Dead Corpet

garrymartin

My Family,Railways, Beer and the Seaside
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I recently obtained a LGB 2078 from an ebay seller based in Bratislava.It was described as in full working order. The locomotive looks and is in very good condition and appears lightly used. It arrived with the packaging and LGB box in good condition.
How ever when I tried it on my line yesterday it just stood there, as dead as a door nail, my other loco's ran as usual. I tried with the switch in the cab in all 3 positions with no change, nor were there any signs of life when I tested it with wires on the pick ups from my spare transformer.
I have contacted the seller who has says it ran perfectly when he tested it ( although the picture on ebay of the loco on a layout shows it without the lights on ) and he suggests that the wires to the motherboard may have become disconnected in transit and that I should check this.
I am reluctant to do thgis on 2 counts:
Firstly I have never taken an expensive loco to bits before and squiemish about doing so
Secondly I am concerned about complicating the issue further should it move on to a formal dispute.
I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on the subject.
 
You need Neil Robinson :thumbup:
 
Steve said:
You need Neil Robinson :thumbup:
Or the Ebay disputes service - and PayPal?
 
The sellers comment about the possibility of wire(s) becoming detached in transit are quite plausible. I've know it happen, but not on a Corpet but that doesn't mean it can't happen with one.
The seller has implied that it's O.K. for you, or your agent, to dismantle the loco. I suggest you clarify this with the seller and come to some agreement on the next stage if the problem isn't what he suggests.
 
Thanks for your prompt replies Gentlemen, I shall proceed as Neil suggests.
 
andyspencer said:
Is it possible that the loco is chipped and has analogue disabled? Had this on a recent ebay purchase from Germany. The loco shouldn't have been chipped...

Just had exactly the same problem, with a loco sold as un chipped
no response at all on analogue track - seller was close enough to
collect and it ran fine when i collected it & when returned to said
seller it ran fine again ??
Then i saw his Blue controller thingy, Bingo :thumbup:
Seller actually wanted the loco back so he could sell it for more :rolf::rolf:
 
I have no experience with chipped loco's so I am not at all sure what I should be looking for. I have had a look inside this morning , all wires are attatched the blue plug thingy with 4 wires leading to it wasn't pushed home, so I did that but it is still dead.
 
Have you got any photos of the inside Garry ?
 
It is a blue wire not a blue plug !
Pictures as suggested.
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Just to confirm that all wires appear to be attatched.
 
If that's all there is inside then it's not dcc chipped so can rule that out.

It's not a loco I'm familiar with, but if it were me I'd now be firing up the multimeter and testing continuity from wheels to board to motor block etc. If it was working before dispatch then probably something simple.
 
Hm, definitely NOT chipped then - so if it's not working on analogue at all, there is something wrong. It's an old 3-wire (pre-MTS) gearbox, as shown by the lack of a yellow wire in the gearbox wiring loom - the brown and white wires are the track power feeds, and the green one goes to one motor terminal via the cab switch (the other motor terminal being directly connected to one of the track feeds). The few components on the PCB will be for the voltage stabilisation and direction control of the lights.

I assume that when you tested it, there was no response from the lights OR the motor? If so, that does suggest that the problem is not the motor itself, otherwise at least the lights should come on. Is there any way you can get a voltmeter across the brown and white wires where they attach to the PCB, while supplying power to the skates/wheels, to see if there is actually any juice getting from the pickups into the loco?

Someone may need to correct me here, but I THINK that in a pre-digital 3-wire box, the WHITE lead is connected directly to one motor terminal and to one track feed, while the GREEN takes the power back to the other motor terminal after the BROWN has taken the track power to the switch - so in theory, if you connect power to the WHITE lead and the GREEN lead, the motor should turn, bypassing the switch and all the other internals. Then at least you'll be narrowing down the problem.
I suppose the bottom line is, if something is wrong would you rather return the loco to the seller (he should reimburse you for the return postage, as it is clearly "not as described"), or would you be happy getting a partial refund from him and keeping the loco if you can solve the problem?

Jon.
 
Perhaps you need to try these guys? :bigsmile:
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Thank you for your thoughts again Gents, I have suggested to the seller that he returns my money whilst I return his Loco, I am awaiting his response.
 
If you are returning it, Garry, as I mentioned above the seller should refund your shipping costs to return the loco to him, as well as fully refunding what you paid. If it's not working, then it is "significantly not as described" in eBay terms and you should therefore not be out of pocket for sending it back. I recently bought an LGB Toytrain "Rusty" from a German seller, and when it arrived it was quite obvious that it was not the one in the auction photos - several bits were missing, the gearbox baseplate was badly cracked and the gears wouldn't mesh as a result.... to cut a long story short, I shipped it back and without any problems at all the seller repaid me all my money, including refunding the shipping both ways - his lack of any argument over this says to me that he was perfectly aware that the one he sent to me wasn't the one in the pictures, but he was also aware of eBay's rules for buyer protection, so having been caught out he knew he would lose any dispute....

Jon.
 
garrymartin said:
Thank you for your thoughts again Gents, I have suggested to the seller that he returns my money whilst I return his Loco, I am awaiting his response.

Garry

Before abandoning hope completely, is it possible for you to either
(1) disconnect the gearbox from the loco's wiring and directly connect the pins to which the brown and green wires are attached? Apply power and see if the thing moves.
(2) get the motor out of the gearbox and check that it works with power applied directly?
If either of these produces results, then the problem is clearly either the pickups or the internal wiring, so - given the expertise on GSC - you should quickly become the owner of a working loco!
If the motor simply fails to work, then you still have the option of buying a new motor and requesting refund of that cost from the seller.

P.S. One extra thought. Have you unscrewed the circuit board and checked underneath to see if the white/green/brown wires are all still soldered where they should be? Could be as simple as an old joint coming adrift in the tender embrace of the various mail services.
 
The inside looks in good condition so may be the switch, plug or a solder joint.

Normally LGB electrics are fine but I've just got a problem with a Harz 2-6-2 analogue sound system that stopped working after I took the body off to fix on a new smoke unit. I've taken many LGB locos apart before without any problems!
 
Garry, I have the same loco.
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Remove the two screws in the circuit board and check the three wires are plugged in propley where the wires come out the motor block in between the lead weight. Bend a paperclip across the green and brown terminals where they come out the motor block (remove 4 pin plug and take body off completely) Place loco on track and apply power, The paper clip should power the motor and the loco should move. Does this happen.?
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I agree with the above posts. The loco appears in good condition with original parts and no signs of modifications or anything amiss. I'm confident that it can be restored to working order with little expense once the fault is diagnosed. However this will most likely to be done by someone with a test meter and some experience of using it.
 
Thanks for your idea's and support Gentlemen, this is why I love this site :thumbup::love::thumbup: I have requested a refund from the seller this evening, and I have already identified another locomotive in as good a condition as this one claimed to be to purchase with the reimbursed funds should they be forthcoming.
I have little skill and no experience , to undertake any repairs myself (or time) so I intend that option now to be a last resort. I will keep you all updated.
 
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