|
|
 Posted - December 13 2010 : 11:45:11 PM
|
My latest Ebay purchases arrived, an all-metal Tyco Shark with Tyco imprinted on the side in blue, on a silver paint. It didn't run out of the mailing box. The OTHER reason I bid was a Penn Line midget, an 0-4-0, it didn't run either. So, I took them upstairs to my test track/work area, and proceeded to check them out.
The Penn Line apparently has the frame riveted to the body from the factory, with extra counter-sunk holes for screws later on, I guess. One rivet holds the front of the chassis to the body, and there's two tabs which go into the rear of the body. I think I'm going to have to grind or drill out that front rivet to get to the motor. I got nothing on the track, so I touched the power to the brushes directly, and it turned over, very slow at first, then a bit faster. Still slow, though. At least it ran.
The Tyco didn't move or hum at first. I had to take it apart, and even probing the brushes directly, it didn't want to move much. So I took the brushes out, burnished the copper armature pads, and cleaned alot of gunk off the brushes. I reinstalled them, and NOW the motor fired up and ran when I touched the brush tension wires with power. Yeah! That's more like it. Reinstalling the running gear, I tried it on the track - no power. Hmm. Guess I need to clean the wheels, etc. Did that, also relocated the ground wire from the shell ground to a threaded hole right on the rear truck assembly. Not sure if it was supposed to go there or not, but I figured a more direct contact location would help. It did - the Mantua shark now does try to run, and will move for awhile, but still is very slow and can die. so I guess it still needs some work. But now at least they both show promise of returning to life on the track.
If anyone has any experience with the Penn Line midget, I'd like to know if I absolutely HAVE to grind off the mounting rivet up front. It seems there's no other way to get to the motor other than remove the head to get the chassis off the body. If so, off with it's head.  I really like this little '50s' engine by Penn Line, and I got a Tyco mantua Shark to boot with it, for $28. I'll post pics later.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
|
Country:  USA ~
Posts: 3974 ~
Member Since: January 04 2009 ~
Last Visit: January 11 2019
|
Alert Moderator
|
|
|
|
|
|
Home
Forums
Events Calendar
Forum Admins & Mods
Register
