BLI Y6b issues... anyone else???

[Y3a]

I have 2 of the BLI Y6b's. I got 2200 Jan of '08, and 2195 in May of '08. Neither have fallen off the layout. They haven't derailed too many times. Mostly when I left a track nail or tie in the way, or a tree fell onto the track. The have both got about 400 hours total running time give or take. Both get partially dismantled and lubricated/cleaned every 2-3 months.

Track is code 83 Atlas, and turnouts are #6 and #8 Atlas and Walthers/Shinohara. Minimum radius is 27". 3 of the mainline curves are super-elevated.

The problem is that they both perform quite differently. 2200 will not smoothly advance in speed. It works as expected up to about 35 scale mph, and then it accelerates at a much faster rate from there. WITH OR WITHOUT programmed decoder (Digitrax 163's). In recent weeks 2200 has started derailing at many turn outs.

An Older BLI "A" had the same issue after a few years of use but that was corrected by adding a spring to the top of the pony truck, which kept the pony from derailing.

I find the wire harness from the engine to tender is a POS too.

So, should I send BOTH my Y6b's back to BLI for them to screw with them, or should I pull out all their circuit boards etc, and put a permanent harness in place, add the springs to both, and just run 'em until the gear boxes turn to dust (which I think will be the next thing to fail).

I did this 2 years ago with a Bachmann USRA 4-8-2 heavy when I swapped tenders with a Lifelike Y3. This has become my MOST reliable engine. I also did this to a pair of Sunset 4-8-0's and they run smoothly as well.

Remember, that I primarily run Powerhouse Y3's, and 1930's era N&W steam so the Y6's are mostly in a display case, but I did run them on my layout during construction to make sure of the clearances and because My Y3 fleet was all down for tender truck swaps.

 

[bnsf971]

I've noticed CV6 is set to a very low amount, so the first half of the throttle is very slow. The second half, the locomotive takes off like a rocket. I'd check both engines and make sure CV6 is set the same on both engines. I'd use the one that performs correctly for the baseline setting.
The Y6 I have has been back to BLI twice, and really should have gone back a third time. The third time, it stopped chuffing, and BLI sent a new sensor for me to install, rather than being "out for repairs" for another 2-3 months.
What is derailing on 2200? Pony, engine, front or rear engine trucks? Does it just flip over on its back like an old Ford Explorer to get its belly scratched?
Does it derail at the same point on the layout every time? in a turnout, on a curve, either horizontal or vertical? The A I have did the same thing, and it turned out to be a wire that was interfering with the front engine truck's movement.

 

[Cjcrescent]

It would be very easy to compare the programming between these two locos with JMRI. I have found several locos of mine that should be identical but weren't. JMRI makes it super easy to match one loco with another speed wise, starting etc.

Trucks derailing on locos are generally a sign of two things. One is the springing that holds these down on the track is out of kilter, by either being knocked out of its seat, or has been compressed too much. Stretching the spring and reseating it often cures this. I personally like to replace the springs with weight to let the truck stay on the track by this method. It eliminates any excessive pressure from the spring that may be lifting the front of the loco off of the rails just enough to make tracking difficult.

The other thing is the journals are worn down and the truck no longer rides above the rails, but slide on the tops of the rail instead. This can be fixed by using a larger wheeled axle in the truck, or by repairing the damage to the truck. Lat resort is to replace the truck with one from PSC or even an old Rivarossi truck, with a new axle.

As you know, its difficult to diagnose a problem with a locomotive when you don't have it in front of you to see EXACTLY what the problem is. Everything I've said here can be completely wrong, but it may lead you to the correct solution.

 

[Y3a]

What is derailing on 2200? Pony, engine, front or rear engine trucks?
Front pony. There are no springs attached to it. its free rolling. I checked the gauge and its OK too.

Does it just flip over on its back like an old Ford Explorer to get its belly scratched?
It just derails and causes the front engine to derail with it.

Does it derail at the same point on the layout every time? in a turnout, on a curve, either horizontal or vertical?
Yep. but the other one doesn't. The points and gauge are correct on that too. I even leveled the turnout and removed the super elevation near the turnout. Its all flat around it.

The A I have did the same thing, and it turned out to be a wire that was interfering with the front engine truck's movement.
I'm doing a real close inspection of it today, might even pull off both pony and trailer trucks to see if they were mis installed at the factory (swapped?) . I might even swap it with 2195 to see if that fixes anything.

 

[Y3a]

UPDATE:

I first addressed the decoder issue. BOTH engines have the same settings. I'm thinking it's the motor. I flipped the wiring connector from engine to tender and that seemed to improve its operation some. Couldn't get it to derail. Tried slow, fast, light load, heavy load. Stayed on the track. I must have built my layout in the Twilight Zone.