AC-12 Problems I picked up my AC-12 from my LHS. I test ran it and the engine would be running along and suddenly stop with the motor growling. I E-Stopped my DCC system to keep from damaging the motor. I inspected the siderods and running gear but did not see a problem. I am running the engine in analog mode because my TSU-750 is not here yet. I grabbed my light machine oil and oiled it up per the instruction sheet. It is still doing the sudden stop. If I reverse direction, it will move backwards and I can then switch direction again. The loco does it in either direction, a quick switch of direction gets it going again, but I can't run it in an operating session like this. Has anyone else had this problem? Maybe a call to Intermountain and 30 mile drive down to their offices is in order. It is a beautiful model, I just need to figure out this bug. Thanks! Dan St.John Ft Collins, CO
Is it possible the plow or other detail part is snagging on the track? This product, aside from being the most beautifully detailed product I've sceen, has detail parts that hang down farther than any detail I've seen. Sometimes even the slightest of bump in the track can stall it.
You say you inspected the siderods and running gear...did you check that the drivers were quartered properly?
Mark, I checked that and nothing is dragging. Plus it does not happen in the same place every time. The spot it occurs is totally random. dstuard, I did check the quartering and it looked OK to me, I will double check it though.
Check the eccentric rods. There have been reports of the eccentric crank pin being installed too far offcenter and making the eccentric rod bottom out in its travel.
I think this was the first symptom on my AC-12 that broke a connecting rod. It stopped while moving forward. I reversed then sent it forward again. It moved several inches then stopped again with a lurch this time. Front fireman side connecting rod had come loose back at the piston rod end. Do check that those eccentric cranks are pointing at the center of the wheel.
While it may go against the grain, since your AC is obviously faulty, my advice would be to send it back and not fiddle too much with it. They have a great warranty and I'd let Intermountain deal with it, perhaps sending you a functioning replacement. I gave the same advice to my friend Nate who's second AC was falling apart as it was extracted from its packing. Hope this helps... Bob Gilmore Eden, UT
I used the airbrush with the following colors: New Gravel Grey Dirt Oily Black Grimy Black I the new gravel grey as the first coat followed by some grimy black on various spots and along the wheels. I then coated the top of the boiler and tender with oily black along with the wheels and rods. Lastly, I applied the dirt to blend it together. Took all of 15 minutes to do.
I agree Bob, IMRC is only 35 miles away from me, so I will call them Monday and run it down to their office. I want to thank everyone for their input. Dan St.John Ft. Collins, CO
My AC-12 came today. I put a TCS DP2X in it, but I won't be satisfied with that for long. I miss hearing the Johnson Bar when I change directions. Now I have to look. My only complaint is the amber headlight!
You know that headlight bugged me too when I first saw it. But when I got it to the club to run on the big NTrak layout I noticed that unless you see the headlight directly from the front it does not look bad at all. In fact, I think the color looks pretty good when viewed more than 20 degrees or so off the nose. I might still change the LEDs someday, but that task dropped off my priority list.
I noticed the traction tires squeeling on the front of the loco last night, after some investigation, it seems the coupler trip pin is catching on the rails and holding the front of the cab so it cannot swing, thus binding the front of the engine. I clipped it off and the sounds went away, it also tracks around the corners much better.
I wanted to post a quick update. I called IMRC and talked to Richard about my problem. He said they have had 4 or 5 calls from people with a similar problem. He said the problem does not occur when the loco is run on DC or a decoder is installed. I have a friend who lives around the corner and has a DC layout. I took the AC-12 over to his layout and the engine ran like a swiss watch!! He wanted to see the AC-12 on my layout, so we came back to my house. I put it on the track, switched to loco address 0, and started running around. After about 45 seconds, the AC-12 started acting up, doing the random stopping act. It looks like Richard it it right on the money, the AC-12 does not like the chopped wave from analog mode on DCC Time to order a Tsunami!!! Thanks to everyone for their help. Update 3/14/10 - I installed the Tsunami and the problem is gone, the engine is running great with the decoded installed.
Intermountain has posted the next run of these. Looks like they're re-running the first four numbers, along with four new numbers. Hopefully the Cab-Forwards were a huge success for IM, and they'll be motivated to do more steam. I vote for Santa Fe 4-8-4s! :bear-wink:
