Sorry to bring up a topic that has been mentioned here about a zillion times ( I guess thats why the search features bring up 900 pages,lol )
Anyways as some of you have seen I finally have got back into my HO layout and before It was packed years ago I picked up about 4 atheran blue box models. I have got them back out and have ran them around a loop for a few minutes and they sound rough, the old blue box growl. Still oiled well, but loud.
what are your guys tips on how to break them in again. I think I used to just set up a loop of track and run them each direction for 45 minutes to a hour. Does this sound right? also do newer locomotives need a break in period?
Thanks again for any help guys, and sorry again to bring up a topic that has been mentioned so many times.
Jeremy
Hi Jeremy,
I usually run the locomotive 30 minutes in each directions at moderate power. I started doing this after it was recommended by ROCO for all of their engines. I have found in a limited number of cases I need to run the locomotive for one hour in each direction (Proto 1000 GP15s).
Your Bluebox locos would benefit greatly from a typical Athearn tuneup. Shimming the worms from excessive fore and aft movement, clipping half the brush springs, and eliminating the bad contact areas by running wires from the trucks to the frame/motor will have them running good in no time. Exchanging the wheels with Jaybee wheels will help also.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Jeremy,
You shouldn't have to break them in "again". Breaking in is a period of time when moving parts which are designed to be in contact with each other wear to the peculiarities of the matching part. For this, running about an hour at full speed in each direction should do it. Once you do that, it's done until you replace one of the moving parts.
That said, you will need to do some maintenance on them if they've been in a box for years. The properties of oil change over time (this is why you can't leave Mobil 1 in your car engine for 100K miles), plus, unless you vacuum sealed them, the locos have picked up some gunk in the interim. "Well-oiled", in this context, means "all gunked up with old oil and junk", not "well lubricated".
I'd recommend stripping them down, taking a little denatured alcohol and cleaning the old oil off as best you can, then re-lubricate with new oil and try running them.
Being Blue Boxes, you'll never get rid of the growl, but you might knock it back some.
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
cheers for the tips guys
CTValleyRR , They were never run when I packed them up. Today is the first time they have been run. , when I said I used to break them in this way I meant with my other locomotives
JeremyB cheers for the tips guys CTValleyRR , They were never run when I packed them up. Today is the first time they have been run. , when I said I used to break them in this way I meant with my other locomotives
Ah. I missed that somewhere.
Never the less, my statement about old oil is true. In addition to breaking them in, you should still clean and re-lubricate them.
On growling Loco's some have suggested removing the grease and using pearldrops tooth gel. Run the loco for about 15 minutes and clean it out. Replace with grease. It's supposed to quiet them down.
If you don't want to do that, at lease grease the gears and u joints with plastic safe grease such as labelle.
Then do as noted above and run them. If you have a kid around (yourself included) Just have fun with them for an hour or 2 and they'll be broken in.
Springfield PA
yeah I have been cleaning and lubing this afternoon. Another question, I have some engines that are running very quiet and still have lube in them that is still greasy feeling, I shouldnt have to touch those ones should I?
And I **thought** I read a article a few years back that plastic gears need very little grease as the nylon gears are kind of self lubricating. Im using Labelle 106 grease.
Any moving parts should have lubrication.
As far as old grease still working, it's your call. If you feel it's stiffened up over the years, scrape it out and install new.
well i have run into a problem, One of my atheran trucks doesnt have power to it, Its wired from the trucks to the electrical pickup tab in the middle.
I noticed it when I went to clean the trucks on some paper towel. I put one truck on the towel and it spun to get the crap off the wheels but when I turned it around to do the other truck, no power...
anybody have any ideas on what it could be?
You asked about how to break in a loco.
Like breaking in a new engine on a new car, like breaking in new set of brakes on said car, you should run them in at various levels with varying patterns.
Here is how I run in a new loco:
I run it by itself for 10 mins on low {crawl} forward, then 10 mins on low backward
Then I run it by itself on high {higher than I would generally run it, but not so high it drifts off the track} for 10 mins. Then I run it on High {again higher than I expect to run it} backwards for 10 mins.
Then I run it by itself for 10 mins at a low medium speed forward, then backwards at low medium speed backward for 10 mins.
Then I run it by itself at what I would consider high medium or regular running top speed for 10 mins forward, then 10 mins backwards.
