I received my NYC GP 7 today and that caboose and I have to say that AZL has really done their homework on improving this model from the first run. Now, motor aside, as we all know the first run had the Swiss motor the faulhauber or something like that was pretty darn good. So I am not even going to compare that. What is impressive is the rest of the subtle improvements. First, the pickups are much much better, using the typical N scale style brass long pickups that are one long piece through the half of the frame to the trucks. This is what was done to the gp 30 and later loco's form AZL. Remember the first Generation gp 7 had small tabs for pickups which if not centered caused sputtering. Second, they alternated the traction tire on the trucks, one on the front and one on the back. Better balance and great pulling power. Third it appears the motor tabs are redone to make better contact with the PC board. All in all I am impressed really! It creeps, runs great, still has the amber headlight and oh the two pilots! Yes two! So you don't have to suffer with a big hole which I just hated, so they kept what was good, and fixed what was needed. I would say motor aside this loco is better than the first generation. I like to think that I am as honest as they come when it comes to Z scale and I really enjoy promoting the hobby but I always consider myself the champion for the newbie, the person who just starts the hobby, and I have to say the GP 7 is a highly recommended start. The GP 38 is good and cheaper but the pilots and the details on the GP 7 make it my number one recommendation in Z scale for someone that wants hassle free operation. Now if you want to know what to stay away from or want a challenge I can help there too!
Joe, I have one of those first generation GP7s and it is no fun to try to run it. There was some discussion some time back after I complained about the running performance. It definitely sputters and I've not figured out a way to make it run better. Got any tricks up your sleeves?
I have two suggestions that have worked for me on the first run. You can try them out. The first thing I did was take a thin piece of card stock and cut and shimmed it between the motor tabs and the board. It helped the tabs stay in contact with the board and I had immediate improvement, The second thing I did was clean and bend the contact tabs every so gentle. They are fragile and need to be centered in place perfectly. To do this use those eye glass screwdrivers (flat head) and just before you push the shell back on use the screw driver to hold that contact tab directly under the frame. Once the shell is on you are good, but don't let that contact tab be anywhere other than straight under the frame. If you can see it bowed out at all it is not centered correctly and pickup will not be as good. Try these out might help.
make sure, is it the PC board (PC board to frame or, PC board to motor). Or, is it the trucks (trucks to frame or axles to truck. To check the PC board, I hold a 9V battery to the frame (use a scrap thin PC board to make contacts between the split frame or rubber band it). Wiggle the board to see what happens. Next, put a piece of paper on the track. Set one truck on the paper and the other on the rail. Rock the chassis left and right and swivel the loco left and right too. Repeat on the other truck. For the newer DCC PC boards, make sure that you insulate the tabs from the frame !!! There is white tape already there but you can also remove that and use the Kapton tape included with the decoder. I found that if I put a twist into the tabs, rather than just bending them 90 degrees, it helps center the motor tabs and forces the PC board tabs to center too. The tab on the right is incorrect. It is twisted but so is the entire piece. The tab on the right is twisted while leaving the board clip in the proper position. (the easy way to do this is solder the clip at the side of the board. I came up with this using a modified frame allowing me to clearly see the tabs.
Jeff, did you mean in the text below the picture to say "The tab on the left is incorrect." ? Interesting idea - I'll try it on my SD-70s with the new TCS decoder as I'm having some shorting issue. 2nd step will to add capton tape instead of the crappy masking tape. James
Yeah, left. Can't edit your own post any more. The tape is polyester. Gummy but has great voltage protection. It's just not always in the correct location. Cut the Kapton tape in half, length wise. There is enough to do 10 locos with each strip that comes with decoder. Also, put one on top of the motor frame (under the board). The TCS AZL4 gets too close to the metal.
Jeff great advice. If I've said it once I'll say it again we got great people in z that offer great help. Usually someone can help
