ED61 (Tomix 2136) short circuiting controller

[NXCALE]

All,

My ED61 was running as usual, pulling eight wagons, when started to trigger the shortcircuit protection of my tomix controller (5506).

 

So, I checked the following things:

 

• Clean tracks
• Clean wagons
• Clean wheels of ED61
• Swap controllers: the protection circuit of the other controller eventually started to be also activated by the ED61
• Run the ED61 without wagons - problem persisted

 

More in detail, the protection circuit may not be triggered if the train run slowly

But if it gets a bit speed, it is almost sure the train will stop (red light in the controller) 

 

I am not into opening my trains so I kinda stop at the moment.

If I need to give a hypothesis, I will say that the motor is damaged. This also based in the comment of the forum topic: "Shortcircuits of TOMIX Type 126 Shinkansen motor module - The Train Doctor - JNS Forum".

 

Any ideas/comments? before I start taking my ED61 apart.

 

[katoftw]

Could also be the lightboards. But anything that connects the positive to negative side of the engine.

 

Won't know until you pull it apart and remove a part and trial run.

[Kamome]

 A good number of not that old Tomix locos are split chassis so power is picked up from the rails,  carried up the vertical copper contact on the bogie, conducted to a smaller horizontal copper strip which is then passed along one half side of the metal chassis to the light board and motor and then passed in reverse order down the other side. 

 

First port of call is take the body off and look for anything out of alignment. Tomix generally use plastic clips to keep the 2 chassis halves together with a thin gap . Just a case of travelling up from wheels to light board and making sure everything is exactly where it should be.  

 

I had a Tomix EH500 that kept shorting. I ended up taking the whole thing apart, cleaning, reassembling then it was fine. Annoyingly, it wasn’t obvious what caused the issue. Take photos as you go so you know where everything is supposed to be if you go down that route.

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Kamome

[disturbman]

Taking apart models is impressive but usually not very complicated. As Kamome, suggested take your time, take pictures if you feel it's needed and keep the disassembled parts in logical order. I always place all parts as if building a 3D exploded diagram. It helps putting things back. Also, containers for screws and small parts are a good idea to avoid losing them.

I also believe a simple disassembly/reassembly could solve your issue. Something probably got nudged out of alignment and you won't need to replace anything or perform complex troubleshooting. If you have what is necessary, it would be a good time to clean the mechanism and re-grease/re-oil the locomotive.

[NXCALE]

I tested the motor alone, and it triggered the protection circuit of the controller/s.

So, the motor is gone. Thank you all for the information.

 

Which is the number of this motor?

I see H3541 on it but is it Tomix 0625?

 

[Kamome]

Looks like it could be 0625

 

Info on Tomix says ED61 adopts a flywheel motor designed for ED79

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/0625.html

 

https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/9114.html

 

[disturbman]

It would be easier to get the M-13 equivalent as the M-9 is not in production anymore since the M-13 superseded it, https://www.tomytec.co.jp/tomix/products/n/0618.html. It should be widely available.

[NXCALE]

Thanks Kamone and disturbman.

My order of new motors (I ordered 2 units) is on its way!

[NXCALE]

The new motor/s arrived.

I noticed that the motor/s did not come with some "plastic adapters" (see pictures below).

So, I had to transfer them from the old motor.

 

 

After putting everything together, it works!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypFIZ-mEYko&t=17s

 

Admin note: for some reason the new YouTube embeds are going to some sort of captia that I have not gotten to work yet so just provided the link to the video on YouTube.