Ready to test
The following is the testing procedure I used:
1. Check all the batteries are fully charged, switch on and check that the fans rotate, the receiver light comes on and the servo arm twitches.
2. Turn on the transmitter. Adjust the servo so that the arm is centred, and that the wires on the reverser wiper are still sitting within the copperless strip and are not touching either of the pads.
3. Check that the engine throttle is in the idle position adjusting the link to the servo arm if necessary.
4. Move the throttle joystick full forward, then backward, and check that the wires of the wiper arms easily move on to the pads and maintain contact with the pads as they move across. If the wiper has difficulty moving onto the pads, there may be a step between the copperless strip and the pads, so gently sand the edge so that the step becomes a slope. If the movement of the wiper across the pads is jerky, try slacking off the screw retaining the servo arm to the servo spindle by a quarter turn or so to allow the wires a bit of vertical movement. If you have to slacken the screw so much that the arm becomes loose, you will need to carefully sand a bit off the wires so they are not so long.
5. Take a fresh glowplug and test with a glowplug starter that it glows bright cherry red before screwing it into the cylinder head (do not reconnect the glowplug starter at this point), then put some fuel in the tank.
6. Use your thumb to seal the carburettor air intake then turn the engine over using the pull start or roto-starter, so that fuel is pulled through the fuel line and into the carb. Allow some fuel to go through the carb into the crankcase, but not so much that the engine floods.
7. Now the moment of truth – put the loco on some blocks in a well-ventilated area, or outside, then connect the glowplug starter to the glowplug and try to start the engine. If you are lucky the engine will start first time but don’t worry if it doesn’t. Disconnect the glowplug starter, repeat step 6, reconnect the starter and try again, repeating until it starts. If you are still having difficulty and the weather is cold, try warming the engine with a hair dryer and try again. Always take care not to flood the engine, if the engine doesn’t turn, don’t force it, remove the glowplug and turn the engine over a few times to clear the excess fuel before resuming.
8. With the engine running, move the throttle joystick to increase the engine revs and to move the wiper onto one of the pads, you should see the loco wheels turn with increasing speed as the revs increase, return the joystick back to neutral and the wheels should slow to a halt. If not, check that the wiper wire has moved off of the pad and, if it hasn’t, either adjust the servo position or slightly increase the width of the copperless strip.
9. Repeat step 8, moving the joystick in the opposite direction and you should see the wheels turn in the opposite direction.
10. With the test complete, stop the engine by either temporarily blocking the exhaust stack with a piece of rag/paper towel wrapped around your finger so the engine stalls, or pinch the fuel line to stop the flow of fuel.
11. Put the loco on some track, fire it up (as the engine is warm it should start much quicker) and watch it run up and down. If you want to change the direction the joystick is moved to get the loco to travel in a certain direction, use the joystick reversing option that most transmitters have.
12. Stop the engine, leave the fans running for a minute or so before switching off and then treat yourself to a large celebratory beverage for a job well done!