Dead steam question....

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Tom_Wade
Posts: 95
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:15 pm
Location: Hope, Indiana

Dead steam question....

Post by Tom_Wade »

A friend of mine has an LGB G guage "steam" engine pulling a short consist of Coca-Cola cars around the ceiling of his resturant. Lately, when you first fire it up it runs fine for about five minutes, then slows down and starts squeaking. The transformer has to be set to a lot higher voltage now then when new. Also, the four brass rubbing blocks which contact the track have deep grooves cut into them.
Any idea how to cure this problem? Any idea where would be a better place to post this question?

Thanks

Tom Wade
Bob_Starr
Posts: 24
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:25 am
Location: Lake Arrowhead, Ca
Contact:

Re: Dead steam question....

Post by Bob_Starr »

Yep! Electric trains [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif"%20alt="[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif"%20alt="[/img][img]/ubb/images/graemlins/confused.gif"%20alt="[/img] Oh My! Thing is worn out!
Go here: My LargeScale.com
Bob
willy

Re: Dead steam question....

Post by willy »

Seems to me, the loco has a lack of lubrication. LGB does have service centers for this. If you go and do a search for LGB America (?) you should be able to find a service center in your area. Cost is minimal.

-willy-
themnax
Posts: 104
Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 11:36 am
Location: a small green planet in a distant galaxy (actualy roseville california)

Re: Dead steam question....

Post by themnax »

my thought would be strip it down, lube it good, (with a really light oil like sewing maching or musical instrument valve or one of the labell products made for that or lgb's own), clean all the electrical contact surfaces (if it's getting power from the track you'll want to clean the top of the rail surface too). while you've got it appart check and see if the brushes in the motor are ok or if the're worn down to where they need replacing (and if needed do so). that's the general drill for things like that.
more advanced things you might consider is radio control and running it off a big battery in a boxcar or baggage car. this ought to be a bit more reliable then running it off the track. g-scale being big enough to actualy do that practicaly. of course you COULD replace it with a live steam g-scale. no electrical contact problems that way. just things like blowing down when you start her up and so forth. ... (on general principals everything that's gots moving parts likes to be lubed once in a while - whatever its power source ... ~;)
stay well and keep doing the wonderful things that you do ... ~;)
Bill_Gardei
Posts: 611
Joined: Wed Jan 08, 2003 10:03 am
Location: Columbia TN, USA

Re: Dead steam question....

Post by Bill_Gardei »

Hmmm:

Sounds like the motor armature has some turns shorted. It won't keep the motor
from running, but it will run hot. (take off the shell and see how hot it gets.)
If this is the case, the motor shaft will expand and begin to fit the bushings
tight and start squeaking. The extra current required can cause deplating or
excess wear on the pickup shoes, but I'd bet against this one.

Remedy #1. Always try oiling the bushings first (in case it isn't the motor).
Remedy #2. Make sure something else isn't binding.
Remedy #3. Rewind or replace the armature or motor.

Good luck. -- Bill
Tom_Wade
Posts: 95
Joined: Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:15 pm
Location: Hope, Indiana

Re: Dead steam question....

Post by Tom_Wade »

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Problem is mostly that David works two jobs, and so is at work about 14 hours per day. And I suspect that his mechanical skills are limited.
I found the LGB website and got the 800 number, and he's going to call them today.
Worn out? Probably. This train just sits on a oval of track and runs around the room all day long at about 20 mph scale.
I think he is more interested in having a pro service the engine than try to do too much to it himself.
I'll keep you informed.

Tom
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