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Post by petehuse on Sept 24, 2019 14:00:32 GMT -8
This was a new one for me! Recently bought a new Genesis GP-9, Great Northern, from my LHS. This a DCC-ready, non-sound version. When I did a test drive on my layout, it ran the opposite direction of my other engines! Obviously an incorrect internal wiring, but how can that happen? Perhaps a simple dip-switch or something? Before I dig into it, I plan on returning it to my local store and having them check it out.
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Post by tom on Sept 24, 2019 14:21:45 GMT -8
What is the front on this GP9? The Great Northern considered the the long hood the front of the locomotive. Since it is DCC the direction can be changed by changing a CV setting (which I did not search for the answer).
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Post by cemr5396 on Sept 24, 2019 15:23:29 GMT -8
What is the front on this GP9? The Great Northern considered the the long hood the front of the locomotive. ^This right here. I would bet all of OP's other locos run short hood forward. Hence the confusion. |
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Post by NS4122 on Sept 24, 2019 15:29:21 GMT -8
If it is in fact going opposite of what it is supposed to and it is DC only, there will be no dip switch or CV to change the direction. You would have to remove the shell and swap the two wires to the motor on the the circuit board located above the motor. Wires are held on by black plastic clips. Just remove the clips swap the wires and replace the clips. Typically the motor wires are black and red, with the red wire going to the M+ connection on the board and the black to M-.
I'd be willing to bet though that it is wired correctly and your other units are wired differently.
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Post by brakie on Sept 24, 2019 18:29:56 GMT -8
A DCC ready engine should run in the direction of the direction switch is set on the power pack regardless which is classified as the front since its operating as a DC locomotive.. I agree that the engine should be returned for replacement, repair or full refund.
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chet6
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Post by chet6 on Sept 24, 2019 18:47:07 GMT -8
Is the bell on the back of the long hood? I have a GT GP9 and the long hoods the front.
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Post by bdhicks on Sept 24, 2019 19:57:11 GMT -8
I'd guess the motor leads got swapped, either by accident or purposefully to make it run long-hood forward by default in DCC. If it was an intentional swap, then they should've also swapped the truck leads in order to make it still work properly in DC.
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Post by jonklein611 on Sept 25, 2019 2:49:59 GMT -8
A DCC ready engine should run in the direction of the direction switch is set on the power pack regardless which is classified as the front since its operating as a DC locomotive.. I agree that the engine should be returned for replacement, repair or full refund. Wouldn't that also be dependent on which rail you connected the + and -? |
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Post by riogrande on Sept 25, 2019 2:59:18 GMT -8
A DCC ready engine should run in the direction of the direction switch is set on the power pack regardless which is classified as the front since its operating as a DC locomotive.. I agree that the engine should be returned for replacement, repair or full refund. Wouldn't that also be dependent on which rail you connected the + and -? Sure, and maybe I'm wrong, but the OP is probably saying the engine is backwards compared to the others he has. |
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Post by jonklein611 on Sept 25, 2019 3:42:12 GMT -8
There's also the possibility of the motor installed backwards / upside down, which would change the default direction.
Simple fix is to switch the motor leads.
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Post by petehuse on Sept 25, 2019 7:02:39 GMT -8
So I only run in DC mode, and therefore there is no way I could have caused this to happen, and I have not opened up the engine for any reason (yet). All my other engines are also DC-only. Obviously it does not matter which way I run it (long or short forward). The engine did not appear to have been opened prior to my purchase either. I got out of the habit of having it test run at the LHS, but perhaps I should in the future. However, unless you run 2 engines simultaneously, not sure it would have been apparent that it was running backward.
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Post by sd80mac on Sept 25, 2019 7:56:20 GMT -8
Is the long hood end designated as the front? Athearn is pretty good about correctly orienting their models per the prototype.
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Post by grahamline on Sept 25, 2019 9:59:38 GMT -8
Not real familiar with GN, but Burlington Northern had several Geeps in my area on which the long hood was designated as the front with a stenciled "F" on the frame near the steps. I am not sure when the stenciling became mandatory. Athearn has tended to get these details correct.
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Post by bnsf971 on Sept 25, 2019 13:14:44 GMT -8
In straight DC, it doesn’t matter which is the front. The engine should travel in the same direction as all the other engines. Swap the motor leads, and all should be good— as long as the lights light correctly afterward.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 25, 2019 14:50:45 GMT -8
The bell is mounted on the end of the long hood. I'll bet the other guys here are correct. It's wired to run as the prototype...long hood forward. Does it have a small letter "F" near the steps at the long hood end?
If you want to change it...as others have suggested...just change the red and black wires from the engine.
