Today I was operating an old Athearn Blue Box era Amtrak FP45 that I picked up used from Ebay when I noticed two things that were odd about this unit.
First, the locomotive was "wired" backward, whoever had taken it apart last put the trucks in backward causing the locomotive to run the opposite direction of all my other engines.
The second thing that was weird about this engine was the yellow metallic dust that was accumulating on the frame.
So I pulled off the shell of this engine to fix the polarity issue and found this...
The steel electrical clip that connects the two trucks to the motor was rubbing against the brass flywheel in such a way that the flywheel was literally being ground down!
I have never seen this before, has anyone else? Maybe my FP45 was a lathe in a past machine life. Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016Edited by - Srenchin on November 19 2023 12:21:22 AM
Country: USA ~
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Looks like the motor mounts on that end might not be snapped all the way into the frame.
Originally posted by scsshaggy - November 19 2023 : 07:46:48 AM
I'll have to check the motor mounts, I had not considered that! At any rate I replaced the metal clip with quick disconnect wires so the grinding issue is now fixed. The unit now runs like a champ in the right direction! Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016
Country: USA ~
Posts: 818 ~
Member Since: December 26 2009 ~
Last Visit: April 24 2024
The fix would have been as simple as bending the metal clip upwards so it didn't touch the flywheel. But the clips were always the weakest part of the Athearn drive, and you're better off hardwiring the motor to the trucks.
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Posted - November 18 2023 : 10:58:03 PM
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