A little more info on the loco failure a few weeks ago. Turns out faulty maintenance played a part!!!
The P-42 has only one generator, while the 40's have a main and aux generator. On the 42, there are 3 outputs from the one unit. The 40 has 2 ouputs from the main and one from the aux.
Anyway, during the maintenance phase, the brushes were replaced in the 42's generator. They were installed improperly, with no spring tension on the brushes. This allowed them to float in the brushholders, wear more quickly and eventually start arcing, overheating and fragmenting into little pieces. Fortunately, they were able to stone the armature and replace the brushes, instead of replacing a generator. It did wipe out the Aux computer from a high voltage spike to a sensor. Still a pretty expensive repair! B)
The P-42 has only one generator, while the 40's have a main and aux generator. On the 42, there are 3 outputs from the one unit. The 40 has 2 ouputs from the main and one from the aux.
Anyway, during the maintenance phase, the brushes were replaced in the 42's generator. They were installed improperly, with no spring tension on the brushes. This allowed them to float in the brushholders, wear more quickly and eventually start arcing, overheating and fragmenting into little pieces. Fortunately, they were able to stone the armature and replace the brushes, instead of replacing a generator. It did wipe out the Aux computer from a high voltage spike to a sensor. Still a pretty expensive repair! B)
