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Other Great HO Trains

Mantua Motive Power & Rolling Stock

Big six problems

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SCVR66
Big Boy

Status: offline

Posted - May 29 2012 : 01:15:50 AM

I acquired an undecorated mantua big six off eBay back in February. I posted a topic about it then. When it arrived it needed a wheel cleaning, lube job, cleaning on the tender hand rails, and a drawbar. I did all o that the second it arrived. I used SCVR #5s drawbar which at the time she was still being rebuilt and I didn't think she would done anytime soon. Boy was I wrong. The newly acquired big six SCVR 14, was used occasionally for 2 months until I needed #5s new drawbar back cause I had bought a parts supplier and she would need it. After that she had no drawbar and couldn't run. I put her outside the SCVR main shop on a newly built track projecting out the back door. And there she sat for 2-3 months. Then I decided to find screws that could fit the drawbar that came with SCVR 14 when I got her. At the time when I got her i didn't have a screw to do the bigger drawbar. Today I located the 2 screws I needed and within 5 minutes she was oiled and moving for the first time in months! Shortly after I few runs up and down my small layout her motor started locking up. I removed the metal boiler and freed the motor. After a few inches it locked up again and it would keep getting hot so it was hard to free the motor with my fingers. I oiled the armature shaft with labelled 107 as It needs, then I put the boiler back on thinking I fixed it. Shortly after it again locked up so I kept the throttle on for 1 minute then all the sudden the cab was starting to get engulfed with smoke! The smoke was the motor burning and it smelled awful like burning zync. I shut it off and removed the motor from everything. I took the motor housing off the barrings etc. To clean the barrings and oil them. I put labelle on the top and bottom of the housing to not allow friction. I reassembled it and separately applied power to the motor and it worked like a charm once more. But then a problem with the running gear arose. It wouldn't turn over freely. It was get locked up just like the motor. It would turn half an inch then lock up vice versa in reverse. I oiledthe wheel barrings and axles and all the movin parts but that didn't work. I couldn't see it getting caught on anything so I gave up for now. Sorry for this long ramble but now to the point anon know why the running gear is gettin locked up?

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EM-1
Big Boy

Status: offline

Posted - May 29 2012 : 06:26:44 AM

SCVR,
Look at the frame as if a "birds eye" view over top of the frame, while sitting on your track and see if you can watch the rods, sounds as if you might have a rod bolt sticking out just enough to "catch" the other as it passes! The heads of those 0-80 thread machine screws are hell for this!

To keep this from hapening check to make sure the crosshead slide that the piston slides on is not bent. If so, straighten it, DO NOT bend the rods! This will shorten them and that will tighten their fit to the locomotive.

IF this locomotive is a "T" model, MAKE SURE the electrical contacts thats sprung is NOT bent and behind the driver catching the driver spokes!

As for the drawbar issue, ALL Mantua's use 2-56 thread machine screws! Easily gotten at an ACE Hardware store or something of the same, Don't even try Home Depo, or Lowe's, they don't carry anything smaller then a 4-40 thread machine screw!

With that, I'd check the bearing. Does this locomotive have the "U" shaped brass bearings for the driver axles? Check them for burrs, and if so lightly remove with a round file. OR 400 grit sand paper.

The motor? Take it and remove the whole armature from the motor case, Be sure to stick the magnet to a metal surface to keep it strong! Put the armature in a variable speed drill, and spin it and while spinning it run a "red" scrotchbrite on the shaft, do it to both ends! This will polish the shafts and allow them to spin freely, THEN, as best you can take a Q-tip and clean out the bearings in the motors casing. Remove EVERYTHNG oil, grease, and this should remove the dirt thats built up in there as well.

Reassemble, the rear most part of the motor where the magnet is, be sure to see if there is a small section od felt in the back, pinned between the brass plate that the rear most bearing is and the magnet, this is to hold oil, SOAK it!

The armature now comes time to polish the commutator, using a brass wire wheel spin the armature one direction and in a Dremal spin the brass wire wheel the other and touch the commutaor with it, (The brass wire wheel won't scratch the commutaor plates but will polish them!)

The slots between these copper plates should also be cleaned out, with the back side of a #11 exacto knife blade, GENTLY, NO presure, as your merely dragging out build up and dirt thats gotten in there over time!

Then re-assemble the motor. Take out the brushes, and clean the face of them by use of a Q-tip soaked in Acetone, this will remove dirt and build up on them as well.

I use Acetone as it dries VERY quicky, and won't hurt the motor, and will also clean up left over oil and grease and not smear it!

Test the motor after being back together see if it works....It should if not you might have a weak set of brush springs and they will need replacing.....

On your drivers locking up, does this model have BOTH driver sets metal, or one side plastic one side metal? The quartering could be off just enough to hamper the fuction!

Another thing that might be causing this is an over tightened motor, does the screw that holds the motor in place have a small washer on it? IF not, this is the issue, your worm gear is bottoming out in the axle gear causing it to run hot and or, bind, as to much presure on that screw without the washer will cause it to pull the worm to close to the axle gear which should be about 3/4 tooth contact. Inother words, the worm should be well seated into the axle gear, about 3/4 the tooth length.

This should help!

Keep me posted!

~John

Many have tried to, and failed, ya just can't repair stupid...