Bachmann Lyn running probs (or is it lack of amps/oomph)

[adeshers]

I'm currently renovating a Bachmann Lyn obtained last autumn off a forum member (thanks Giles). I've added some weight in the side tanks (the originals were missing) but when it came to testing the loco it would only go in fits and starts (no spoonerisms please ). Taking the weights out the loco will run fine. Attach a few wagons and its back to the kangaroo juice :wits:


Now my test track is powered by an LGB starter set transformer (1 amp max I think). Do I need more oomph for the Bachmann Lyn??

 

[LittleRedTrain]

I had a similar problem with mine when I first got it. After giving the loco a good oil round, it became a lot lot better.

 

[Gizzy]

I had one of these which I ran on a 1 Amp LGB controller?

I would first check the gear meshing and quartering, then see if maybe the motor is drawing too much current under load. Might be that the motor is jiggered....

 

[adeshers]

I had a similar problem with mine when I first got it. After giving the loco a good oil round, it became a lot lot better.

I'll give that a whirl. Thanks for the tip.

 

[ntpntpntp]

hmm.... should run fine on a 1amp controller. As advised above, check the quartering, give it a light oil round. check all the wheels are nice and clean and picking up and you haven't accidentally reversed polarity on one of the pony truck pickups?

My Baldwin's one of the smoothest slow runners I've got, especially now that it's chipped (growls a bit though 'cos it's only a cheap gearbox). The wheels get dirty very quickly on mine - poor quality plating.

 

[mickb]

hmm.... should run fine on a 1amp controller. As advised above, check the quartering, give it a light oil round. check all the wheels are nice and clean and picking up and you haven't accidentally reversed polarity on one of the pony truck pickups?

My Baldwin's one of the smoothest slow runners I've got, especially now that it's chipped (growls a bit though 'cos it's only a cheap gearbox). The wheels get dirty very quickly on mine - poor quality plating.

Hi you might want to get to the motor ( a bit of dismantling required but achievable ) and put a drop of oil on the motor bearings. I got one off ebay, possibly never run and it hardly moved to start with. Oiled the motor bearings and then it ran without any problems.
Mick

 

[adeshers]

I've made a little progress. I've lubricated the gears and linkages (I didn't feel competent in stripping it right down to the motor) and cleaned all the contact surfaces on all wheelsets. Now with the 1 amp controller it will pull 5 wagons without any hint of jerkiness but then it slips because it cannot get traction. Adding weights to the side tanks helps and increases the load up to 7 wagons before it starts it's stop/start act. Changing to a 5 amp supply and controlled using a Train Engineer seems to make haulage a lot easier up to 9 wagons before it grinds to a halt. I know it's not very scientific but does this sound about right for a 'Lyn'?

 

[MR SPOCK]

I dont have any idea what a loco like this would do , but I have got one of those LGB power things rated at 1 amp, and they are as good as useless, mine will shut down in one direction after about a minute and the other direction will stop and start in fits and starts, ( a Spoonerism would be more accurate) after selling one loco as dead in the water the replacement started doing the same I suspected the poxy orange box, I now only use it to check that I have my LED's wired up correctly,​

 

[adeshers]

I dont have any idea what a loco like this would do , but I have got one of those LGB power things rated at 1 amp, and they are as good as useless, mine will shut down in one direction after about a minute and the other direction will stop and start in fits and starts, ( a Spoonerism would be more accurate) after selling one loco as dead in the water the replacement started doing the same I suspected the poxy orange box, I now only use it to check that I have my LED's wired up correctly,​

Now that's a possibility I had not considered 8| (pauses for more thought).

Thanks Mr Spock

 

[Martino]

I have a Lyn which runs DCC, however it also has problems with stopping and starting and always has had. This is the second Lyn I've had. The first was OK but fried its motor. That one has donated its body to a new a project. The second one despite having been chipped still is erratic. It stops for no apparent reason but just touching it starts it off again. I've come to the conclusion (after oiling, cleaning wheels, general fettling) that it's something to do with the bogies and the contacts in them. Despite cleaning, re wiring etc, they are still unpredictable. My solution may be to add weight to them as the spring mount doesn't seem to work well.
Mine also seems to 'waddle' so I think they have inconsistent chassis.
Some I've heard off are very smooth and reliable, others seem to have all sorts of issues. I may have a 'Friday' build!

I'd be interested to hear of your progress and fixes you have.

 

[C&S]

An interesting debate. As I owned the Lyn in question before Adeshers, perhaps some thoughts on loco and power source might help.

