the wheels that’s creating the problem.
Do I put any oil on to help……..or contact Hornsby as you suggested?
Thanks!

[Bigmet]

Best to try Hornby I feel. Oil won't help, I suspect you may have a split or damaged gear in the drive train, and that needs a replacement part to fix.

[Bufferstop]

Behind the wheels there should only be the pickup wipers, unless you can see one is decidedly mangled, they shouldn't be a problem, treat them very gently. Running a few revolutions then jamming sounds very much like a connecting rod fouling on another part of the valve gear. There is prescious little clearence to begin with and it only takes the slightest finger pressure to bend one of them inwards. They are in exactly the wrong place to get caught when you put the loco down onto the track. It all might look ok when you look at it tipped upside down, but the bits will all rearrange themselves when you tip it right way up and put it back on the track. Get it moving as slowly as it can whilst watching it closely, kill the power the instant it stops and examine it closely without disturbing it. A magnifying glass may help. It's one of the bugbears of the more scale size valve gear, it isn't as robust as the old overscale parts.

[OzzyOzborne]

I contacted Hornby and they will repair free of charge…….as it’s never been used!
Great service

[Peterm]

Good result.

[Bigmet]

Indeed, I was hoping that would be Hornby's response. Care for your customers.

[OzzyOzborne]

Well……
Hornby repaired the loco free of charge……they put a new gear inside and sound card…..
Just opened it and found a couple of problems which I hope are easy to fix!
There’s a wire loose and a bvery small piece of metal which seems to have come from where the rids move? As you can guess I’m a novice!
Photos attached which show the problem. I could contact Hornby again but hope it’s an easy fix for me…..they could have come loose in transit?
Hope the photos are not upside down!,
Had to send them separate as too big?
Thanks……

[OzzyOzborne]

Photos will not attach?

[End2end]

quick rough and ready resizing of photos guide.
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=53064&hilit=resize#p652047
Thanks
End2end

[whufcfan]

I think your loco was on the TV the other night on the Hornby programme on Yesterday channel, the description of the repair fits your fault description! Might be worth a look on catch up, quite a long piece on the repair.