Just thought I'd post this so you would be aware! There is potentially a poor mesh between the idler gear and drive gear mounted on the drive axles of these locos. Circled in red in the photo below is what I'm describing.
This is actually a new replacement I recently put on. It is a better mesh than the original which had less than half the width of both drive gears engaged! The corners of the original drive and idler gears wore off as a result. The gears began to slip under the lightest load. As long as I had the gear box open for these photos I tweeked both drive gears a bit more by driving them about another mm or so to the left on the drive axle. The next photo shows the mesh circled in yellow of the "adjusted" gear.
You need to be careful not to move the gear too much or the axle side play will be eliminated.
I should caution that the drive gear might break when trying to adjust its position on the axle. Don't ask how I know!
I broke one while attempting to move the gear without removing one of the wheels from the axle first. I ended up using a socket as a driver to position another new drive gear. The wheel was easily removed from the axle with a small pulley puller. What was left of the broken gear was removed. Then a new drive gear was tapped onto the axle. A socket was positioned against the gear hub and over the axle and tapped with a hammer to drive the gear into final position. The removed wheel was put back on the axle after carefully checking that the wheel quartering matched the other drive set and the jackshaft counterweights.
If your loco shows a similar poor gear mesh you might want to have replacement gears on hand if you attempt this adjustment. I happened to have extras purchased when I did the original gear replacement on my 24450. The drive gears are 38 tooth Champex-Linden part no. CL30351. The idler gears are LGB part no. 62007.
This problem could have been avoided altogether by LGB/Märklin simply by making the idler gear wider where it engages axle drive gear. There appears to be plenty of space in the gearbox!
I should mention that the gears on my old 2045, which has a similar gearbox, were matched up much better from the factory and it has not manifested the early gear failure my 24450 experienced.
This is actually a new replacement I recently put on. It is a better mesh than the original which had less than half the width of both drive gears engaged! The corners of the original drive and idler gears wore off as a result. The gears began to slip under the lightest load. As long as I had the gear box open for these photos I tweeked both drive gears a bit more by driving them about another mm or so to the left on the drive axle. The next photo shows the mesh circled in yellow of the "adjusted" gear.
You need to be careful not to move the gear too much or the axle side play will be eliminated.
I should caution that the drive gear might break when trying to adjust its position on the axle. Don't ask how I know!
I broke one while attempting to move the gear without removing one of the wheels from the axle first. I ended up using a socket as a driver to position another new drive gear. The wheel was easily removed from the axle with a small pulley puller. What was left of the broken gear was removed. Then a new drive gear was tapped onto the axle. A socket was positioned against the gear hub and over the axle and tapped with a hammer to drive the gear into final position. The removed wheel was put back on the axle after carefully checking that the wheel quartering matched the other drive set and the jackshaft counterweights.If your loco shows a similar poor gear mesh you might want to have replacement gears on hand if you attempt this adjustment. I happened to have extras purchased when I did the original gear replacement on my 24450. The drive gears are 38 tooth Champex-Linden part no. CL30351. The idler gears are LGB part no. 62007.
This problem could have been avoided altogether by LGB/Märklin simply by making the idler gear wider where it engages axle drive gear. There appears to be plenty of space in the gearbox!
I should mention that the gears on my old 2045, which has a similar gearbox, were matched up much better from the factory and it has not manifested the early gear failure my 24450 experienced.
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