This Dockside ran like junk. Jerky, stopped for no good reason, motor ran hot to the touch. It was pulling 500 to 750 millamps, running no load and in fact no boiler. That's way too much even for an open frame motor. I checked the mechanism, with the motor removed it rolled smoothly. So I removed the old Alnico magnet and put in a stack of neodynium super magnets. The new magnets were a little large, the screw that clamped the pole pieces to the alnico no long fit. No problemo, the new magnets have enough magnetic suck to hold the pole pieces in place, no screw required. Fixed her right up. Ran smoothly, ran cool, and the current draw dropped down to 300 milliamps which is perfectly reasonable. Good slow speed performace, did four laps around the layout trouble free.
Now to get it back together and do some detailing. Glaze the cab windows, install a crew, install Kadee couplers, new paint, maybe valve gear, working headlamps front and rear, some ballast if I can fit some in. The boiler is a metal casting, so it has a good deal of weight already. Maybe handrails and grab irons. Maybe a snow plow. Letter it for a local NH timber company, Presby perhaps, unless I can think of something cooler.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
Wow! That's pretty impressive. I have a few locos that could benefit from this upgrade. May I ask where you bought these magnets?
Wolf359 Wow! That's pretty impressive. I have a few locos that could benefit from this upgrade. May I ask where you bought these magnets?
You may ask. I don't remember, I got them years ago for another project locomotive, a brass 2-6-0. Google ought to find a supplier. Try "neodynium" and "super magnet". It's an easy fix, far easier than remotoring. Only took me a few minutes with a screwdriver. I checked for North Pole-South Pole by simply placing the new magnets next to the old Alnico. The new magnets lined up north to north and south to south. After reassembly the locomotive ran in the right direction.
Hi Wolf359,
Here is one source that I have used:
https://www.kjmagnetics.com/
Here are some threads on how to replace the magnets:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/244634/2725871.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/265702/3002771.aspx
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/120264/1383917.aspx
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
super magnets work well for that purpose, you will probably notice [depending on your power pack] some increase in very low speed 'cogging', [from experience]
Electronics Unlimited (an MR advertizer) has them. The ones I bought for a different pourpoise were a bit large for that, but they have smaller.
Being the IT guy around here, in my spare time I rip apart old Hard Drives,: They have the exact same magnets in them. You can but them in half if they are still to big for you. Surely you have a stqck of old hard drives lying around. I have about 30 of the critters sitting on my shelf waiting to be decomissioned.
And the shiny discs are nice to play with. and the FBI cannot steal your data from them... well they could, but they would have to do it bit by bit with a microscope, unless of course you bleach-bitted them first... even then the FBI can prevail. Datta protection companies simly bend them in a brake. You could cut the discs into peices.. But they are pretty, and I have a shelf full of them.
ROQAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
BroadwayLion Being the IT guy around here, in my spare time I rip apart old Hard Drives,: They have the exact same magnets in them. You can but them in half if they are still to big for you. Surely you have a stqck of old hard drives lying around. I have about 30 of the critters sitting on my shelf waiting to be decomissioned.
That's really interesting. I didn't know that you could do that. I actually do have a couple of them out in the garage from some "anciant" computers. (Windows 98 and XP) That might be worth looking into.
Wolf359That's really interesting. I didn't know that you could do that. I actually do have a couple of them out in the garage from some "anciant" computers. (Windows 98 and XP) That might be worth looking into.
Hard drive magnets are pretty powerful so they would do the job, but why hassle with them? I wasn't aware that they could be cut, but the risk of them shattering would seem to be substantial. Properly sized neodymium magnets are dirt cheap.
Lion is a master at doing things economically, but there are limits.
Penny wise, pound foolish IMHO.
hon30critterLion is a master at doing things economically, but there are limits.
All the hard drive magnets I've ever extracted are a) curved and b) tightly cemented or otherwise fixed to a metal fixture. Impossible to remove the magnet without destroying it. I've used a few for magnetizing screw driver tips and others, screwed to a wall or shelf, for handy small tool holders.
They're also handy for resetting old QSI decoders with the reed switch in the tender. The supplied "magnetic wand" is anemic compared to the HDD magnet.
Regards. Ed
Next project is to install Kadee couplers in this Model Power Dockside, in place of the X2f couplers. So far I have dealt with the rear coupler (the most used coupler). The opening in the frame is a tad narrow, but with some filing and trimming off the ears of a standard Kadee coupler box we have a Kadee in the rear, it even is spring loaded with the regular Kadee spring.
Here is the Kadee coupler and coupler box secured to the Model Power coupler thingie with a 2-56 bolt nut and washer. For my next magic trick I shall warp a Kadee coupler into the pilot. I believe John Allen once said that a locomotive was only a locomotive if it had a working coupler in the pilot.
Very cool to see you updating this old Mantua!
I've never done it myself and don't own much steam, but I've seen alot of guys give new life to those style of motors with new magnets. With new magnets and reliable can motors being so cheap nowdays, there's so many ways to power-up old locos without having to spend the cost of the loco on the motor.
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