Volts/Amps that "won't" burn up a can motor?

[gunrunnerjohn]

The motor in that 8632is pretty small, and isn't designed to pull more than a few cars.  I have pulled 25 cars with my dual motored Legacy Conrail Dash-8 and it didn't seem to even break a sweat.

[sir james I]

Take the washers out....It is a train set engine and not designed for heavy loads. All your going to do is burn out the motor or reverse board. Maybe both.

For not too much money you can find a 6 driver engine that will do a good job.

[rtraincollector]

If your having problem with it there must be a problem 1 to much of a load, 2 something internal ( motor(s), gears, ect ) you don't need to try and do what I did a couple years back I bought an engine at auction and hooked it up to a test track about 3' long and put elcheapo transformer to the track which should of been fine but the engine tried to go then stop took off track wheels where free running so I said well it wants to go lets hook up the zw well when I gave it the gas this time it ran but it shot a flame about 3" out the stack ( IE the smoke unit was shorting out thats why it would start then stop)

[wallyworld]

Does the engine already have traction tires? How many cars are you trying to pull? Regardless of the flow and voltage, it would seem the engine has a finite amount of pull in regard to the motor size and increasing power may overcome the capacity of it's internal wiring and components. I would not weight the engine to that extent as it is fighting it's own weight before pulling any cars, which compounds the issue. I would also look at the motor bearings gear drive etc for jelled lubrication, a thorough cleaning and re lubrication of same. If it is frozen in place due to drag or bound gearing to some extent, adding more juice will fry it, it would seem.

[lionelsoni]

I can't tell you what they can stand; but the important measurement is the current, which is directly related to how much heat is produced.  Voltage, on the other hand, has a large component due just to the motor speed, which is harmless.

[Boyd]

I have a 2" long stack of washers sitting sideways in the cab of my Lionel 8632 4-4-2 for traction. The last time I pulled a long train with it I could smell the motor burning some. I probably have too many washers/weight in the cab. I got to thinking there must be a volts and amp threshold that these Lionel can motors can safely handle and not shorten their lifespan. Anyone know how much that is?