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 Posted - December 17 2012 : 5:49:11 PM
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Alright guys, here is the scenario:
I'm rebuilding my dad's Athearn Hi-F locomotives, and I wanted to test if the motor worked. Put the locomotive (sans drive belts) on my Bachmann EZ track test track and wired it up to my Bachmann 6609 power pack. The pack is from a G scale set, but runs the same voltages as HO, in direct current. It's the standard old black brick that Bachmann used in their sets for years. It looks like this one, but with only 2 terminals:
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/7824
So I ran the motor through a range of speeds, to test that the motor would turn. I ran it from around '10mph' where it started turning, until about 60 where the motor sounded like it was griding. I turned it down, and pondered a moment whether it would be oil or a bearing. Up to the bad range, and down a few times.
All of a sudden, the power pack does not run. No voltage. I let it cool off 5 minutes, still doesn't work.
Did I cook the power pack? I thought these things had a thermal circuit breaker, or is that dead after 18 years of service?
I am now aware one does not run motors wide open without load (electrical engineering friend yelled that through the phone). Could this stunt have ruined my dad's athearn motor?
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Posted - December 17 2012 : 7:17:35 PM
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Could very likely have damaged the motor. You need a volt meter to test for power.
*Test the power pack output with no wires attached.
*Then test power to the track with no locomotive on the tracks.
*You can also check the resistance across the leads of the motor brushes.
*And attach leads directly from the power pack to the motor brushes.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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Posted - December 17 2012 : 9:53:55 PM
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Before reading your response, I found my new volt meter and found the power pack to be fine, but rather the wires to the track somehow failed. The motor made some gawd-awful noises upon running again, so I took Dad's advice "you idiot, why didn't you oil it!" Instantly, motor performance improved.
So I wore the wire out beat the motor some, but made it run smoth again. Now if only Uncle Irving had skew-wound motors for his beasts. It appears that the locomotives will live another day, and probably will run best in continous hauling.
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Posted - December 18 2012 : 12:45:26 AM
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Interesting to see the guts of one of those Bachmann packs. It never felt to me like the cheap wire wound rheostats in most cheap power packs, and it's not. The contacts just select between different secondary taps on the transformer.
He has the light bulb / resistor thing wrong though. That's the circuit breaker.
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - December 18 2012 : 10:04:18 AM
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Glad you got it running.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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