Changing a Dynamic Brake Resistor Grid on an EMD SD 38-2 Locomotive
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Big Problems: Locomotive won't start after we changed the dynamic
brake resistor grid.... another day on the railroad..... :-)
Check out my other You Tube channel with more cool railroad and
rail fanning videos along with other adventures Dave has:
/ @thatsdavesotherdoings
Video made November 22, 2023
Disclaimer: I am an employee of Iron Senergy at Cumberland
Mine. My job is railroad track maintenance. I am very fortunate to
have this job and everyone at the mine is very fortunate to have
Iron Senergy as it's current owner. Our past owners had every
intention of shutting this mine down, but Iron Senergy took
over and have kept this mine alive.
Please understand: I am NOT in any way an official or unofficial
spokes person for Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine. Any viewpoints,
opinions or anything that I show in the videos, or write in the video
descriptions or any answer to any comment, should NEVER be
misconstrued or interpreted as being in any way shape or form,
any kind of official or unofficial statement from Iron Senergy,
Iron Cumberland, Cumberland Mine, any of the mine's management,
any of the contractors that may be shown in any video, nor of
any of my fellow co-workers.
Any viewpoints or opinions I may make in the videos, in the
descriptions, or in any answer to a comment is strictly that of my
own and NOT an official or unofficial statement or viewpoint that
Iron Synergy or any one at Iron Senergy or Cumberland Mine
necessarily has or makes.
Again, we are very fortunate to have Iron Senergy as our current
owners. Please, when making a comment be respectful of Iron Senergy,
Cumberland Mine, my fellow coworkers and also any contractors
that may be shown. Thank You, Dave
#locomotivedynamicbrake#dynamicbrakelocomotive#locomotivewontstart
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Just another cool thing we'd never get a chance to see without your videos. Wild. Thanks Dave!
Dave, you are amazing! Thank you for the passion and reality you share in this important, but not recognized trade. How blessed are we!
Thank you Brother! Well done!
There is a LOT of energy going through those resistors, as we can see here! Not unexpected considering the size and weight of a train. Super cool showing us this stuff! Thank you very much! For those asking in comments, these resistors are used to soak up the electrical energy produced when the locomotive uses dynamic motor braking. That energy goes into producing heat in the resistor banks, and as you can see here, its a LOT of heat!
And for those that might ask about Dynamic braking, that's when the motors that normally turn the wheels are used as generators instead, which is like putting the brakes on, but without wearing down the wheels and brake pads. All that electricity needs to go somewhere, so these resistors turn it into heat.
You guys are the equivalent of a locomotive pit crew, good to see you guys can evaluate, get parts, install them, and get them running again.
Oh yes, that old one had been pretty hot. Quite a compact unit considering the energy being dissipated through it, so I guess that if ventilation and fans are not in premier condition, then this is the result. Nice repair job though, you do well to keep those old trains running Dave. Hope you have a good day.
Wow ! Crazy damage in that resistance bank ! Thanks , Dave. James.
Nice job on changing the grids out in the field! We used to do it in the shop with overhead cranes and fall protection! Don’t forget to check the grid fans for proper operation or you’ll most likely will be doing again prematurely! 👍
Even thought the EMD SD-38 2 locomotive is 50 years old the burned out grid shows just how hard that engine works day in and day out...
Thank you for showing these details. Excellent content as always. 👍👍👍
Another very cool and interesting video Dave. Enjoyed watching once again and have a great rest of your week. Steve
Thanks Dave for a great video.
You have had your challenges this year. But you have a great crew to get the job done. Thanks for another great video.
Very nice Dave interesting work and resolution
Found the hot spot . That’s at least 14 welders giving a light show , thanks Dave , it’s always something when equipment is involved !
A very interesting video. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for sharing Dave! I hope the rest of the year goes better, you are due for a run of good luck!
Like you said, always something on a RR, glad you got things working Dave. You have an amazing crew. Stay safe out there.
Hats off to the mechanics who turned that engine by hand. The compression ratio is 14:1 or higher. I can't imagine!
With the compression release, it isn't too bad with a bar.
Nice video Dave - Iron Senergy pit crew out doing a fix to get # 1 back out on the track, NASCAR couldn't match the crew working there. Cheers and take care
Dave, so I see you like your toast well done! I guess years of coal dust and electric don't mix real well. Have a great day.
That baby is gonna stop now !!. Good work
I used to run a Letourneau unloading logging trucks and it had dynamic braking as well. Blew a few of the braking grids out, can shoot some pretty good sparks when they blow.
Ahhh, the good old SD-38 and 40 starter abutment issue rears its ugly head at the most inopportune times. If it does it again try rotating the bendix on both starters a quarter or half turn, maybe that will work instead of turning the whole engine over with a bar.
Another informative video, wow I had no idea the forces involved in these things,thanks for sharing / teaching us non railroad folks, super interesting
That's pretty impressive Dave. Do you have any idea what the voltage and peak amperage might be under a hard braking situation?
That cable that feeds them is HUGE! any idea on the cable gauge?
It ain't like ya can 'push a locomotive & dump the clutch to get it going. LOL
Miss your smiling, happy face!
Wow, that was impressive how much that burned up! Is there a way to inspect them after awhile to see if they have worn, or is it a case of you won't know until it happens? Sure appreciate you going to the effort to show us the inside scoop on railroading.
