E-8's Chirp

[Roger Bielen]

I have a pair of K-line Burlington E-8 A-A's, the Super Store only set from a few years back, that one of the units has started chirping when run in one direction. It's the unit without the speaker. I occasionally change which unit is the lead to try to keep some even wear in the gearing.

I tried the usual fixes, greased the gears, put a drop of oil at the motor shaft ends, both on the truck and under the flywheel and disconnected the fans just in case they were the source. It doesn't appear the flywheels are rubbing, the chirp is from both motors.

Any suggestions?

[wrmcclellan]

Roger,

How often does it chirp?

If you can figure out whether the chirp is once a revolution of the drive wheels, or a bit faster for an idler gear, or really fast due to flywheels (although you have already rulled out the flywheels) will help you home in on where the chirp originates. Try running the unit slowly on a bench with the shell off.

I have some locos (also diesels) where the rear of the drive wheels (flat surface) will rub on the truck frame. This meant applying a bit of white lithium grease to the rear (back) surface of the drive wheels. I have also had the same thing happen on some steam loco tenders.

Regards,
Roy