Never thought I’d see you in the comments of a recommendation. Love your vids BTW. I might be sending some fan mail soon so be on the lookout!

@SMT Mainline we meet in another comment section once more. 😂

@@trainstorm1225 Haha, that's funny.

y

Glad to hear it! I know this isn't exactly most peoples' recommended method, but sometimes, nothing else works. This is a nice last-ditch effort that if done well, won't create any future issues. -Cam

So true! Thanks for watching. -Cam

Thanks for the tips Gregg! I really appreciate it. You definitely know more on the subject than I do, and I'm glad you told me about the alcohol! I've wondered sometimes about that because just like you said, after cleaning track or wheels, electrical pickup almost gets worse. I think it also kills adhesion in the short term. I'm going to get some Innox now and try that out. My hypothesis behind this project was that the slight bend would increase the probability that at any given point a wheel would make contact with the pickup. I discovered there was a lot of crap at the axle points (which I of course cleaned out), but my hope was that in the event an axle point was compromised at any given time, this would compensate (I guess sort of like a wheel wiper on passenger cars). It probably doesn't help that the capacitor on the decoder isn't forgiving at all, but I wanted to try something other than just bypassing the problem with a Keep-Alive, something I still might do. Again, I honestly appreciate the tips because that's the whole reason I make videos. There's a community and it helps me learn and grow as a modeler. So hopefully it doesn't seem as if I'm passing myself off as an expert. However, seeing as you actually are an expert in this area, would you mind if I summarized your suggestions in the video description? I'll put your channel name with it of course. That way people watching this will also see your advice. Thanks! -Cam

You're welcome Cam! I learn something every day myself.Some rubbing alcohol is 30% water!! Using a proper oil such as Labelle on the axel shafts will be all you need to get good pickup, the wheelsets constantly move from side to side as they traverse turnouts and curves and doing so actually polish the brass strip (bearings) . If you use the wrong oil or over lubricate this can cause a build up but not normally. I never have to clean wheels on locos or freight cars and my train room is not air conditioned. In my opinion, keep alives are a substitute for bad track or wiring, I have a Atlas decoder with no cap at all and it runs fine? The thing with Innox is that it is made not to attract dirt, as some track cleaner fluids do, you will get a little black on a rag but it is not a problem, remember we want conductivity, not a sterile rail! If you wan't to see this in a vdeo, you can watch part 2 of "Talking Turnouts and Track" on my channel and feel free to put my points in your video, happy to help as stalling locos drives me crazy..LOL I can almost guarantee that if you stop with the alcohol and try Innox,or similar (only a little bit here and there) your problem will disappear? Let me know how you go!! Take care and Cheers. Gregg.

P.S...as for adhesion, you will loose a bit but thats a excuse to put another loco on a train..LOL Gregg.

Haha, exactly! I'll definitely look at that video. Thanks, Gregg! -Cam

Fishplate, where do you purchase Innox?

Thanks for watching! It might not always do the trick, but for me it has. -Cam

Thanks for commenting! It's annoying when that stuff happens because for the most part it's invisible. -Cam

For sure! It was something I overlooked until a bit ago. Thanks for watching! -Cam

I'm glad it was useful! And DCC has been great. It really adds to the realism. Have fun! -Cam

Goose in The Caboose Productions What do you use in your track cleaning car?

Thanks for watching! -Cam

Thanks! I hope it does. -Cam

Glad this was of some help! The other locomotive that I referenced a couple of times in the video was an InterMountain unit. That was the first time I had tried this trick, and since then the locomotive has run flawlessly. I think what may have happened for me is that since my old layout had 18" radius curves, which is pretty tight for big 6-axle power, that caused the contact pads to slowly press away from the wheels. Something else that I might try is Automatic Transmission Fluid. I saw an article that suggested applying it to the rails because it improves conductivity. But I think if your track has sufficient power and the wheel are clean, it would probably help just as much to put a drop of ATF between the axle points and the copper contact pad. -Cam

Yeah, these locomotives are horribly sensitive to track imperfections. Also, maybe you've seen this site, but if you look up "SBS4DCC loksound keep alive", the first webpage should have clear instructions and photos of installing a TCS KA on a Loksound decoder. I haven't yet done this, but I was planning on it. -Cam

Thanks! And it's really not bad at all. A while ago I had trouble opening this locomotive up because Athearn put a screw connecting the shell to the frame right by the underside of the fuel tank. Usually it's enough to just take the coupler boxes out. I didn't really tear this one apart all the way for this video, but the first time I tried to fix this problem I removed absolutely everything. I literally stripped it to the frame so that I had the fuel tank, trucks, motor, drive shafts, circuitry, and shell all separated. I still couldn't figure it out. -Cam