So no returning the burned up remains to recoup the core charge, eh? HAH! I'm going to share this on some Facebook rail groups, if you don't mind, as seeing the guts of a dynamic brake assembly is kind of hard to come by.
Good evening dear. Stay safely blessed
wow..i can imagine the amount of magic smoke that piece was making while melting ..lol...
Hello Dave & it's is Randy and i like yours video is Cool & Thanks Dave & Friends Randy
Interesting.
You know something happened when CCRX uploads. Anyways, nice video CCRX!
I've seen all kinds of burnt resistors in my time, but nothing like that one. Wow.
THANK YOU DAVE.
After 20 years I've never seen our shop guys change one of those. Heard about them doing it, but never saw how it's done. Very interesting 👍
You could go to Radio Shack and get one of those resistors years ago. BTW, tell Corrie that Freddy is not mad at her when he presents his butt to her, he is simply asking her to scratch right in front of his tail. Do that and he will squirm around to get you in the right spot with your scratching.
If you lose one bank of resistors, are the other ones going to be enough to stop it? Does the engine also have regular wheel brakes?
Ironic that you can still have/find spare diesel parts for replacement 55 years later, but for a steam locomotive you'd be lucky to find them 30-years later after a production run.
when the -2 series came out, it set a standard for reliability that is still proving itself to this day.
Didn't realize those were in there.
Nicely explained Dave from a different Randy in NY
WOW that resistor got a little crispy!
Two words come to mind in looking at the thing ... "Extra Crispy!" But considering the number of hours per work day or week that you put on these locomotives, you probably have to repair or replace major components on par with Class One roads.
So what caused the resistor to fail? A mechanical failure causing something to touch (based on the entire bottom being vaporized instead of the single spot). Any idea what the resistance and wattage values of the resistor? Just curious since I'm an electrical engineer.
Interesting.
I didn’t know about the Boise locomotive works that modified one of your locomotives.
They closed a couple years ago.
Yup, shes gone.. ya that coal don't help
Looks like a giant heat sink assembly.
I bet that was impressive to see as it was failing!
What caused it to burn up? Was there a fan failure, did the coal around it cause the hot spots, or are these resistor grids consumable units that are only good for so long?
Love you Dave just watch the resistance on the grids they not the same . put one in the wrong place and heat builds up and braking doesn't work to well.
Noob questions - what are the plates made of, how thick? Replaced periodically or just when they fail?
Does your company also mine iron ore? Just curious about the name on the locomotive.
Looks like someone left the popcorn cooking on the resistor too long. lessings
As an electronics guy.....was wondering what kind of resistive material is used ???
I would be curious to know how many watts and ohms these resistors are rated for as they absorb the energy these traction motors create during dynamic braking. I guess it’s similar to regenerative braking in hybrid cars except the power is going back into the battery to charge it instead of being dissipated in the resistors. They must take a lot of punishment when slowing down a heavy train.
Did you say "hard to keep the coal away from it"? You guys should swap those Diesels for steam locos! And I know where you can get some coal at a cheap price!
Can another loco hooked up not start another? What are the additional connections that get hooked up to join 2 locomotives?
Overloaded trains with hard dynamic braking 😮
Dave how come your company doesn't buy another train for a back up? Are used locomotives expensive?
I'm being lazy and not doing the research, so with the throttle settings does the locomotives alternator very the voltage and the current?
Thus the dynamic braking load resistors see a different voltage and current level depending on the down hill grade.
Too bad you can't charge your gondola car batteries instead of burning it off in heat.
Like to know what the amp meter pegged out at before the circuit broke
🚂💨⚡️⚡️✨️🔥✨️
Wow. Is that a result of what they call ''driver abuse'' ?? Lol
So, is the damage the end result of a hard life of heating and cooling and dealing with dust and debris building upon the resistor grid? I have seen many oven elements that gave up the fight, but went out in a blaze of sparks and burning from the weak point further along the element while power was still applied. Have to believe that electrical elements and resistors can only deal with so much outside interference, in the case of an electric range oven, from splatter from the food being cooked and dripping down on the lower element.
what makes them burn up like that
Dave why didn't you get behind that engine and push start it? Guess you couldn't get the guys to dump the couch for you!
I've tried and tried to teach these guys how to catch a locomotive
in gear Jughead, but they just won't listen...... Help you get these
days.... :-) Really appreciate your watching my friend and may
you have a very good day.
Electric brakes..Heat is work is energy. Traditional friction brakes convert the kinetic energy (1/2 mass × speed²) into heat and brake wear.
Diesel electric locomotives turn the electric motors into generators when dynamic braking is needed, converting kinetic energy into electricity. These resistors turn the electric energy into heat without wearing brake shoes.
Electric vehicles do the same, extending range.
What does that do
Hey man ya gotta tell people what's goin' on, it just looks like a melted chunk of metal, I'm guessing something arced out? I don't know though I don't know trains "You" know trains...
Ridden hard and put away melted.
What a mess is right. Fussing is wrong size. Cold weather. Will kill a lot of electronics. Have to keep current on the circuit. Moltant aluminum. Is not good. Best of luck. Stick with it. Later.
Looks like a giant rat chewed through that!
Second the motion of @miken8rbiradio220 by simply aaying...not trying to downplay anything or nothing like that but that old part looked disgusting. LOL! Wow. What a mess. Spooky.