Wobble / Rocking on LGB 2015 after reassembling

[curtis]

Forumers, I've come seeking your communal wisdom.

Yesterday, I opened up an old LGB 2015 to prepare it for digitisation. After testing the motor block with just the wheels (no rodding etc), I noticed a wobble. Attributing this to me having the gears out of alignment I stripped it back and checked but everything looked in order. I've included a video below.

(Please excuse the soddy soldering job)

I had been following this video from BAMBAM. I did a similar thing a few weeks ago with the tender but haven't had any trouble. When checking the orientation of the gears / wheels all looks good. I'm wondering what I may have missed?

I have a video of the loco running from a few months back and although there is a slight rock it is barely noticeable so I'm reasonably sure it is something I have done.

 

[PhilP]

Couple of things come to mind :

Does that block have the tiny thrust bearings? - Have you lost one of them, perhaps?

Try removing the wheels on one side, and refit them 180 degrees from original position.
I know it will change which cylinder is leading, but it does not matter on a model.

PhilP.

 

[Dan]

Did you remove the wheel from the axle? Did you get it on straight, You can use a hair dryer to heat up the plastic hub and then straighten it out.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

If the wheels were not straight on the axles, I would think it would be easy to see in that video, look at each wheel, and see if the distance between the back of the wheel and the motor block varies, easy to see.

I don't see it. What I see is the block "walking" side to side due to the difference between the "gauge" of the rolling road and the gauge of the wheels.

Try putting some weight on top of the motor block and see what happens.

 

[curtis]

Couple of things come to mind :

Does that block have the tiny thrust bearings? - Have you lost one of them, perhaps?

Try removing the wheels on one side, and refit them 180 degrees from original position.
I know it will change which cylinder is leading, but it does not matter on a model.

PhilP.

Thurst bearings are the washer-like disks with grooves. I did it apart again and all where there.

I may have, unintentionally, changed the positing when rebuilding.

Did you remove the wheel from the axle? Did you get it on straight, You can use a hair dryer to heat up the plastic hub and then straighten it out.

That was what my initial concern was, I was almost certain it was

If the wheels were not straight on the axles, I would think it would be easy to see in that video, look at each wheel, and see if the distance between the back of the wheel and the motor block varies, easy to see.

I don't see it. What I see is the block "walking" side to side due to the difference between the "gauge" of the rolling road and the gauge of the wheels.

Try putting some weight on top of the motor block and see what happens.

Greg, I think you were right here. I actually took the motor block out the tender and ran that on the rolling road. I found it wobbled too. I (carefully) reassembled the boiler part of the loco and with all the weights added it ran fine.

I think I ended up chasing ghosts of a wobble because I was a little paranoid about not reassembling correctly and damaging something.

Really appreciate the input, everyone!

 

[Paul2727]

Thurst bearings are the washer-like disks with grooves. I did it apart again and all where there.

I'm not sure if you and PhilP are talking about the same bearings, the only ones I'm aware of in the old clamshell blocks are the 2.5mm ball bearings at each end of the motor shaft, which prevent the end float of the motor shaft. They are often hidden in excess grease and are easily misplaced if the motor is removed.
Paul.

 

[dunnyrail]

Did you try it on the blocks before pulling apart? I know everything on my testing rollers wobbles a bit so likely that is the issue that you have?

 

[Greg Elmassian]

I'd suggest looking at the video full screen again.

You can see the motor block wandering side to side on the rollers, look at the wheel flange in relation to the bottom right roller.

One wheel, nearest the green wire, has a small bit of wobble, but these are not perfect engines.

It's good enough.

Greg

 

[GAP]

I'd suggest looking at the video full screen again.

You can see the motor block wandering side to side on the rollers, look at the wheel flange in relation to the bottom right roller.

One wheel, nearest the green wire, has a small bit of wobble, but these are not perfect engines.

It's good enough.

Greg

I agree with Greg about the guage of the motor block compared to the rolling road.

I would like to add that the "wobble" may also be in part because the traction tyre is not perfectly round.

Is it possible to run it on a length of rail and see if the wobble is as pronounced.

As Greg says these are not prefect and a small wobble would add to the charm of a narrow guage loco.

 

[curtis]

Did you try it on the blocks before pulling apart? I know everything on my testing rollers wobbles a bit so likely that is the issue that you have?

I had yes, and it didn't wobble (at least not when fully assembled). I didn't test out just the motor though. After reassembling (fully) there isn't a wobble now.

I think based on the feedback here I may have been over sensitive to the wobble. If you wise folks are saying it's good enough and I can't see it when running - I'm content!