Soo Line fan At least it ran. I remember a guy on here had an Athearn which shorted out whenever it was placed on the rails. If he lifted one truck off the rail it would run. It turned out to have 2 front trucks installed instead of 1 rear and 1 front.
At least it ran.
I remember a guy on here had an Athearn which shorted out whenever it was placed on the rails. If he lifted one truck off the rail it would run.
It turned out to have 2 front trucks installed instead of 1 rear and 1 front.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Jim
Mark R.Yes, it is easier to swap the trucks, because you CAN'T turn the motor. But trust me, IF you could turn the motor, the engine WOULD run in the opposite direction.
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Sorry,Mark,I turn the motor by mistake in a Athearn Trainmaster the fool thing ran in reverse while in forward.It was weeks before I lived that down at the Galion club in fact I had a new moniker for several weeks-wrong way Larry.
zstripe Mark, I'm not disagreeing with you,,, I agree,I agree,,,,Wonder what the OP,thinks of all this?? Cheers, Frank
Mark,
I'm not disagreeing with you,,, I agree,I agree,,,,Wonder what the OP,thinks of all this??
Cheers,
Frank
OP?
Oh yeah, we forgot about him. LOL
Rich
Alton Junction
zstripe Mark, No,,did I say that,,,,,must have been someone else,,,Just kidding,,, still think it easier to turn the trucks around,,than the motor,,,,LOL. Cheers, Frank
No,,did I say that,,,,,must have been someone else,,,Just kidding,,, still think it easier to turn the trucks around,,than the motor,,,,LOL.
Yes, it is easier to swap the trucks, because you CAN'T turn the motor. But trust me, IF you could turn the motor, the engine WOULD run in the opposite direction.
It's actually no different than physically picking up the engine and turning it 180 degrees - it will still be heading in the same direction on the track, but the engine itself will have visually changed direction (long hood vs. short hood)
Instead of dis-agreeing with me, just go try it ....
Mark.
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
zstripe Mark, I agree,it is a physical thing,,,,but the motor is still turning in the same direction,,electrically,,,LOL.. Cheers, Frank
I agree,it is a physical thing,,,,but the motor is still turning in the same direction,,electrically,,,LOL..
So now you agree that by turning the motor (physically) 180 degrees, the engine WILL run in the opposite direction even though the motor is still wired (electrically) the same ?
LMAO ! .... It's a physical thing Frank, not an electrical thing ! Go do it.
Hold a running motor in your hand with the shafts to the left and right, both shafts are turning away from you. Now turn the motor 180 degrees, the shaft are now turning towards you.
This is why the Athearn chassis are designed so the motor can only be installed one way at the factory so they know the motor will be turning the proper direction.
This has become interesting,,,there are two shafts connected to a armature,which is basically one shaft,,that is turning away from you,turning the motor around it will still turn the same way,,Direct Current flows one way,,,so turning the motor will not change any thing unless the Direct current is reversed.And if the pick up on the bottom or top is not changed it will still be the same..
Have Fun,
Everybody's now heading out to the shop to play with some Athearn DC chassis ! ....
zstripe Even if you could change the motor around,,,,,you will have the same problem,,,the polarity has to be changed,for the motor to turn in the other direction.. They pick up from the bottom and top of the motor.. Cheers, Frank
Even if you could change the motor around,,,,,you will have the same problem,,,the polarity has to be changed,for the motor to turn in the other direction.. They pick up from the bottom and top of the motor..
Actually it would .... if you could. The mount is designed like this so they all go in the same so they will all turn the same direction.
Think about it .... looking at the top of the motor, both shafts are turning away from you. Rotate the motor 180 degrees (without changing polarity) and now both shafts are turning towards you.
Have we all been away from DC THAT long ?
BRAKIE Mark R. You can't turn the motor around as it only fits one way. Any other engine where the motor is wired to a board, the two wires to the motor need to be reversed. Mark. Mark,Try turning the motor around..It will fit..More lessons learned the hard way.