THEN, I REPEAT THE processes listed above with pulling {pushing when backwards} 5 RR cars of regular average size for 10 mins each of those listed speeds both ways.
THEN I REPEAT THE procceses listed above with pulling {opushing when backwards} 10 RR cars of regular average size for 10 mins at each of those listed speeds both ways. {that is typically the max number of cars I can reasonably run on my layout}.
Then I attend to any relubing issues and cleaning issues necessary with Labelle's plastic safe lube.
That is about 2 hours of run-in time, running in both directions, without load, and with varying loads.
It should then be ready to run at any speed in any direction with varying loads when I put it into service.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
cheers galaxy, been breaking in the ones that havent run since I got them today and all is good so far except the problem that im having with the one loco.
I have down a complete tear down and noticed that on the frame the black paint has worn away exposing the bare steel, would this be the problem? even though its not the truck that is the problem?
again thanks for the break in tips guys. And a HUGE thanks to Jeff for walking me through on how to fix my diesel problem. Its running now. Its was really loud when I first started running but is getting quite now and the low speed is coming around too.
Glad to hear you got it running Jeremy. With an adequate break-in it should improve considerably. The lone Athearn SD40-2 I have was done up as a display model of the KCS 666 and I never intended to run it except on a test run. Going forward it screeches a little but in reverse it sounds like two cats having a very nasty fight.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I've enjoyed reading this thread as my new Spectrum Shay was recently broken in for a period of about 45 minutes. Why 45 minutes? Because at that point the locomotive stopped moving, although the motor was still running. I didn't even bother looking to see what had happened, just boxed it up and sent it back to Bachmann along with two Climaxes (Two Truck Version) that were also broken. Ughh....I've not had much success with Bachmann's geared locomotives. But they sure do look nice
Wayne
Modeling HO Freelance Logging Railroad.
I know the Bachmann Shay's have a bad problem with the gears splitting and breaking. Unfortunately the replacement will do this as well. Get a replacement gear set from Northwest Short line (NWSL).
jeffrey-wimberly I know the Bachmann Shay's have a bad problem with the gears splitting and breaking. Unfortunately the replacement will do this as well. Get a replacement gear set from Northwest Short line (NWSL).
Thanks Jeff, I'll be doing just that. I appreciate the Walther's link as I was having problems finding these on NWSL. I want to try Bachmann's Three Truck Climax but will wait a while to see if this locomotive has the same issues as all the others. I have (had) one Shay and two Climax units with a total run time of less than 4 hours combined! And to top this off, I also have a Bachmann 44T that had 3 split gears. This doesn't instill a lot of confidence in Bachmann's design/engineering department.
sfcouple jeffrey-wimberly: I know the Bachmann Shay's have a bad problem with the gears splitting and breaking. Unfortunately the replacement will do this as well. Get a replacement gear set from Northwest Short line (NWSL). Thanks Jeff, I'll be doing just that. I appreciate the Walther's link as I was having problems finding these on NWSL. I want to try Bachmann's Three Truck Climax but will wait a while to see if this locomotive has the same issues as all the others. I have (had) one Shay and two Climax units with a total run time of less than 4 hours combined! And to top this off, I also have a Bachmann 44T that had 3 split gears. This doesn't instill a lot of confidence in Bachmann's design/engineering department.
jeffrey-wimberly: I know the Bachmann Shay's have a bad problem with the gears splitting and breaking. Unfortunately the replacement will do this as well. Get a replacement gear set from Northwest Short line (NWSL).
yeah its broken in nice now, I had to take a small squirt of contact cleaner on a cloth to clean the crap off the commutator. good to go now
the contact cleaner says its safe for plastic, but I made sure to keep it away just in case. Made sure that it was only touching metal.
Some great stuff for cleaning commutators is CRC 2-26. Its It's a plastic safe, multi-purpose, precision lubricant. Just spray a drop onto the commutator and turn the motor several times by hand. Press a paper towel against the commutator and turn the motor several more times. By now there should be some ugly crud on the paper towel. Repeat the step with the paper towel again. Now apply power to the motor. It'll be a bit choppy at first but it'll steady out and run normally. I usually do the treatment twice.
yeah the stuff i have is safe on plastic, but it says dont spray it on circuit boards or home electronic equipment. I dont think the commutator falls under a circuit board or a piece of electronic equipment