# Brand New Athearn EMD F45 not working



## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

This is my first Loco.

After setting up a simple loop with Kato Unitrack, DCC power with a new NCE Power Cab.... My brand new Athearn EMD F45 was working great. After a few short (1-2 mins) runs, over 3-4 days, the loco started acting funny. It would not power up, but then I would re-power on the Power Cab and off it went just fine. 

I started to think it either the track or my connections. But those are fine. Now the loco will not power on at all. 

I'm looking for any suggestions for troubleshooting. 

Thank you in advance for the help.


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## daveh219 (Sep 16, 2012)

Kid...it's been a while since I messed with DCC but I'm thinking you might reset it and see what happens...

Good luck...


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## MarkVIIIMarc (Oct 19, 2012)

Don't do this until others say ok. I'd hate to fry a DCC board.

With the shell off is it safe to take a digital multi-meter to a DCC locomotive and see how far the power makes it?

I would have an urge to check for continuity between different parts of the assembly. Track to pick ups, pick ups to motor or whatever.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Don't touch it! Send it straight back to your supplier stating the problem, sounds like it's faulty so they should replace it.


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## Ike8120 (Mar 5, 2016)

Try to reset the decoder, if that doesn't work since it brand new I would send it back to mfg. or place where you bought it.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

You really need to do a decoder reset before you go to all the trouble of sending
it in. Resets take care of about 80% of problems. Seems you should have reset
instructions but if not try setting CV8 to a value of 8. Bet that takes care of it.

I don't know what address your loco is set to. Might still be on 03. It might have lost its address
so make sure you try it on address 03 also if you have changed it.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

What do you see the loco lights doing when you
have the problem?

Have you tried cleaning the wheels and wiping
the rail tops with alcohol? It is not unusual for a new loco
to have goop on the wheels from the manufacturing
processes.

Don


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## powersteamguy1790 (Mar 26, 2012)

Reset the decoder to factory defaults. I have several of these Athearn EMD F45's.

CV8=8


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## 3.8TransAM (Jan 13, 2016)

Send back crap products.

They want your money their crap needs to work.

Or ship it to me, when I take a couple of Genesis to Des Plains I'll add yours to the lot I am going to throw thru their windows one at a time.

Make them eat their damn problem.

Athearn needs to seriously up its game.

They went from one of the most reliable in the industry to the most problematic "top of the line" out of the box.


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## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

Looks like the Reset did not work. Please see the attached photo.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

Looks like a bad connection. Sometimes with these split chassis the decoder board fails to make proper contact with each side so just return it.


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## silver69 (Dec 20, 2013)

+1 what Cyclopes said.
It sounds like the decoder does not have good contact.


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## SantaFeKid1 (May 1, 2016)

*All fixed.*

I took the chance and opened the loco. The circuit board was loose. I pushed it back in and ...... it runs like a champ. 

Thank you all for your feedback.


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## Cycleops (Dec 6, 2014)

That's great. If it was loose might be a good idea to tighten up the chassis halves, if it is a split chassis type.


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## fredbon (Mar 4, 2016)

I don't hesitate sending a defective product back to the seller. In by short N Scale career (9 months) I have returned two top of the line loco to the seller, and another to the manufacturer.

Actually a terrible record, since I have purchased only 4 locos of that specific brand.

Fred


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