Good afternoon ladies and gentleman:
After a 46 year hiatus from Ho model railroading, I am reliving my childhood and coming back to the fold.
Things have certainly changed in that time. So much more to work with. Wonderful.
I am a new member to this forum and am hoping you can help me. I live in Northern Alberta and a few years ago I started collecting a series of train sets manufactured by Mehano and sold under the Presidents Choice label. All but two sets are steam locomotives. I have managed to acquire all the sets and will now start converting the engines to radio frequency control using the Railpro system by Ring engineering.
The first locomotive to be converted will be a Mehano Presidents Choice Mikado steam locomotive. The problem I have is, the motor is dead. I emailed Mehano in Slovenia to order a replacement but, they say they have none. Due to the irregular shape of the front of the motor, I cannot just snap in any replacement motor.
Does anyone here know where I can acquire a new motor for the above locomotive. Or,if you have other ideas, I would love to hear them.
Your help in this matter is appreciated.
Kind regards,
Max
to the Model Railroader Forums, Max!
North West Short Line offers a fairly large array of good quality can motors, and gear boxes, and you should be able to contact them here:
sales@nwsl.com
Wayne
Hi there. I've ordered a few online from Micro-Mark. The quality is not quite as high as NWSL motors, but they are totally acceptable for what you intend to do. They will be better than the original ones from Mehano. You can also try Ebay and get some from China, but don't hold your breath, it will take weeks to get to your doorstep.
To change the motor, you will need to remove the worm gear, and the best tool for this is the NWSL gear puller. Sounds like you have a few locos on the bench, so buying one from NWSL would be my recommendation. And while you're at it, order a motor or two from them . Consider motor size and shaft size for an easy change.
Simon
PS: Once you get your motor, send us a message if you need some installation tips.
If the motor was working last time you used it, it more likely just needs a tune-up. I have a GP18 with the same motor, and it was also "dead" when I first tried running it. After cleaning up the commutator and brush plates to get rid of tarnish/oxidation, it took right off and runs like new!
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Good afternoon and thanks for the responses.
The motor is finished. One of the brushes completely melted the plastic around it.
I will give nw a call and see if they have something to fit.
I actually ordered five motors from china. It took a month to get here. There is one I think I can modify with a Drexel tool to fit the motor housing on the locomotive.
Now the question is, if I use the Chinese five pole motor, do I modify the motor or, the locomotive motor housing?
Your thoughts and suggestions please.
kind regards,
Hi Max. Posting a few pictures of the drive-train might be helpful.
If I recall correctly, Mehano has a plastic brace that holds the motor into place. Unless you can modify that brace, you can remove it entirely using a dremel and build a new plastic support for your new motor. Try to make a support that holds the motor at the right height and angle.
About your new motor, is the shaft the same size as the original? If yes, carefully remove the worm gear from the original motor and CA the gear on the new motor shaft. As mentioned in a previous post, a NWSL gear puller is the best tool for this. NWSL also sells sleeves to compensate for a smaller shaft.
Once you have the gear on, you can "glue" the motor on your styrene support using silicone caulk. A few tries might be necessary to get the right angle.
Your best bet might be to just buy another Mehano 2-8-2 (or other Mehano engine using that motor) and remove the motor. Right now, several are selling on Ebay for $25-30; I suspect the motor itself - if you find one - would cost about the same.
I thought I had a Mehano loco in my "parts" box but I guess it turns out it is a Rivarossi. Does it look anything like yours?
Rivarossi-motor-1 by Edmund, on Flickr
Rivarossi-motor-2 by Edmund, on Flickr
I think I may have one other steamer from that era and I'll take a look later. I used to have quite a few but weeded them out years ago.
Good Luck, Ed
If you go with a new motor, it would be best to modify the frame to fit. Mehano frames are plastic and easy enough to modify for this.
The cheapest way I've found to get a replacement motor is to find a beat up but running AHM center cab switcher. I'm not sure if it runs at the same speed or not, but it does have the same overall design.
Holy man:
thanks guys for all the replies.
I will post some pictures of the original motor and housing.
the motor you show in your photos is nothing like the one in my engine. Mine is a three pole motor, single shaft, 2 mm in diameter and 9 mm. Long.
I have a 5 pole motor from china that looks fairly close to the original. A friend with a lathe will duplicate the cuts in the front plastic housing of the motor to fit the engine motor mount.
if that doesn't work, then I'll cut the engine motor mount and rebuild it to fit a new motor.
I will post pics shortly.
max
carpediem4570the motor you show in your photos is nothing like the one in my engine.
Yes, that was a Rivarossi locomotive. I posted it as a "starting point" since there were no other photos.
Since then I discovered that I do have a Mehano locomotive which I recall was in the "Presidents" series. This is a 2-8-4:
Mehano_motor-side by Edmund, on Flickr
Mehano_motor by Edmund, on Flickr
Would this one look anything like yours?
Mehano_motor-rear by Edmund, on Flickr
Mehano_bottom by Edmund, on Flickr
I'd be glad to send it to you if you could use it. Last time I sent a little package to Canada the cost was about $35 so if you already have motors you bought from eBay that might be a better choice.
Does it look like this?
I took it out of an IHC (Mehano) 2-8-2. I replaced it with one of the ebay motors on the top:
It just took some cutting of the plastic and a little bathtub caulk. If you want the motor let me know and I'll see if I can send it to Canada.
Gary