Correct break-in Time on new engines ????

[Anonymous]

Whats the correct break in time for new engines ?? Anyone want to tackle this one??

[Bob Keller]

It varies from locomotive to locomotive.

Many take just the time needed to work the grease and oil in. Maybe an hour or less. Others take more time. I look for a steady smooth run (no jerks or irregular speed), an engine hitting the same point at the same time when doing laps, noise over time (less), etc. I've tested a few that took mere minutes, others that took three or four hours.

And no, it isn't certain brands, it is often the individual model or piece.

[Anonymous]

as it just turns out i broke one in today.

while the boss is in chicago trying to borrow money from gangsters, i brought my train to work today and set it up on the floor of the office.

i bought a locomotive on ebay, and tested it today. it was new 35 years ago, and it turned out to be still new (you got to love those collectors).

at first the light came on, and as voltage increased it moved forward and stalled. had to give it a bit of a push, and it was in motion again. it seemed erratic for about a minute and began to smooth out. the gear noise is the loudest i've heard on this particular engine. after about an hour the gear noise has subsided and the thing is running smoothly. another hour, and it's just about there. now i suppose i'll have to run it backwards for a couple of hours to poli***he other side of the gears.

seems that it takes about two hours per direction.

-rrick

[Anonymous]

I've found that many newer locomotives need almost no run-in time at all. Most are built to more precise tolerances than was possible back in the earlier years, and most seem to perform pretty darn well right out of the box (assumng they run at all, of course). Nevertheless, I'm pretty careful about giving every new engine a decent period of initial running (an hour or so) at various speeds and in both directions, just to make certain that lubrication is distributed evently and that all gears mesh properly.

Now, if I was to buy a "new" old locomotive--like the 35-year-old model mentioned in a post above--the very first thing I would do, before ever running it, is clean out all the old lubrication and then apply new lubricants. Proper lubrication is, in my opinion, an absolutely essential first-step, particularly in the case of older items that have never been used or used items that have been stored for a long time.

[tmcc man]

It does vary, my engine from Lionel I got last Christmas broke in in about 30 mins. It iis the LV C420

[Anonymous]

As long as it takes for the warrenty to run out, plus 1 day.[:D]

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the good info, as usual you guys are a wealth of information..Tim