I got the loco from a friend - don't know if it had ever run, but suspect not much. Original owner had stripped the body back down to a kit, but luckily left the motor block and motion intact. I reassembled it as far as possible, but never added couplings so never had haulage problems; it always ran OK on my small layout, but just proved to be too large for general operations, hence its disposal.

However - it was run on 1amp controllers (one LGB, one ancient H&M). At a recent operating session we suddenly got a stop-start problem that I'd not encountered before (all other locos are Porters and an MDC powered diesel). We had been running a "visitor" which may have needed more juice, and temporarily stung the local controllers. After the session ended the problem went away, once back to using only small locos.

 

[Gizzy]

I've made a little progress. I've lubricated the gears and linkages (I didn't feel competent in stripping it right down to the motor) and cleaned all the contact surfaces on all wheelsets. Now with the 1 amp controller it will pull 5 wagons without any hint of jerkiness but then it slips because it cannot get traction. Adding weights to the side tanks helps and increases the load up to 7 wagons before it starts it's stop/start act. Changing to a 5 amp supply and controlled using a Train Engineer seems to make haulage a lot easier up to 9 wagons before it grinds to a halt. I know it's not very scientific but does this sound about right for a 'Lyn'?

Seems as if it it may be drawing more than 1 Amp under load.

When using 5 Amps from the Train Engineer, it is still grinding to a halt, so I suspect the motor could well be jiggered.

I realise that you didn't strip down to the motor, but if you can do this, or find someone willing to do it for you, you may find that the motor could be contaminated by grease or other dirt. It may be possible to clean the commutator and windings of this motor, but others will be able to advise if this can be done.

 

[adeshers]

I had one of these which I ran on a 1 Amp LGB controller?

I would first check the gear meshing and quartering, then see if maybe the motor is drawing too much current under load. Might be that the motor is jiggered....

Thanks for the tips Gizzy.
Looking at the quartering it seems to be out by 90 degrees (so it's 'halved' not quartered ).
I've stripped it down to the chassis minus the bogies. I've freed the motion linkage but it is still attached to the wheels. Looking at the exploded drawing the wheels appear to be on axles that have been squared to fit into the worm gear. I'm hoping to remove the wheels off one side, turn through 90 degrees and re-fit. Does anyone know how the wheels are attached? Do they just pull off or do I have to unscrew the miniscule hexagon headed bolt thingy attaching the linkage to the wheel first? Any advice will be gratefully accepted and taken on-board.
If I can get it apart I'll get at the motor and give it a good clean (looks a bit grotty in there from what little I can see.

 

[adeshers]

Right, I think I've got it sussed thanks to Gizzy and Nick [ntpntpntp] who both mentioned the quartering .
As per my post above the quartering was out by 90 degrees. Getting it apart in the end prove to be fairly easy as the fake bolts holding the cranks to the drive wheels are just a push fit. The wheels are a push fit and squared off to fit the worm gear so it was a simple case of pulling it apart and putting it back together the right way. The ends of the axles are also squared so the fitting of the cranks is easy as well. Now with added weight it will haul all my thirteen wagons with either the LGB 1 amp or the TE 5 amp controllers/transformers.

The loco now weighs about the same as my LGB Toy Train 'Otto'. Does anyone know what the weight should be? I've got 22 strips of roofing lead in the side tanks and space for more but I don't want to overdo it .

Thanks to you all again.

 

[ntpntpntp]

Yay, well done!
As far as weight goes, pretty sure the side tanks on mine are fairly well stuffed with lead-ish type stuff. It feels nice and hefty to lift.

 

[adeshers]

Yay, well done!
As far as weight goes, pretty sure the side tanks on mine are fairly well stuffed with lead-ish type stuff. It feels nice and hefty to lift.

Nick, if you get chance could you put your Lyn on some scales and let me know total weight please? It would help me a lot

Thanks in anticipation.

 

[ntpntpntp]

4 pound 0.9 ozzies.
Wanted to post a pic but can't get the full post editor to display properly in IE8 or Chrome on my laptop nor Firefox on my netbook. Yuk!

 

[adeshers]

4 pound 0.9 ozzies.
Wanted to post a pic but can't get the full post editor to display properly in IE8 or Chrome on my laptop nor Firefox on my netbook. Yuk!

Cheers Nick, mines topping out at 4 pounds 6 ounces so not far off. With a little more bits to add (domes, smokebox door, tank fillers, chimney) it should all be about right.

 

[DoctorM]

Quoting adeshers

"...if you get chance could you put your Lyn on some scales and let me know total weight please?"

I have one of theses in bits at the moment (well, for the past two years in reality).

Each of the side tank weights (which appear to be cast iron painted black) weighs exactly 13oz - approx 370g.

 

[Gizzy]

Well done Ade?

Good to hear you are now sorted....