# What have I done?



## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

I am new to DCC and mostly self taught.

I have one DCC steam engine and a dozen DC engines.

I was running the DCC trying to work out the kinks in one area of my trackwork, and I inadvertently had DCC hooked up to a siding with my DC Rivarossi 2-8-8-2 on it. I guess that is what happened.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a little puff of black smoke come from the Rivarossi. It could not have been hooked to DCC for more than a couple of minutes.

Now, the DC Rivarossi motor will not turn over. The head light and the tender light come on when DC power is applied, but the motor is dead.

Any ideas?

And, thanks in advance.

Bill


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## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

I think you burned the motor up.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

probably either the armature was burned out, if you got lucky it may just be the brushes ..
see if it will physically turn readily .. you can then hook an ohmmeter to the brush leads [ disconnect from lights, etc..] and you should get a relatively low reading as you turn the armature by hand.. an open [high reading] usually means part of the winding is open, or burnt open ... if its one of the old open frame motors, they are surprisingly tough... leaving it on dcc power is the effective equivalent of rapidly reversing a dc supply under full power, tough on a dc motor.. some just whine, others just let the magic smoke out..


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## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

Feeling sad.

It was a keeper. I don't know if it can be repaired.

Bill


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I certainly understand the "feeling sad". It is a bummer. Yes it can be repaired.
The worst would be you need to replace the motor. It is time for you to learn
how to take that puppy apart, and do a visual inspection. I doubt it, but maybe
just a wire burned in half. If it is an old AHM rivarossi I would replace the motor
with a different brand of motor. If it is a red box I would try to find a rivarossi
motor. This might be a blessing in disguise, now would be a good time to convert
it to DCC. You would have to take it apart anyway for DCC. I have maybe five
rivarossis and all are keepers. I have 2 bigboys, one is AHM and one is red box.
The AHM one does not run that smooth and the motor gets pretty warm. The motor on the AHM will get replaced when I convert it to DCC. I bet you won't do this again.
Good luck. It will run again !!!


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## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

Where would the brushes on a Rivarossi be if I wanted to check?

I have worked on Athearns.

Bill


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Bill

You are a victim of what we say often, never permit a DC loco
to sit idle on a DCC track. DCC is a modified AC, thus the
polarity is reversing at 60 cycles per sec. The DC motor is trying
to go this way, then that way and soon overheats and
goes poof.

A replacement motor should be available.

Other DCC guys take note. Keep those DC locos on the
shelf.

Don


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## Mister Bill (Jan 30, 2014)

Replacement motor located, ordered, received, installed, running like a top.

Lesson learned!

Bill


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