Wheels/pick Up Issues-bachmann Locos...
- Thread starter andyspencer
- Start date
Dave Elbourne
Registered
Thank you for this thread. I've used your method to fit skates to a Lima O-gauge mech-powered conversion (32mm gauge), running on Faller E-train track (think > Lgb R1 points and equally large plastic frogs), with great success and now enjoy faultless slow-speed running through the points on my dual gauge micro (two shelves) layout
D
Deleted member 3553
Guest
Interesting reading as usual and I think answers the problems my end..........the wheels on my 2 Lií Bach. engines are at the very best "shoddy" ......no need to mention country of origin........even my 84 year eyes can see the uneven appearance of the metal......put up the glass and it looks like old fire grate casting.........have adapted my Trix wheel cleaner to run on each side which helps.....my next move is to mould up some lead to fit inside loco's which are too light, and I think I will look at fitting skates..........If not much success, I am running 2 mock-up engines on Taurus motor blocks and am more than happy with the performance of them..........intend measuring up Li'l locos with a view to changing the drives to Taurus.......
Rhinochugger
Retired Oik
I haven't touch the l'il Big Haulers, but while I don't like skates, an 0-4-0 is always going to struggle.
It might be worth putting pickups in the tender - then you've got eight wheels collecting power. A little bit of weight also helps - so does battery conversion
It might be worth putting pickups in the tender - then you've got eight wheels collecting power. A little bit of weight also helps - so does battery conversion
beavercreek
Travel, Art, Theatre, Music, Photography, Trains
I suppose there is a glorious anachronism in saying that I model at 1:20.3 but am not a rivet counter
You are just living it large, Rhino.........
I have tried sundry Battery Conversions using Bachmann Chassis. The first one was with 2 Tram Chassis in my Coffee Stirrer RHB Styled Railcar. Using Aristo RC system. It ran so lumpy that I Changed them out for USA bogies. Result perfect running.
The latest has been a 0 Gauge SR EMU that I picked up at Reading this Year for a friend. I batterized it with Timpden RC and again it just would not run properly. So I gave up and it is now running OK with just On/Off Forward/Reverse Control. Fortunately I think this will be OK as it is pretty slow with 2 Motor Units and should just trundle round his circuit in an acceptable way.
Anyone out there had good results with Bachmann using Battery RC? Let us know what you did if you were successful please.
JonD
The latest has been a 0 Gauge SR EMU that I picked up at Reading this Year for a friend. I batterized it with Timpden RC and again it just would not run properly. So I gave up and it is now running OK with just On/Off Forward/Reverse Control. Fortunately I think this will be OK as it is pretty slow with 2 Motor Units and should just trundle round his circuit in an acceptable way.
Anyone out there had good results with Bachmann using Battery RC? Let us know what you did if you were successful please.
JonD
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Melbournesparks
Registered
My RC Bachmann 2-4-2 runs very smoothly, but it is the new version which has a much more refined motor block than the older versions.
I have two trams running on overhead power with the standard Bachmann motor blocks. They certainly aren't great, but can be made to run fairly well. Here are some of the things I learned:
- On one of mine the bottom cover doesn't quite hold the motor in place properly, allowing the gears to be slightly out of mesh. Putting a small bit of foam between the cover and the motor helped a lot.
- Like anything really lubrication is everything, sometimes the factory lubrication is a bit hit and miss.
- The pickup brushes produce a lot of drag if not well lubricated with graphite. Definitely remove them if going RC. On one block I replaced them with brushes that contact the axle instead.
- Traction capacitors help a lot with smooth running. Shouldn't be required for RC, but might be worth checking what sort output the motor controller gives. I suspect they might not like some square wave PWM.
Rhinochugger
Retired Oik
Thanks for that, the latest are 0 Gauge Motor Bogies from who knows what. But point taken re Pickup Wires and they have already been bent out of the way if ever needed again for Pickup. These Bogies are the old type with a central motor and spur gears to the Wheels much like the old 00 ones were like. Probably quite Carp really.
JonD
JonD
Beddhist
Motorcycle travel, trains
I have a Devonport converted to Airwire with a Zimo HO-size decoder. Runs smooth as silk and pulls long trains up my 4% grade. My railtruck with the same combo wasn't so successful, but probably has something to do with my wiring, el. motor noise interfering with the signal and the gear box is not much good.
ntpntpntp
Registered
Yeah, the Davenport is good little hauler. These Inter-modals are quite heavy but it handles them as if not there!
