A couple of quick point A: cleaning and proper lubrication doesn't cost you anything but time. It should actually be part of a regular maintenance schedule on all locomotives. B: take good old pencil eraser and use it to clean all the contacts point and the armature windings. Rotate the armature with your finger and use the eraser in the copper wire until it shines like a new penny. You can use it also to clean your wheels but I use some Isopropyl alcohol on a Q-tip first then then a dry Q-tip to clean off any remaining gunk. put the body shell back on and test it out.Do these steps before you spend any money on re-motoring etc.If these easy steps don't give you satisfactory performance then make your decision.
Texas Zepher Acela026: Texas Zepher: So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue. Definitly electrical. Otherwise it sits on the track like there is no power in the track. Ok is this one of those that has a motor mounted on one of the trucks directly over the wheels? Might want to check the brushes. Perhaps they have worn down or a spring is not giving them a good connection.
Acela026: Texas Zepher: So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue. Definitly electrical. Otherwise it sits on the track like there is no power in the track.
Texas Zepher: So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue.
So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue.
Definitly electrical. Otherwise it sits on the track like there is no power in the track.
No. The motor is in the center, connected to the trucks VIA U-joints. I have not checked the brushes, will do tomorrow.
G'night all
Acela
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Acela026 Texas Zepher: So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue. Definitly electrical. Otherwise it sits on the track like there is no power in the track.
Check the pick ups and the connections..may be something loose...
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Texas Zepher So can you tell if the nudging is necessary because the electricity is not getting through the wheels to the motor, or is it a mechanical issue.
Acela026Cleaned all the wheels, rewired her (correctly I should note) and she still has to be nudged along, with erratic flickering at best. Suggestions? Otherwise a dummy is starting to sound good...
Suggestions? Otherwise a dummy is starting to sound good...
I just finished a similar project on a Bachmann Plus GP35. It was an interesting and fun "dissection" and the best part, a great learning and confidence building experience.
I also clipped the truck to frame spring contacts and soldered wires to each side of each truck for better electrical feed. If you didn't already do so, check the commutator. It might need a cleaning with contact cleaner and a close inspection to see if there are any breaks or cracks in the contacts.
While I was in it, I also installed LEDs and (gasp!) installed a decoder! Could some of you help pick up the others who have just fainted? Thanks.
Bottom line, with a little clean up and some improved electricals, it ran fine so I installed the decoder and now I can control lighting and fine tune speed.
So keep at it for a few more steps and have fun!
Emman
You could be having a pickup issue. The 1990 Bachmann's I had used pickups that connected to a wire on one side and wiped the bottom of the frame on the other side. It usually didn't take long for them to wear out.
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Acela026 Upon noting its terrible performance, I proceeded to open her up. Old yellow grease and hair (hopefully just from a carpet) was everywhere! Inside the gearboxes (how would hair get in there???) and wrapped all around the axles and U-joints.
Upon noting its terrible performance, I proceeded to open her up. Old yellow grease and hair (hopefully just from a carpet) was everywhere! Inside the gearboxes (how would hair get in there???) and wrapped all around the axles and U-joints.
I found the same in my DCC-equipted 70 ton. It never ran on carpet, so that might not be hair...
If it was free, I would super-detail it and make me a sound dummy
sfb
Cleaned all the wheels, rewired her (correctly I should note) and she still has to be nudged along, with erratic flickering at best.
(PS-It was free so I feel no guilt in doing anything to it)
It's certainly worth it to take it apart, clean it, replace the bad wire and put it together again with fresh lubrication. Only then will you know if it's really any good or not.
If you decide to turn it into a "sound dummy" or "light dummy," then any effort you put into it to get track power in reliably will still pay off.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I think the bigger question is it worth it to you to take the effort to save it. If you picked it up on the cheap, then not much is lost if you never run it again. But me, I would try to save it just to gain the experiance of taking a loco all the way a part, correct the problem(s) and then put it back together and see if it runs good. Better to learn on loco that might cost $5 or $10 from the yard sale versus a $250+ loco.
I'd be thinking of a complete remotoring, maybe.
Although, to be frank about it, maybe converting it into a dummy might be a better approach.
Those 1990's Bachmann's were not as bad as the dang 1980 versions that I had here for awhile....
I recently aquired a 1990's Bachmann GP7. Upon noting its terrible performance, I proceeded to open her up. Old yellow grease and hair (hopefully just from a carpet) was everywhere! Inside the gearboxes (how would hair get in there???) and wrapped all around the axles and U-joints. SHe also needs new wired, I recall that only one wire had a good connection on both ends.
So my question is: Is she worth the restoration trouble, or should I take everything out and put a constant lighting unit in her and make her a dummy.
Thanks for your thoughts,