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Post by cp6027 on Sept 25, 2019 17:23:30 GMT -8
The bell is mounted on the end of the long hood. I'll bet the other guys here are correct. It's wired to run as the prototype...long hood forward. Does it have a small letter "F" near the steps at the long hood end? If you want to change it...as others have suggested...just change the red and black wires from the engine. Except that's not how DC works. As others have said above, in DC, when the direction switch is set one way, all of the locomotives will travel in the same direction around the layout (i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise on a simple loop) regardless of their orientation on the layout or which end is the front or back. If you have a DC locomotive that is running clockwise and pick it up, rotate it 180 degrees, and set it back on the tracks so it is facing the opposite direction, it will still travel clockwise if you don't flip the direction switch on the power pack. This way you can run two powered DC locomotives back-to-back in a consist and they will both travel in the same clockwise direction even though one is going "forwards" and one is going "backwards" for the same power pack direction switch setting. If a locomotive runs opposite the others, it will never m.u. with anything regardless of which end is the front or back or which orientation it is facing on the layout relative to the other locomotives. |
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Post by brakie on Sept 26, 2019 2:34:12 GMT -8
A DCC ready engine should run in the direction of the direction switch is set on the power pack regardless which is classified as the front since its operating as a DC locomotive.. I agree that the engine should be returned for replacement, repair or full refund. Wouldn't that also be dependent on which rail you connected the + and -? Absolutely -please don't ask how I know that.  Every engine I had ran opposite of the direction on my MRC "Golden Throttle Pack" I bought in the early 60s for my first switching layout. |
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Post by Deleted on Sept 26, 2019 5:21:57 GMT -8
The bell is mounted on the end of the long hood. I'll bet the other guys here are correct. It's wired to run as the prototype...long hood forward. Does it have a small letter "F" near the steps at the long hood end? If you want to change it...as others have suggested...just change the red and black wires from the engine. Except that's not how DC works. As others have said above, in DC, when the direction switch is set one way, all of the locomotives will travel in the same direction around the layout (i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise on a simple loop) regardless of their orientation on the layout or which end is the front or back. If you have a DC locomotive that is running clockwise and pick it up, rotate it 180 degrees, and set it back on the tracks so it is facing the opposite direction, it will still travel clockwise if you don't flip the direction switch on the power pack. This way you can run two powered DC locomotives back-to-back in a consist and they will both travel in the same clockwise direction even though one is going "forwards" and one is going "backwards" for the same power pack direction switch setting. If a locomotive runs opposite the others, it will never m.u. with anything regardless of which end is the front or back or which orientation it is facing on the layout relative to the other locomotives. Yes. And, that's why the motor positive and negative should be switched. |
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Post by brakie on Sept 26, 2019 11:29:52 GMT -8
Tom, I agree. I fully believe the wires are backwards as far as positive and negative and needs switch..
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Post by llxlocomotives on Sept 27, 2019 13:54:44 GMT -8
Probably an factory mistake. However, you can easily remove that shell without a trace. I would guess that one of the leads came off Somehow and was put back backwards. This has nothing to do with which end you want to be toward. If wired correctly, then with the red lead on the closet rail to you and the black lead on the back rail(+ &-) then the forward direction will always be left to right. Turn the engine around and it still will run left to right. Switching the motor leads will cause it to run right to left.
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Post by bdhicks on Sept 27, 2019 19:12:17 GMT -8
I don't know if it was ever mentioned if the directional lighting matched the movement of the locomotive or not. If it's just the motor wires then I'd expect the lights to be the opposite of the movement.
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Post by steveturner on Sept 27, 2019 21:59:02 GMT -8
Think we are going around in circles here.Long hood forward. So unless Athearn made them all short cab forward in forward on the control the long hood should move forward GN. Wondering how the original poster came to conclusion it was moving in wrong direction...? One would assume all these units wired the same one is not going tobe different. So if in fact it does not run forward with the log hood front one would yes change motor wires around...I hope that does not mess up the lights???.If DCC it would be an easy fix but if Dc then it might be an exercise.Steve
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Post by brakie on Sept 28, 2019 1:51:37 GMT -8
Steve,if the motor wires are backwards maybe the lights are to?
As far as I'm concerned its another Genesis boo-boo. I base that on having to rebuild my Genesis SCL GP9 from the frame up, Kato motor and new sound board. I already added LED lights.
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johns
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Post by johns on Sept 28, 2019 15:10:38 GMT -8
If only the OP would reply as to the position of the "F" on the sideframe an answer would be obvious.
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johns
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Post by johns on Sept 28, 2019 15:16:09 GMT -8
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johns
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Post by johns on Sept 28, 2019 17:03:42 GMT -8
Your original statement that your loco runs in the opposite direction is confusing. Will your GN and another loco on the same track run toward and away from each other as the direction switch is changed? If so, you DO have a wiring problem. If they go the same way, you're OK.
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Post by brakie on Sept 28, 2019 19:00:23 GMT -8
If only the OP would reply as to the position of the "F" on the sideframe an answer would be obvious. His locomotive is DCC ready so,in all its fancy detail dress its a DC locomotive so,it should run in the direction the direction switch on the power pack is set. All of my DCC ready engines run just like any of my straight DC engines as does my DCC engines operating on DC.. |
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Post by llxlocomotives on Sept 29, 2019 7:50:20 GMT -8
Two ways this can occur. The red and black wires connections are switched or the orange & grey wire connections are switched. I would guess that this is a returned engine that was improperly repaired. This is an easy fix. I would just reverse the wires and enjoy the engine. If the lights are wrong, it is the orange and grey. If they are right, the problem is with the red and black.
Larry
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Post by Colin 't Hart on Sept 29, 2019 12:23:08 GMT -8
DC. Not DCC.
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Post by petehuse on Sept 30, 2019 8:02:24 GMT -8
So to resolve this I went to my LHS Friday and the store employee was able to rewire the engine, and of course the lights were then opposite of motion, so the lights had to be reversed too. He seemed surprised I wanted to do this. However, he demonstrated what I saw at home on my layout that other DC engines ran opposite - and to clarify I mean this engine ran towards or away from another DC engine on the same track depending on the "direction" button on the powerpack. Obviously I couldnt run more than one engine together so I needed it reversed. I just dont understand why this would be intentional - sure it showed the "F" on the long end, but on a DC layout you just flip the engine around on the track to make whichever end you want to go "forward" compared to other engines on a multi-engine setup. We did not open another GN GP9 engine to see if it was the same or a fluke.
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Every engine I had ran opposite of the direction on my MRC "Golden Throttle Pack" I bought in the early 60s for my first switching layout. 
