I have an older set of Athearn Blue Box A-B unit F-7s that are not running very well. These have been detailed to be N.P. freight units in black with gold X-mas tree striping. They have Digitrax DH123 decoders installed. They have been needing service and not been in use for 5-8 years.
The first thing I have done is clean them up, removed all old lubrication and re-lubbed. There are no metal to metal electrical contacts, all connections are wire soldered to the truck frames. I have gotten them to run and cleaned the wheels with Goo Gone. However, they are very balky and slow down and just act like they are tired. I would consider replacing the sintered wheels with something better if there where better ones to be had.
I wonder if the original Atheran motors are weak? Any suggestions on what to look at; or, replace to get these two locos to operate better?
Thanks in advance!
Mark
NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"
Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association: http://www.nprha.org/
Did your cleaning include the commutators of the motors? Over time they can take on a tarnish or patina which should in theory rub off fairly quickly if they can run at all. A tiny tiny amount of very light oil on a commutator can sometimes aid the self cleaning process.
I believe Walthers has replacement wheel/gear sets for the first generation of Life Like Proto2000 Geeps, and since those were clones of Athearn Blue Box I think I am correct that they can be used. They have nice looking wheels that are not sintered metal.
Did the engines ever run well once the DCC decoders were installed? Without knowing how you went about isolating the motor from the frame it is hard to say if something has failed about the stability of the motor.
Dave Nelson
Motor end bearings seem to have issues on some of my Athearns. Maybe they need to be flooded again with a very light lube, then with the usual. I use Labelle 108 on these.
NWSL definitely carries better wheels.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
dknelson Did your cleaning include the commutators of the motors? Over time they can take on a tarnish or patina which should in theory rub off fairly quickly if they can run at all. A tiny tiny amount of very light oil on a commutator can sometimes aid the self cleaning process. I believe Walthers has replacement wheel/gear sets for the first generation of Life Like Proto2000 Geeps, and since those were clones of Athearn Blue Box I think I am correct that they can be used. They have nice looking wheels that are not sintered metal. Did the engines ever run well once the DCC decoders were installed? Without knowing how you went about isolating the motor from the frame it is hard to say if something has failed about the stability of the motor. Dave Nelson
No, I did not clean the commutaters. I will do this. The motors were grounded to the frame via small tabs that where part of the motor's brush clips. These tabs where removed and the bare metal these tabs contacted, has been covered over with electrical tape. Then to make sure the original grounding connection was negated, I used my multimeter to check for continuity and none was found.
Yes, the engines ran well when I first installed the decoders. I will look into the Walther's wheels.
mlehman Motor end bearings seem to have issues on some of my Athearns. Maybe they need to be flooded again with a very light lube, then with the usual. I use Labelle 108 on these. NWSL definitely carries better wheels.
I will check the lub of the bearings. I will also look into NWSL wheels. I just got through looking through the walthers Catalog and do not see wheels for locomotives.
I have a pair of Athearn BB f7's probably older than yours. Mine run pretty well after some tuning up. Clean the commutators with Goo gone on a qtip. Then inspect the motor mounting. If the rubbery motor mount pad is not properly seated the motor will be cocked up at an angle, making the U-Joints run at a stiff angle which makes 'em noisy. Then demount the trucks and take the gear towers apart. Inspect all the gears for flash, missing teeth. Wipe each tooth of each gear with a pipecleaner, that will catch a few bits of invisible black plastic flash. Getting all the loose flash out of the gear trains with make them run smoother and quieter. Remove any flash from the U-joints. Make sure the flywheels don't rub on the shell.
