Hi everyone, I'm happy to report my very first locomotive arrived in the mail today. It's an AZL GP38-2 in a Grand Trunk Western scheme. Very excited to say the least to finally have some action! Since the actual layout isn't ready yet, I snapped together a test oval. According to my multimeter I am getting power to the track just fine, and my throttle's LED is lighting up each time I flip the switch in either direction. The throttle is also proving functional, as the multimeter readout increases when I turn the knob. However, the loco will not move. I'm not even getting it to light up. Was I sent a defective locomotive? Or is there something I'm missing in the setup process?
Try the "9 volt test". Take a 9 volt battery (the blocky one found in bigger remotes) and press the each leads to the rails. Its a good way to see how your locomotive preforms under straight DC and can help see if the problem is with the loco or the throttle. I use it to test my locos that run poorly as sometimes it has been due to them not likeing the output of the throttle.
Sorry about the dead loco, but it is likely an easy fix! The PCBs on these locos can shift during shipping. What you will want to do is reseat the board. We have published instructions on how to remove the shell and reseat the board on our Tech Tips section of our web site. Try this out. If you need more assistance, email me at rob@ztrack.com. Here is the link to the tech tech section: http://www.americanzline.com/category/tech-tips/ Rob Distributor for AZL
I have one GP30 which arrived apparently non-functional, but when I took it apart I discovered a small burr on the bottom of the chassis (one of the only actual manufacturing defects I've seen on a Z-scale locomotive) which prevented one truck's gear tower from engaging the worm properly. A quick trim with a rail nipper and it's run just fine ever since. Mail carriers are also frequently less than gentle with packages, and small parts can be dislodged during shipping... it doesn't take much to disable a locomotive this small. Usually it's something easy to overlook but just as easy to put right once found. The usual suspects are over-tightened screws and loose contacts. The GP38-2 is a great value. The only thing I regretted when I got my first one was that I hadn't bought two.
