I've been putting the finishing touches on my Santa Fe 1337 Class Pacific, the details about painting it are in another one of my posts, and now it seems to have developed a "dead spot" in the 5-pole open frame motor. It is not a skew wound motor. Generally, it will run well, but now and then it just won't go forward or reverse from a dead stop. I've narrowed it down to the same spot in the rotation of the armature, and it will start up again by just the slightest pressure on the brushes. My question is, what is the best way to adjust the brush tension to make it just a little bit tighter? I have the boiler off and have easy access to the motor while I have been working on it. I've had the motor off and apart once already and so far it is not any better.
My other option is to just change it for a can motor, which I have done before on another locomotive recently. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good can motor since NWSL has discontinued the one I used before and I am having difficulty finding one that seems to be the right size and RPM to run this type of locomotive?
Any advice or tips would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Ken
Ken,
Depending on what type of spring is used to tension the brushes, a couple of options come to mind. If small coil springs are used, you can remove them and stretch them until they "relax" to a slightly longer length than they did before stretching. Or, you could insert a small spacer behind the spring to increase its preload. It may have to be made of conducting material if the spring carries the current. If the brush holder itself conducts, then the spacer could be plastic or other non conductive material.
If the spring is a torsion spring type, like the old Pittman motors, you could bend the arms to a wider arc and increase their preload that way.
I'd be careful, in any case, to not make the spring tension any more than required to restore reliablility. As has been pointed out in other conversations and in motor repair articles, high spring tension tends to make a motor "sticky" and prone to lurching on startup. For best low speed operation, less tension is better.
For browsing motors for sale, you might try an electronics store like Jameco. They carry quite a selection of small motors and publish specs on them like rpm and torque ratings along with current, voltage requirements, and physical size.
Lou
Email Dave at NWSL. He'll help you out.
Jay
C-415 Build: https://imageshack.com/a/tShC/1
Other builds: https://imageshack.com/my/albums
If the motor keep stalling on the same comutator segment, check the point where the armature winding is soldered to the commutator segment. I've known the connections to break, especially in an older motor. They can be tricky ot re-solder, so be careful. However, your best bet is to replace the motor.
---
Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
===================================
"Common Sense, Ain't!" -- G. M. Collins
http://fhn.site90.net
The decision is made. I spoke to Dave at NWSL earlier today and ordered a replacement can motor for it. That seems the best way to go since the other locos I have re-motored like this just run so smooth and quiet. I probably should have just gone that route from the beginning.
The new can motor from NWSL is installed and works great. It pulls smooth and quiet and it easily hauls my passenger train up a 2% grade. Thanks to all who commented and gave advice and to Dave at NWSL for suggesting the right motor for my locomotive. Next time I won't waste anytime trying to tune an open frame motor, I'll go right to the experts and order a can motor.
Hello All,
I'm in a similar situation- -tweek the motor or upgrade.
After your post I've decided to upgrade!
Thanks for sharing.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
Definitely go for the upgrade. You won't be sorry. Good luck.
Which NWSL p/n did you end up using?
Jim
I ended up using the 2032D-9 motor. It has enough torque and pulling power to pull my 7 car passenger train up my 2% grades with no slipping or noticable slowing. I hope this helps.
I'm trying to upload a video and am not having any luck. Any tips on how to do it?
I have the video uploaded to Photobucket, but I cannot seem to get it to load or embed here.
I tried using Photobucket's video service before, and then realized it's not so great and got a Youtube account instead. I don't think videos can be (easily?) embedded on the forum, so you may have to copy the direct link instead.
_________________________________________________________________
Thanks Darth Santa Fe. I'll try posting the direct link.
Here is a link to a short video of the locomotive running with the new can motor.
http://s300.photobucket.com/user/KM-Mason/media/Southwest%20and%20Santa%20Fe%20Railway/1348%20video_zpsbbogugyf.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0#/user/KM-Mason/media/Southwest%20and%20Santa%20Fe%20Railway/1348%20video_zpsbbogugyf.mp4.html?sort=3&o=0&_suid=143299662418803301105621746132
Nice! Looks like you got yourself a really smooth runner! NWSL is serious about having top-performing products, so you can always expect a good improvement with their parts installed.
Yes, you are right about the NWSL parts & motors. I had done another locomotive last year and am very happy with how both have turned out.