Smoking K-27 Has It Done Any Damage ??

[Richie]

On Saturday morning while testing trains for my open day a ran my Bachmann K-27 as it was crossing a point the loco then derailed across the rails this was followed by a large plume of blue smoke from under the boiler :crying: i quickly cut the power and it stopped smoking loco was then put back on the track and tested .
Every thing seemed to be fine loco still runs fine , i was just wondering if i 've caused any damage to motor or circuit boards ?? as i don't know where the smoke came from .

 

[hagen]

Does it smell?
Burnt electronics has a very tell tale smell. if there's no such smell it could have been something on the track. Have you used any chemicals or oils on the track? the wheels? could explain the smoke.

 

[darkdaniel100]

hmm I would check to see if any LED's are no longer working - I managed to destroy the orginal flicker board on my Bachmann Climax "dont ask how ... there was a big puff of smoke !"

Without taking the K-27 apart it will be pretty hard to guess what damage was done

 

[Richie]

hmm I would check to see if any LED's are no longer working - I managed to destroy the orginal flicker board on my Bachmann Climax "dont ask how ... there was a big puff of smoke !"

Without taking the K-27 apart it will be pretty hard to guess what damage was done

Marker and head lights work fine didn't check the fire flicker or the smoke unit
The fire flicker circuit board was replaced when i got the loco as it didn't work from new

 

[Richie]

Does it smell?
Burnt electronics has a very tell tale smell. if there's no such smell it could have been something on the track. Have you used any chemicals or oils on the track? the wheels? could explain the smoke.

No chemicals were used on the track had only just cleaned it with a track rubber can't remember the smell as it was a quick dash to the garage to cut the power .

 

[coyote97]

Oh dear,

Hi Richie,

sorry to hear that.
But some general way of sight may help you.
One day, a spindle of one of our machines in business began making strange sounds.
Unexperienced as i was i went to my father in law and told him.
"I fear, it is damaged" i told him.
"does it run?" he asked.
"yes..but..."
"when it has a defekt, what will happen when it runs until stoping?"
"it will be destroyed"
"what is to do then?
"repalce it"
"so, " he said, "when u replace it now, what will u win instead of waiting until it really may be broken?"
That was in 1996. The same spindle runs until today.....on thousands of turns per minute and hundrets of runs per day.

i thought about it and found out: there are some cases where we need to react immediately. But imagine what will happen, when a LED burns out?
or when a motor decides to stop duty?

As long as the Loco runs fine, i would be calm and just have an eye on it. Give him a "hand-test" of unexpected heating before u take it home and look if there are cases of duty that may cause problems (long uphilldrives with heavy trainload).

Not nice when things are going to be broken. But stay calm!
Its a hobby and should make fun.
No drama needed. When the motor is damaged, it will break. And then u can replace it.
Prototypical duty holds such things every day, not to let it become boring....

Greetings

Frank

 

[Richie]

Hi Frank
Many thanks for that i did have the loco running for around 1/2hr after it happened will check it over next time i have it running .
Things just weren't going my way Saturday got a AMS coach to go with my AMS combine but on testing it around my line the coaches wouldn't go through the two S bends which i have they derailed and crashed off the track so i'm going to have to try and adjust the couplings some how :crying:
Still like you say just stay calm and smile as the hobby is fun

 

[coyote97]

uhhhh!
Next problem!
AMS coaches are LONG and they dont like s-curves.

As well as i know about AMS couplers are of bad quality (other than the cars....the couplers are often fixed very bad), there are technical borderlines especially on the coaches.
they DO run through R3 curves, but NOT through direct R3 S-combinations. If u have one, "unsharpen" it before u try to fix the couplers.

Greetings

Frank

 

[royale]

Richie - Same thing happened to me a couple of years ago when my K27 with Phoenix Sound derailed on a turnout. BIG puff of blue smoke from under the cab - cut the power - thought ,"Oh s***!" Thought I'd give it a try again after a few minutes, so started it very gently. It ran perfectly and has run faultlessly ever since, so if your's ran OK after the incident, with a bit of luck it should be OK. I decided not to attempt to dismantle mine - could be tempting fate!

 

[minimans]

Large plumes of smoke makes me think a capacitor got hot they smoke beautifully when overloaded or shorted it may have been a Cap that got hot but not enough to destroy it! I am also a firm believer in the "If it ain't broke don't mess with it" route, do it all the time with automobiles.

Or I could sell you one of these? great for all kinds of shorts..........................

and just make sure you use the right size fuse.......................

 

[spike]

Check the links under the point to see if they got hot.

Don't know which point it was but I had a Dash9 totally melt all the links under a USA #6.There was large amounts of smoke but loco was ok.

 

[Neil Robinson]

It's a while since I've had a K 27 apart and I can't remember if the loco current pickup is via the axles at or near the journals.
If so maybe the smoke was a bit of lubricant burning off if the pickup was taking a high, short term, current.

 

[Richie]

Many thanks guys sounds like it's a common fault and happened to several others , looks as if my K-27 lives to see another day
With my AMS coaches i think i 've solved the problem all my S curves have a 1ft straight in between and set in concrete so i can't change the track .
Looking at the coupling on the corners the springs would pop out so i removed the springs and cut off the spring holders this allowed the coupling to swing more each way after bending the air line out slightly the couplings had full swing each way , on testing it on the track i pushed them round the S bends with no derailment