Gavin Sowry
Garden Railroader and Raconteur
Spot on advice there Greg. At last weekends running on JR's railway, my Climax showed symptoms of 'I've got a poor pick up somewhere here'. I know it wasn't a track fault, because my Rail Truck ran flawlessly, and, that is the most temperamental item I have.
Sure enough, I put the loco in its cradle (the top half of the foam box it came in), and found a crook pick up at the second touch with the 12V. Off with the cover plate, test again, contact dead between back of wheel, and the bus bar on the frame. Diagnosis, faulty spring. Sure enough, took out the contact barrel, to find the spring had rusted. I have it on good authority that rust is a poor conductor of electricity. Fortunately, I had some spares at hand. Replace, reassemble, quick lube while we are at it, and back on track where all really useful engines should be.
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Gavin Sowry
Garden Railroader and Raconteur
Following on from my last post above, for some time, the headlight, and the firebox glow on my Climax had both gone out. They didn't just stop working, but rather, intermittent failures, until their fatal demise.
Last night, buoyed with my recent success with fixing the power truck pick up, I decided to check out the wiring. When I took off the truck, the frame bolster looked a tad dirty, so off that came for a clean.... that's when I discovered that the power pickup from truck to frame (and thus to circuit board) was using the same parts as the truck, and, one of them had seized, i.e. barrel had clogged up, spring not pushing the contact plunger, Clean, reassemble, put on track, and behold, there was light. It was dark at the time.
Last night, buoyed with my recent success with fixing the power truck pick up, I decided to check out the wiring. When I took off the truck, the frame bolster looked a tad dirty, so off that came for a clean.... that's when I discovered that the power pickup from truck to frame (and thus to circuit board) was using the same parts as the truck, and, one of them had seized, i.e. barrel had clogged up, spring not pushing the contact plunger, Clean, reassemble, put on track, and behold, there was light. It was dark at the time.
Looks like Bachman Stock is suffering from Manufacter and poor Service issues. Reminds me that we do tend to run on and on with little thought of an annual Service. Perhaps a good Annual Service would be good policy for Heavily used items. Not just Bachman but other makes as well.
JonD
JonD
Amen to that!
Nearly time to rescusitate the 'Thomas' stock at Chasewater..
This site in 'storage' for most of the year.. Above the working part of the Heritage Centre (read loco-shed!).. So it needs a clean, and some TLC to the drive-train, before it can be run for December.
James Day
Guano Corner Rly - Runs weekly - Guano permitting
The Thomas range locos are great when they work well, but the wheels do tend to wear relatively quickly. Once they are worn the current collecting properties are much diminished. The pick up from the wheels is passed through brass bearing bushes to internal wipers.
In just over six years my Thomas is on his second set of wheels whilst Percy is on his third. Luckily the wheel sets are supplied assembled and complete with new bearings. Wheel sets for most of the rest of the range cannot be obtained, although some wheels for Emily were available at one time.
I clean my wheels with meths as much as I can to prolong the life of each set, as ordering from The States and then paying customs charges on the parts arriving here is a little painful. That said at least Thomas and Percy wheels are available and ordering several sets of each at a time can help optimise the order.
Whilst my track powered Playmobil and LGB loco wheels wear too, the rate appears to be much slower than my Thomas series. The skates really help with good collection too. I wish Thomas had skates, but re-engineering him to take them is beyond me!
James
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chris m01
Registered
My Bachmann Connie and Shay are track powered and have never given any issues. My smaller Bachmann locos had two problems. Some did seem to have the problem of wheels getting dirt quickly and also some struggled to run slowly over the point frogs. So my Thomas, 2-4-2, Davenport, 2-6-0 and tram are all now battery power radio control. All were pretty easy to convert using 10 either AA or AAA batteries to give 12 volts. I use Deltang selecta radio control which is cost effective because you only need one transmitter and the loco has a combined receiver and speed controller which works out cheaper than separate units. All of these work extremely well, they run very smoothly and will go down to a very slow crawl.
B attery power means no cleaning of track or wheels and no worries about wear on the wheels.
B attery power means no cleaning of track or wheels and no worries about wear on the wheels.
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