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Bowser turntable help

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  • Member since
    January 2011
  • From: NS(ex PRR) Mon Line.
  • 1,395 posts
Bowser turntable help
Posted by Jimmy_Braum on Friday, October 6, 2017 10:12 PM

Club has an OLD bowser 18" turntable. We are having a problem with it.   its not spinning. 

  We have applied power, and the motor we are using is functioning, and it's getting a current to the toggle switch.  The gear on the driveshaft is actually spinning on the shaft.  dows anyone have any suggestions to remedy this? We tried to epoxy the worm gear onto the shaft to. 

(My Model Railroad, My Rules) 

These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway.  As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).  

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Reading, PA
  • 30,002 posts
Posted by rrinker on Friday, October 6, 2017 10:50 PM

 The epoxy should work. If the gear is that loose, you should be able to pull it easily enough, and the clean the motor shaft, and rough it up a bit with some sandpaper, and also clean out the hole in the gear (alcohol on a cotton swab) to get any old grease and oil off. The the epoxy should be able to make a good bond between the motor shaft and gear. If it just spins even though you already tried epoxy, it's probably because the epoxy didn;t adhere to one of the surfaces, most likely from old grease and oil.

                                 --Randy

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, October 6, 2017 11:31 PM

I have a Bowser 16 inch turntable. I built my own drive using a rubber wheel and a gear head reduction motor.

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Are you using an OLD original Bowser drive? Does it engage on the wooden disc to turn the table? If so, it was easy to build a new drive using modern parts.

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-Kevin

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Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, October 6, 2017 11:34 PM

If you can remove the bridge from the pit, pull the gear and clean it as suggested.  
Then, with the gear-mounting point of bridge's shaft laying crosswise atop a mill file on the workbench (and the bridge itself hanging over the edge of the bench) press down firmly with a similar file and roll the shaft a revolution or two between the two files. This "upsetting" of the shaft will increase its diameter enough the you should be able to press the gear into place, without need to further secure it.

Wayne

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Saturday, October 7, 2017 12:48 AM

If nothing else works, and the parts are metal, Loctite 638 is used to seal motor cycle wheel bearings to the hub, where the hub is aluminum and the bearings have spun in the hub for reasons of improper installation.

This is not the loctite you buy that is red, green or blue in the auto store or home depot. Loctite makes a gazillion products.  It will still have to be cleaned before attemting to fix it, as described in one of the previous posts.

If it is a metal shaft and a plastic gear, I have no idea.   Call loctite.

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, October 7, 2017 8:01 AM

BigDaddy
If nothing else works, and the parts are metal, Loctite 638 is used to seal motor cycle wheel bearings to the hub

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I think Loctite 609 (sleeve and instert retaining compound) would also work, if all parts are metal. Again, not the Loctite you find in the auto parts store.

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If you are going to try Loctite 609 or 638, be sure to clean the parts with CRC electrical contact cleaner and use Loctite's "Primer-T" on the parts. This stuff smells awful, but it will make the Loctite retaining liquids really "Lock Tight" when the repair is done.

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All these products are pretty expensive and are meant for industrial repairs. You might find it cheaper to buy a whole new drive.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    January 2011
  • From: NS(ex PRR) Mon Line.
  • 1,395 posts
Posted by Jimmy_Braum on Saturday, October 7, 2017 8:26 PM

To get a new drive for an original bowser turntable  That's gotta be expensive. 

(My Model Railroad, My Rules) 

These are the opinions of an under 35 , from the east end of, and modeling, the same section of the Wheeling and Lake Erie railway.  As well as a freelanced road (Austinville and Dynamite City railroad).  

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