Mark R. You can't turn the motor around as it only fits one way. Any other engine where the motor is wired to a board, the two wires to the motor need to be reversed. Mark.
You can't turn the motor around as it only fits one way. Any other engine where the motor is wired to a board, the two wires to the motor need to be reversed.
Mark,Try turning the motor around..It will fit..More lessons learned the hard way.
I just looked at a couple of the few I have left .... there's four holes for the plastic motor mounts to press in to, with a rectangular recess towards the front and towards the rear from these holes. The one towards the front is longer than the rear so the motor will only go in one way.
The mounting pads aren't centered on the over-all motor .... even if you could turn it around, the drive shafts wouldn't fit.
Here's a GP35 frame - there's no way you could turn the motor 180 degrees and expect it to go in ....
Thank You,Mark,
I think after running them since 1952,,,,,I believe I think, I know what makes them tick..
In a DC engine, provided they are all wired correctly, you don't have to change ANYTHING to mu any number of engine in any configuration.
Place ten DC engines on the track and turn on the throttle, they all move to the right. Turn half of them around, turn on the throttle they all STILL move to the right !
If any of them don't, then it's wired backwards. The only way to fix it on an Athearn blue box is to swap the trucks front to back. You can't turn the motor around as it only fits one way. Any other engine where the motor is wired to a board, the two wires to the motor need to be reversed.
zstripe If you rotated the trucks 180 degrees,,,how would you connect the drive line? Cheers, Frank
If you rotated the trucks 180 degrees,,,how would you connect the drive line?
Put the front truck on the rear and the rear truck on the front - turn each truck 180 degrees and put them on the opposite end.
Larry,
Now your last sentence,Makes all the sense in the world,,,,disregard,what I asked you..
zstripe The simplest, and easiest,just switch the motor leads... Cheers, Frank
The simplest, and easiest,just switch the motor leads...
To change motor "leads" on a Athearn BB engine you would need to disassemble the drive and rotate the motor 180 degrees since the frame is the ground.. Simplest way is to turn the trucks 180 degrees.
If the BB engine had the metal strip replace with wire then,yes,reversing the wires would be the best way.
However,in this case the previous owner reverse the trucks to get the locomotives to "mu in the proper direction".
Randy,
I understand that perfectly well,,,,,,but I'm sure it is a lot easier to just reverse,the wires,,
LION SAYS... Left rail is (-) and Right rail is (+), locomotive will move in correct direction.
In DC operation, only the track polarity controls the direction of the locomotive no matter which end has the little "F" painted on it. Your reversing switch is not FWD and REV, but rather EAST and WEST, and it cares not which end of the locomotive is pointed in which direction.
LION does not even have reversing switch on his layout. Subway trains NEVER run backwards.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
The way Athearn BB locos work, yes, flipping the front and rear trucks actually does change which rail pickup goes to which motor lead. Since there are no wires, this is actually super easy to do. On a clone type loco that has repalced the top clip with wieres, it wouldn;t be as easy, easier to just change the wires.
Think about it - if the right side of the truck is the red wire with the loco facing forward, to swap the trucks you need to rotate them 180 degrees. So now the red wire would be on the left side of the loco. On a loco that uses wires from the trucks to motors, generally you'd have to disconnect the wires to do this, so yes, easier to just change which wire goes where. On the Athearns with no wires, that is pretty much the ONLY way you can do it, since there are no wires to switch. Just pop off the top clip on each truck that holds the worm (don't lose the bearings!) and the trucks unsnap, flip around and reassemble.
--Randy
zstripe Larry, You're not serious are you?? About flipping the trucks around? Cheers, Frank
You're not serious are you?? About flipping the trucks around?
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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What brand is the loco? Depending on the electrical pick-up in the trucks maybe the wheelsets got reversed somehow.
I said wheelsets, no the whole truck. If the wheelset was removed for cleaning etc they have been re-installed wrong.
David,Cacole is spot on..
I've bought several used Athearn engines years ago and all was "wired to mu together in the proper direction" so sayth the seller with pride. I held my laughter. It was a simple matter of flipping the trucks around to fix the problem..