Hello. I have an engine I'm trying to re-work, and would like to replace the can motor with a smaller model. Aside from making sure it's 12 volts, is there anything else I should be aware of in choosing a replacement?
Conventional wisdom is to replace with the same size or larger motor. Why smaller?
Also what type of engine do you want to repower?
Jim
Double ended motor shafts?
Singe ended shaft?
Diameter of shafts?
Length of shafts?
Mounting holes?
Most motors today use Metric screws.
Some motors are round.
Some are oval.
Some motors have mounting screws on the end of the motor.
Some on the shell of the motor.
Youy gave us very little in the way of details.
Is the present motor an open frame or can type motor?
There are many different types of motors. Just do a search on ebay. All can types are not equal.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
You can go to NWSL.com and search for a replacement many times by using the model you are working on. They have replacement kits. My favorite motor however is probably a Kato and so I try to work them into whatever project I have. Which usually means conversion to the hex style drive system(flywheels/shaft). I mount with double sided foam tape or adhesive putty so as to isolate vibration.
Richard
I have a Mehano/IHC 2-6-0 that I'm trying to make look like something from the late 1800s. However, the current motor is mounted at an angle and even flat, the top of the motor is at a comparable height off the ground, ~11 scale feet, as the roofs of most other freight cars or locomotives. I was hoping that a smaller motor would let me fit a smaller boiler over it.
My camera's on the fritz right now, so I can't take a picture, but it's a single ended shaft that's held onto the frame with plastic supports. It's not screwed in. It's kind of oval, measuring around 1.5 cm x 2 cm x 2.5 cm long. The shaft is a millimeter, i'm not sure. Smaller than 1/16th of an inch.
I'm still wondering if there's anything to look out for when switching to a smaller motor.
Is the worm attached directly to the motor shaft?
Does it look like this one?
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/43309.aspx
Yep, it's that model exactly.
Okay, here are the basics:
The worm needs to be removed from the old motor. Now a motor with the same sized shaft must be located which fits your size requirement. The old worm must be pressed on the new motor. That's the easy part.
The key is to mount the new motor to the engine while maintaining the proper worm clearance and alignment with the main drive gear. Too loose or too tight can cause damage to the motor or gears. You will need to fabricate some type of mount to attach the motor to while maintaining the clearances I mentioned.
An alternative method is to use a NWSL gearbox., The gearbox replaces the main gear and also contains a worm gear. The new motor is then mounted and connected to the gear box with a universal kit.
I did this some years ago with a couple installs. I used bath caulk and carefully adjust the motor and gear backlash before the caulk dried completely. Motors were very quiet. I was fortunate. NWSL at that time sold Sagami can motors. The Sagami can still be found new in the original box on ebay. Some people bought up a lot of them some years ago.
I do remember having to use NWSL bushings to adapt a worm to a motor shaft.
This guy has some stuff that I have bought and he use to sell on ebay.
http://www.micro-loco-motion.com/canmotors.html
Alright, I'll check out NWSL and the Ebay seller. Thanks for the info.