Modern Era Lionel Crane

[gottcent]

I'm trying to repair a modern era Lionel operating crane (6-14209) for a friend. Both motors work fine, but the rubber belts that connect the motors to their respective gear shafts are giving me fits.

I figured out early that the original belts were stretched out and so attempted to replace them. I could not find original parts anywhere, and experimented first with rubber bands. They didn't last, so then I tried traction tires (the size used for traditional steam locos).

The assembly that raises and lowers the magnet works OK with the tires, but not so with the assembly that moves the boom left and right. I can get that to work for about 5 minutes, but then it stops and I discover the belt has slipped off the assembly. I've tried every size and thickness of belt I have access to, and the same thing happens each time--it works for a few minutes, and then the belt slips off and has to be repositioned.

Any thoughts?

John

[cwburfle]

Do you have the old belts?
If so:

1 - if they are "O" rings, bring them to a good home center, plumbing supply store, or hardware store and try to match them up.

2 - sometimes drive belts can be rejuventated. Just recently I had a Sony turntable with a linear tracking tone arm that worked erratically. Turns out that the drive belt for the tone arm was slipping. I carefully cleaned the belt, which included letting it soak in warm soapy water for a good long time. Once it was dry, I used some pinch roller rejuventator (for tape recorders) on it. The belt works fine after this treatment.

I did all this because I did not have a replacement belt. I have since located a source for reasonably priced replacements, and will get one the next time the belt starts slipping again.

[gottcent]

Alas, I do not have the old belts. But it occured to me that there might be some gear grease that leaked onto the drive pulleys. So I used TV tuner spray to clean them off and then re-installed some traction tires. So far, so good.

Thanks for your help.

John