0-4-0 Aristo Steam switcher

[ghelman]

Thanks Byron. I did order my parts from Aristo. No freebees but service was good once I sent the request to the right address. Their forms list an old address. Rewiring the tender is probably the biggest improvement that I have made. I wouldn't have one of these 0-4-0 now without that mod.

[EMPIRE II LINE]

 

Here's an update RustyG,

Aristo folks are great, they just sent me another #6 replacement switch, second one, they also just rebuilt totally both drive assemblies for my GN Mallet, as well as two SD-45 drive units and replaced two others with complete new units, also have sent me at least 3 of the micro switches for the #6 switches, and anytime I call them they are always willing to answer any questions.

And how much do you think it cost me---0----Nada....they even paid most of the shipping.

So as I say give'em a call, an explain your problem.....

Byron

[CandCRR]

A couple of years ago my 040 just stopped as it was going around the Xmas tree.  I sent it to Aristo asking for them to look at it and let me know how much it would cost to fix.  About two weeks later I got it back.  It looked like it had new wheels and motor. The next day I got a letter from them telling me they were fixing it at no cost. I learned it pays to go to the source. As Byron said it can't hurt dropping them a line.

 

[EMPIRE II LINE]

Anyone have ideas on how to get this little locomotive to run better? The wheels just don't seem to have enough contact to keep it running without a lot of jerking or not at all. I have cleaned the wheels lubricated everything and nothing seems to work.

 

Thanks 

Yo Rusty,

No one asked ya yet, did you buy that loco new or used, either way, call Navin at Aristo, explain your problem, those folks are really good at helping to solve any problems long as you contact them, an than ship it to them .

Who knows, call'em anyway and see if they will send you a replacement motor, always good to have spare parts....

Byron  

[ghelman]

Yahoo! It runs again. After a new motor and wheels. I also wired the tender as suggested and it is running great. I did find that a servo extension wire used in RC airplanes worked great as a hook up between the tender and locomotive. It is a three wire connection but just don't use one of them. It has been a good couple of week for my maintenance crew. Rebuilt two locomotives and finished building another. 

[Tom The Brat]

I wanted a stronger loco that could handle tight curves. I've been very pleased with my Bachmann Anniversary Edition. The 0-4-0's do switching now.

[Anonymous]

Hmmmm....I'm hauling nine cars behind my 0-4-0 and its tender.  I haven't run it more than 10 or 15 minutes at a time though.  Time will tell, I guess.

[Tom The Brat]

Ooh! Either you cooked the motor or something jammed up the works. Either way, it's not hard to repair. This loco is very simple. The usual symptom of a cooked motor is it looses all its torque. Then it gets a dead spot and won't start without a nudge. Perhaps one of your wires caught in the gears?

You can get the 0-4-0 motor for $12-$15. Look for ART29360. Wholesaletrains.com has them for $9. If you're handy with a screw driver and soldering iron, it's a 1/2 hour repair job. When you take old motor out, there's a dot by one of the terminals. Be sure you put the new one in with the dot on the same side or your loco will run backwards. Of course, if you want it to run backwards, just turn the motor over before you solder the wires on. A fresh motor can spin the wheels and haul trees, but they can get overheated inside there and once cooked, they don't have any torque. I think the magnets get over heated and loose their oomph. Navin (Who has just had a baby girl.) put some vent holes in one of mine, but it doesn't seem to have helped any.

Watch the length of train you pull. I find an 0-4-0 can pull 2 sierra coaches all day long, but 3 will cook the motor after a couple hours. Flat layout, 5ft diameter curves. Navin told me "tender, car and caboose. No more!" Then, I went back and watched one hauling 24 freight cars around and around the Kenosha club's show layout.

I asked the owner, "Did you change this loco?"

"No," he said. "It's really old and I've never had to monkey with it."

[kimbrit]

They're a standard wheelset George that replaces all of the major manufacturers axles and they are, as said, very easy to connect.

Kim

 

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df08b3127cce97722249c8fd00000016108QbM2jJyxcO

[bman36]

Hey there,

Sorry to hear about your loco. Let us know how you make out. Later eh...Brian.

 

[ghelman]

I am getting somewhat frustarted now. Last night I wired the locomotive through the tender as described on the Aristo site. All went well. It ran really smooth and I thought I had corrected the problem. But, after about 5 minutes of running it came to a stop. I believe the motor may have burned up. It will not turn over now. Kim, I didn't know that LGB had wheels for this locomotive. Thanks for the suggestion, I will look to find them. Along with a new motor I suppose. Or, this may become a museum piece. 

[Tom The Brat]

Aristo also has nice ball bearing wheelsets with connectors for wires.

[kimbrit]

Reccomend the LGB replacement wheelset for electrical pickup, ball bearing and very easy to connect up with the supplied connectors.

Cheers,

Kim

[ghelman]

Thanks Torby, Brian. I will give the tender wiring idea ago.

[Tom The Brat]

Go to the http://www.aristocraft.com and click "Articles and Photos"

With only 4 pickups, these are sensative to dirty track and wheels. Also, it's easy in a derailment to slip a tooth so one axel is ahead of the other. This makes it waddle down the track. Run it till one rod is all the way down, turn it over and look closely at the spokes. It's easy to see if one is ahead of the other. Then take the cover off the bottom and advance or retard the hind axel a tooth.

[ghelman]

Brian, I have looked on the Aristo site, but, cannot find the article you referneced. Do you have a link to the article.

Thanks

[bman36]

Hi there,

The older 0-4-0 used to only use the loco drivers for pickup. Aristo has a tech area on their forum . It has an article on how to convert the wiring to pickup up from the tender wheels as well. That is if your loco has a tender. In the process of repainting mine, so I will wire accordingly. Mine never ran that well either. Later eh...Brian.

 

[kimbrit]

Also check the side rods for binding, my mallet was the same and after checking everything electrical it turned out to be mechanical, eased off the pivoting bolts and it ran great.

Kim

[graham wilko]

Rusty G

I had the same problem and the way I fixed it was to place two small shims under the plate on the front axle, this allowed the front axle to swivel more easily. I also added 5 ozs of weight to the boiler and it tracks better with no jerks.

Graham wilko

[Anonymous]

I got my 0-4-0 switcher in August and it ran flawlessly right out of the box..I had some jerkiness when I set up my first outdoor layout but that disappeared after screwing down all the rail joiners.  Clear sailing since.  (bad metaphor) 

 

By the way all, long time lurker here.  I've been active on the Aristo site but decided to jump in here after e-mailing with Torby for a while about his Bachmann Annie.  I'm a retired LEO and got hooked after my son got me a starter set for my birthday.  Many dollars later, I'm hooked.  Seems like a nice crowd here.

[RR Redneck]

Do what I do, buy a loop of track that is the size that your biggest loco you plan to buy is rated for and break in all your new locomotives on that.

[ghelman]

Anyone have ideas on how to get this little locomotive to run better? The wheels just don't seem to have enough contact to keep it running without a lot of jerking or not at all. I have cleaned the wheels lubricated everything and nothing seems to work.

 

Thanks