My Athearn diesels (inside bearing trucks) show enough rust that I believe I oughta address the issue. I have cleaned much off with 400-500 grit sandpaper. What to prevent rust returning....spray primer, enamel (say Testor's as it's readily available), good coating of oil or grease? Something else? The outside bearing locomotives did not have this problem, at least not to this extent. Grrrr.
Is the area one that conducts power?
If so.... Paint would be bad here.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
Not exactly sure what your talking about, "inside bearing trucks", but I'm guessing it's the metal plate on each side of the truck that the little brass bearing blocks, on the axles fit into.
Just make sure that the area that makes contact with the little brass blocks stays as clean metal. That's where the power pick-up point for each side.
I wire brushed mine off with a dremel tool, and left them bare metal. You can paint them, just becarefull NOT to paint the area that I just mentioned in the above paragraph.
Some paint them flat black, so they are not so visible. I wouldn't use oil, as it will migrate in the brass bearing block area, and interupt power.
NOW, if your talking about the old style trucks with the metal side frames, I'd have to look at that. I have a few in my parts boxes. I'll have to check it out.
Mike.
My You Tube
No luck looking for parts on the Athearn web page. Ebay lists bronze bearings for Geeps.
CRC 2-26 would be conductive, wheel bearing grease would probably is not. I don't think you want to paint the bearing surface of bearings.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Mine are rusty on my PA/PB set, and it does not effect performance at all.
.
I welcome the rust, because it hides the shiny metal.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Sandusky- I'm reading your post and it's exactly the same thing I am encountering with my old Athearn F7 A/B restoration project right now. I see the rust on the metal sides of each truck as I deconstructed the B unit.
My thought is to sand off as much as I can manually then use a wire brush cup or wheel bit in my mini-tool (Harbor Freight cheapie) to get anything else. Next I will mask and spray the bare metal with red primer or- if masking is a bit too much, use a small art brush and a can of the same red primer (looks great on concrete lawn sprinkler head rings) to paint the bare metal, followed by a quick spritz of matte clear coat.
One caution- if any electrical path is involved - say in the F7 A unit- I would clean the metal first and then hold off on painting so as not to compromise operability.
Perhaps there is no other purpose than to stop the rust-at least on those outer surfaces. But I like to do a thorough job- and that's the way my railroad runs!
Thanks for posting, buddy!
Cedarwoodron
Sandusky,
If You want to really get involved with improving Your Athearn BB's take a look at this link and save to Your favorites:
http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.php
Just about everything there is to improve the Athearn BB's with diagrams.
I would also like to say...that I have quite a few Athearn BB's starting in the 60's and none have rust on them like has been described in this thread.......got to be where they were stored........I've been living in the Midwest for the past 75yrs.
Take Care!
Frank
I'd keep abrasives away from any portion of the trucks, wheels, or drive train. A bit of MP-7 ("the must for rust") on a micro-brush (not a Q-tip since they tend to shed fibers) is what I would use. Failing that, QD Electronic Cleaner sprayed on a micro brush or solid cotton swab (again not a Q tip but rolled cotton swab at the tip) might also work. If you can thoroughly remove the residue the wire brush in the Dremel tool would surely remove the rust but again I'd be concerned about stray particles getting into "the works."
I notice modest rust on Athearn steel parts presumably from dampness in the basement in the spring when it is still too cool for dehumidifiers to work without freezing up. I recently opened a blue box freight car kit and found the weight entirely rusted. Then I noticed water damage on the box ... either a heating/A/C duct sweated during a change of seasons, or my spouse was swabbing the oak floor above and some water leaked through the wood floor to the shelves below.
Dave Nelson
I have 100+ Athearn BB locomotives. All have been completely disassembled and rebuilt That includes painting the side frames flat black. Afterwards I take a fine file and polish up the surface where the bearing blocks sit ensuring good electrical contact. Trucks are then reassembled using Labelle 106 grease sparingly with good results. While we are on the subject of trucks, grease-oil, and electrical conductivity let me pass along a recent experience with a Walther’s SD70ace locomotive. I have 7 of these and one started sputtering down the tracks. Wheels where cleaned and that made no difference. Truck assemblies are all plastic and painting would not be an issue. Power is transmitted from wheels to bearing block to a stamped brass wiper assembly wired to the PC board. Wiper assembly is on the inside of truck assembly. I metered out continuity between wheels and PC board....several where open requiring the bronze wiper to be “reformed “. Long story short...that corrected the problem. I will not further expound on my dislike of Walthers products here. These where gifts. I have always had the understanding that lubrication of the drive train should be minimal so that electrical conductivity is not compromised. When I took these truck assemblies apart they are packed solid with grease and I mean solid! It can’t be conductive or we would have a dead short. It was a very time consuming delicate repair of a year old engine......many of my Athearn Engines are decades old, side frames painted and run fine to this day. Again just passing on this experience while on the subject of “trucks”.