Hello, I want to thank you for this tip you gave here. You have no idea how much this tip solved all my problems I was having with 9 Athearn Genesis F-Units. I am a member of the Greeley Model R.R. Club in Colorado. Have been since 2015. I have been fighting this issue with these F-units for 4 years and could NOT find a solution and have tried everything. Last week I read your comment here and did what you said. I installed the Katy springs on the end of the axle on two F-units, took them to Greeley on Saturday at the club and WOW!!! Problem solved!!! THANK YOU!!!! I appreciate this tip sooooo much you can't imagine the frustration I've had with these units for 4 years. I'd be running them on the club layout and they would just die right in the middle of the layout in a tunnel where I could not reach them. I think I was about ready to get kicked out of the club if I didn't find a solution. When they died, it literally brought the rest of the entire club layout to a screeching halt. Nothing else could run until my locomotives were cleared away and off the mainline. Thank you, you have no idea how much this tip has helped me. The guys in Greeley thank you as well.....believe me. Steve

What are "Katy bronze coupler springs"?

You buy them from a hobby supply. They are used in their knuckle couplers. (all gauges)@@jasondix3202

Did you use the springs from a larger scale, i.find tge springs.dont fit on tge axles

See the comments on this page. The Largest are the Katy O gauge coupler box springs and you may have to cut them in half to fit between the side frame and wheeel.@@joshfreund6008

Thanks! -Cam

I'm glad! And it definitely seems that Athearn has a lot of problems with trucks. I also had an InterMountain unit where one of the pickup wires came undone. That was after I had it for a bit, but you'd think that wouldn't be something that just comes undone. -Cam

Thanks, Mike! I totally agree. I got this Athearn unit in 2011 and within a year or two it just started to cut out randomly even with frequent cleaning. Part of it might be that the capacitor on the Soundtraxx board isn't very forgiving. But either way I would expect better. Since then, I think these Athearn Genesis units have really improved. -Cam

Yeah exactly. Someone else commented that it's the axles which make the contact, implying that bending the contacts isn't necessary. That is true, and I completely understood that at the time of making this video. However, there are some models (the early Athearn SD70ACes especially) that have truck pickup problems for whatever reason. Sometimes the sideframes are warped or the gearboxes don't sit right. I don't know what it is here, but the axles only make contact when the hole they are slotted into is weighing down on them. At this small scale, even the smallest imperfections make a difference. So, similar to what you said, I think the problem here is that there are places on the track where the locomotive tips from side to side just slightly, creating moments when none of the axles on one side are touching the contacts. Pushing the contacts in to work as wipers creates a more reliable and larger contact area. In most models, this wouldn't be necessary, but this Soundtraxx decoder also doesn't have a strong capacitor in it, making the locomotives tolerance for conductivity loss almost 0. -Cam

No problem! Glad you think so. -Cam

I got one up

What do you use to rub it down

Definitely. I was careful to not put too much of a bend so that the truck didn't become too rigid. There's sort of a sweet spot. But with the locomotives I've dealt with, that contact strip is still pretty flexible, so even when going through a curve it'll provide a bit of resistance but not so much that the trucks jump the track. It also helps to have pretty solid trackwork. And I like the conductive lubricant idea. I was just talking to someone about maybe using Automatic Transmission Fluid at the contact points. I remember reading an article about putting ATF on the rails, but I think it would work well in the trucks too. -Cam

Hi Cam, I have a bottle of Ariso-Electralube p/n CRE-29602, seems like a synthetic oil of some kind with finely ground carbon in it, I also have a jar of "NO-OX-ID "A SPECIAL", Sanchem Inc, Chicago, IL a type of grease that is conductive and an anti-oxidant as well. The use of ATF is a possibility, so no shortage of lubes to experiment with. Interesting video though, thanks for publishing it.

And thanks for sharing what you use. I'll have to try that! -Cam

This is an Athearn Genesis model. -Cam

@@railfan220 Thanks, I'm looking for six wheel trucks that have narrow gear boxes. I want to narrow the axle for narrow TT guage. Hard part is find the parts without buying a brand new engine at full price.

This doesn't work believe me. Just makes a mess and you still have the pickup issue. Just install a kadee spring like the guy said up above here. Works like a charm bracelet.

Gary A agreed. I think Athearn Genesis has gotten a lot more reliable, but you can’t beat Scaletrains. These first run ACes had some issues with the trucks, so I finally just replaced them. Works beautifully now.

Thanks for the input. I totally agree. The trouble isn't worth the time sometimes (or always), and with so many alternatives out there, I don't know why I bother. I did wind up just getting a keep alive, but I haven't installed it yet because I plan on putting an ESU decoder in it as well. InterMountain is my go-to brand, so I can't wait for their BNSF DASH 9s to come out. Thanks for the comment! -Cam

Have one more set of A and B Genies Units to fix and that is the end of the story. Stop buying Athearn end of the 20th century.