04-12-2010, 12:13 PM
First off BRASS is a PITA. The whole locomotive is a conductor. So you have to be real careful in how you run wires and mount decoders.
The trucks can sometimes touch the frame and cause shorts. I have seen where the brake shoes on a locomotive would touch the wheel(s) and short. They can even short out on the track if they hang to low.
You should ALWAYS try your locomotives on a program track after working on them, no mater how simple the repair was. That has saved many decoders for me. The brass units get check and rechecked, then checked again, then they go to the program track.
The trucks can sometimes touch the frame and cause shorts. I have seen where the brake shoes on a locomotive would touch the wheel(s) and short. They can even short out on the track if they hang to low.
You should ALWAYS try your locomotives on a program track after working on them, no mater how simple the repair was. That has saved many decoders for me. The brass units get check and rechecked, then checked again, then they go to the program track.