Has anyone devised a way to improve the power pickup of the Con-Cor/Kato switcher chassis? These chassis employ a pre-axle cup design along with a really unusual truck design (by today's standards) and reliable power pickup can be an issue. I have tweaked mine to the point that it runs nice and smooth but a constant source of pickup problems is when changing directions. About 50% of the time the loco will start moving but then suddenly stop, requiring a nudge to get going again. The trucks in these chassis are pretty loose and move quite a bit when changing directions. I believe it's during this repositioning of the trucks that the power connection between the trucks and chassis is often broken. Today, in an effort to improve pickup, I tried adding an MT SW1500-like contact strip by screwing it to the chassis on both sides of the rear truck only (for now). I also adding a contact to the truck by slipping it between the sideframe and the (metal) truck assembly. I was disappointed to find that this did not improve anything at all. Anyone ever come up with a better solution? My go-to interim solution is to MU it to something else but I would like to run it by itself sometimes.
I own two Concor SW1500 locos but don't run them, they are geared way to high, IMO. I run several of the old style locos mostly RS3/RS11s that the trucks contact the frame. I use a Crag product called DeoxIT, (D100L), it is really a great product. It is a contact cleaner that also chemically improves electronic connections. I use it on all my model railroad and non model railroad electronic connections. I even use it on brand new locos and DCC boards to keep the connections clean and making contact years down the road. Crag also sell a sample pack that got me and a bunch of my friends started.
This is just the type of discussion I was looking for. For years I have been cleaning my Atlas/Kato locomotives with this drive mechanism at the contact points between frame and trucks. They work great for a little while. I am putting several of them up for sale next week on the auction site that have the "nudge" issue. I will be looking into the Crag product. Bob
It is one of the locos that I fooled around with for awhile trying to come up with a better runner. And I had the Concor/Kato version cow calf set. I thought about a completely new mech. to slide under it and possible also for the dummy calf but there was nothing at the time that would slide under that shell without some serious mods. I also looked at truck replacement with what was out there at the time and came up short there with anything that would work. It is probably the only Kato mech. that I ever scrapped. For awhile Arnold made those locos but I don't know if the trucks were the same pickup scheme or not, or even if they would fit the Concor/Kato version but it might be worth looking into.
I pulled one of mine off my layout where it had been sitting around for a long time, still DC. I never even considered DCC with this loco because of the old school high speed motor. It still started at about 4.5 volts in both directions, I tried it back and forth about a dozen times and it started every time. Make me wonder if there isn't something else people are doing/using to make these type of locos run worse?
They have the potential to run OK, but you really do need to be vigilant about keeping the contact points between the trucks and the chassis clean and shiny. I had some success using Conductalube in there, but it's kind of a never-ending battle. I also found that replacing the TT-equipped wheels with regular wheelsets helped quite a bit. Cheers, -Mark
A couple of things ended up dooming mine to the scrap box. First the aforementioned finicky running. Also really had a hard time assigning it to an era that fit my modeling era. I think a bit too modern for me. And the fact that the calf was unpowered and basically a drag on the performance. I understand that there was a version out with the calf powered which at the time was unknown to me. And at the time there just wasn't anything that would allow me to power that calf amongst the mechanisms that I had available. I do believe that with the powered cow calf set that this critter would most likely be able to latch onto a cut that the road power drug in and take in on into the yard without a whimper. And in the same vein also be able to take a long transfer cut around the layout again without a whimper or slip. Oh well water under the bridge and long gone now having been replaced with some switchers that better fit my era and better running with minimal fuss.
My two powered cows were parked because they weren't very good switchers. They did run OK after taking off like a dragster.
Thanks for all the replies! Sounds like people experienced similar issues, so I know it's not just mine. I wouldn't fuss with it so much except it is powering my one (finished) SP SW1500 kitbash (will a scale-width hood) and this chassis was and is the only feasible option. Interesting difference with mine is, while it does have a high top speed, it starts and runs pretty slow too. Jim, I have used No-OX-ID on the contact points which I'm assuming by the names are similar. Mark, I'm VERY interested in how you changed out the wheelsets as I didn't think that could be done on this model without losing even more conductivity. The wheelsets on this model have a metal sleeve that goes over the plastic gear axle and this sleeve makes an electrical connection with the (2 piece) metal truck assembly. Standard wheelsets have a pin that goes inside a plastic gear axle, so you would be relying solely on the little spring wiper that rubs the inside of the wheel on only one side per truck. Thanks!
No, they are very different products, DeoxIT is a much more modern product. DeoxIT is a thin red liquid, you only need a very thin film. You don't even need to clean the surfaces before applying it. My original Kato SD40s had sit for a couple years and would not run, I applied a thin film on the contact strip and that's all it took. This got me started applying DeoxIT on all my locos contact points.
It was a few years ago, but IIRC I just bought a second one (probably DOA) and cannibalized the wheelsets from that. Cheers, -Mark
Thanks for the clarification, Mark. That makes more sense than a wheelset off, say, a modern Kato or Atlas loco. Jim, I may have to give that DeoxIT a try! Thanks for the tip! I'm happy to report I had a huge improvement today. I went out and got some Tungsten putty (man, that stuff is expensive!) and filled the fuel tank with it as per Ron Bearden's recommendation to add more weight. I had actually removed the stock cab weight during the kitbash and much prefer a see-thru cab anyway. It would appear that this was a big part of the problem and, after adding the putty, I had only one stall out of several changes of direction and at my slowest speed setting. The fuel tank...well, the clip on box behind the fuel tank detail on the stock model...is a great empty place to add weight. I made sure that the putty did not contact the frame halves to cause a short, assuming Tungsten putty is conductive. I'm assuming that the added weight is keeping downward pressure on electrical contacts and is minimizing the cause of the stall. Last night I also spent a few hours messing with the trucks by taking them back apart and reassembling them. I noticed that the two-piece metal truck towers on both trucks was not sitting square and even and both halves of the tower were cambered inward towards each other at the top. This wasn't enough to pinch the top gear but it was enough to affect how well that top portion seated inside the chassis, which would affect electrical contact. One truck was so bad it would easily fall out of the chassis. Part of the reason these were cambered so much is I cut off the stock sideframes and glued on some resin aftermarket frames and didn't initially notice they were putting too much pressure on the truck tower halves. After some careful filing and chiseling at these pressure points, the tower halves sit nice and square to each other. Between this and the added weight, things are WAY better!
