"breaking-in "locomotives

[Anonymous]

what's the best way to break in n-scale locmotives?

[Jacktal]

Simple enough for me...I remove the shell,sqwirt a droplet of special oil(made for plastic) on the motor bushings and gears,then run them for 15 minutes as is.If the motor doesn't get burning hot(not likely) I reinstall the shell and operate the engine normally,avoiding abusive use.

In fact,model locos are ready to run right out of the box,but I like to baby them and haven't experienced problems so far,even with used locos I purchased here and there.

[Anonymous]

I run R/C electric off road trucks, electric motor break in is the same for any electric motor.

The brushes on an electric motor need to be "seated" against the armature before you run them under a load. You should alway "break in" an electric motor to allow the brushes to seat against the armature.

Run the motor slow varying the speed with "no load" changing direction about every 3 minutes so that the brushes "rub" against the armature both directions. After about 30 minutes speed up the loco varying the speed and changing direction. Now that you've run the engine for about an hour at varying speeds and different directions the motor should be broke in well enough to start putting light loads on it. Increase the load with each operating session.