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 Posted - April 28 2013 : 4:48:22 PM
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Whats the main cause of death to the Tyco power torque? I know heat is a enemy and heat will weaken magnets. Lets say I have a good armature and some re-charged magnets, would it run once more?
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - April 28 2013 : 5:00:33 PM
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You can get Slot car magnets to replace the Power Torque ones, same design. They fit right in and work fine. The main killer I imagine is the wiring in the armature, as it overheats, it conducts less and less. Once the copper has been toasted too long, it's too weak to conduct the field strength needed. And since the Power Torque armature has a longer shaft for a gear, and is also smaller diameter than the slot car variety, you can't just buy another one. They're unique to the PT motor. There may be someone out there who rewinds armatures, it used to be an art form for slot car racers to do their own windings. Finer wire with more turns seemed to produce more power, but were subject to burn-out more,too. Anyway, if you can find another armature with unburnt wires, and you can get replacement magnets which ARE the same size as the old Aurora slot car magnets, you can get it to run again. The armature is the main snag as far as replacement goes. There's just no other option at this point.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - April 28 2013 : 5:06:05 PM
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I may look up a person who does armature rewinding. How would I go about checking the windings?
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
Edited by - Redneck Justin on April 28 2013 5:08:43 PM
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Posted - April 28 2013 : 7:06:16 PM
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Also, what does cause the windings and the motor to overheat? Its from running too hard I guess? What about one size larger wire?
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - April 28 2013 : 7:31:00 PM
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quote:Also, what does cause the windings and the motor to overheat? Its from running too hard I guess? What about one size larger wire?
Originally posted by Redneck Justin - April 28 2013 : 7:06:16 PM
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Well, pulling a large load with that smallish motor is one way it overheats. When the magnets get weaker over time, then the armature windings work harder and get hotter with the electrical field being stressed more with the weaker magnets is another way.
Far as wire size, the thicker it is, the less windings you can get on it, and it doesn't generate the most powerful field. You have to balance the size of the wire with the load design. In other words, don't try to pull 20-car consists with it, because it wasn't designed to handle that load, you see maybe 4-6 cars in the Tyco sales lit, because that's all they can really handle. Now if you upgrade the wheels and axles to metal which roll better, you can pull more. The plastic axles just have too much resistance, and the more you add, the more pull it takes.
Shaking the dust out of my memory, it seems to me there was a special cross-winding "trick" that would generate a more powerful electrical field from the armature, rather than just wind the layers on straight one above the other. I read that somewhere in a slot car article somewhere, years ago. Sort of like the skewed armatures that are common today, but that's a physical lead trick that helps the armature pull itself around easier. I'm not sure if the skewed winding trick is a still viable trick or not. And not sure if thicker wire would give enough power, would be an interesting experiment to try.
Bottom line is, I'm no expert on the motors, but I have rebuilt some PT's with Aurora or Tyco slot car parts and been successful with it, far as magnets and brushes are concerned. The armature is a real killer, since I've never tried to rewind one before. I just bought spares off of Ebay a few years ago, so I have some parts to replace any burnt out or damaged armatures for now. Might be the best course to buy junker / clunkers to scavenge for parts. To test armatures accurately, you really need what is called a Low Ohm Meter, it can detect the slight increase in resistance through the windings. Cheap Multimeters can't really do that function, as they are not precise enough, and the Low Ohmmeter is not a cheap device, either. I don't even have one, as there is little need for that for me. Good luck with your rebuilds, Justin
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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