David Starr www.newsnorthwoods.blogspot.com
To answer your que about Athearn and weak motors, for my two cents worth, I can say I have never had a problem with their motors. I know this is more referrence than help, sorry.
dstarr I have a pair of Athearn BB f7's probably older than yours. Mine run pretty well after some tuning up. Clean the commutators with Goo gone on a qtip. Then inspect the motor mounting. If the rubbery motor mount pad is not properly seated the motor will be cocked up at an angle, making the U-Joints run at a stiff angle which makes 'em noisy. Then demount the trucks and take the gear towers apart. Inspect all the gears for flash, missing teeth. Wipe each tooth of each gear with a pipecleaner, that will catch a few bits of invisible black plastic flash. Getting all the loose flash out of the gear trains with make them run smoother and quieter. Remove any flash from the U-joints. Make sure the flywheels don't rub on the shell.
I have installed Proto2000 wheelsets in all my old Athearn 4 wheel diesel trucks, they work great.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRAL I have installed Proto2000 wheelsets in all my old Athearn 4 wheel diesel trucks, they work great. Sheldon
Sheldon,
Where did you get these wheels, I don't see Proto 2000 wheels offered at Walthers website.
NP2626 ATLANTIC CENTRAL I have installed Proto2000 wheelsets in all my old Athearn 4 wheel diesel trucks, they work great. Sheldon Sheldon, Where did you get these wheels, I don't see Proto 2000 wheels offered at Walthers website.
Walthers Proto 2000 wheels
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
Medina1128 NP2626 ATLANTIC CENTRAL I have installed Proto2000 wheelsets in all my old Athearn 4 wheel diesel trucks, they work great. Sheldon Sheldon, Where did you get these wheels, I don't see Proto 2000 wheels offered at Walthers website. Walthers Proto 2000 wheels
Medina1128, thank you for this link! All other wheel sets are located in wheels at Walthers and for some reason, Walthers feels these are Super Detailing part! Not just a little confusing. However thanks for worming your way there!
That's them, I actaully got my first batch back in the LifeLike days, and more recently from Walthers through their parts department.
I see they now have them listed on line.
And, for what is is worth, I have about 40 of the Proto diesels that had the gracked gear problem with those wheelsets, but I have never had a failure with any of the replacement gears supplied by LifeLike or Walthers.
Thanks Sheldon!
Mark,
I have a few of the Proto 2000 locos that had the cracked gear problem. At the height of the difficulty Proto wheels were not available. I used Athearn wheel-sets as replacements and never had a problem. Not to mention that you get 6-sets for $15.00 or so.
Here is the link if you are interested:
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?CatId=THCR&SearchTerm=40028
Hope this helps.
Remember its your railroad
Allan
Track to the BRVRR Website: http://www.brvrr.com/
I never lubricate commutators. The arcing turns oil into black stickum, hard to remove and it doesn't conduct electricity. Clean the communtator, Goo Gone works for me, or TV tuner cleaner if you can still find it. The brushes are pure carbon which is slippery like graphite, oil not required.
However, to clean the commutators the oil has worked. I will remove this oil with Goo Gone, once I have had an opportunity.
I have found it much better to use CRC 2-26 to clean commutators than goo gone. It is made for electrical contacts.
johnboy out.........................................
from Saskatchewan, in the Great White North..
We have met the enemy, and he is us............ (Pogo)
Yes, the motor is usually to blame for blue box Athearn running poorly or noisily or chirping etc. Cleaning, polishing the commutator seems to be one of the main improvements or fixes. I've even read where people disassembled the motor, put the shaft into their drill chuck and spun it to polish it. For cleaning I used the old Radio Shack TV tuner cleaner but I think it was discontinued due to human exposure issues, carbon tetrachloride IIRC. maybe there is a decent substitute?
Maybe that CRC stuff mentioned above, would work. The old RS TV tuner cleaner was basically contact cleaner.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
All I can say is using a small drop of oil on the commutator, running the loco in both directions for about an hour made my two locos run much better. I would also suggest cleaning the commutator after having done this with what ever cleaning material you feel appropriate. In my case I used Goo Gone and it did just fine.
Hi,
Been following this thread with interest as I was a BB loco fan for literally decades. I don't have any now, but I recall that making sure the carbon brushes were OK - and there was good tension on the springs - was a must in tuning them up. While they are not state of the art, one can work on them and keep them running "forever".
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central