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 Posted - May 30 2011 : 10:28:18 AM
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Bought a So76 darn mint in box. Seals were intact still! Got it fer 20 in Portsmouth VA. Well, commuter and brushes were burnt beyond repairs! So, had another PT and put her back together. Bench tested the motor it ran fine. Put it on the track and shes dead on the water! Any ideas? Cleaned the wheels and touched them with my alligator clips. The front wheels just ain't pickin' up anything! For once I STOMPED!
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 2:28:51 PM
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did you clean out the axle contact surfaces, too? The axles make contact in the grooves in the engine body, if you just cleaned the wheel rims without taking them out and cleaning out the axle grooves, it might not be making good contact there, either. Only way to be sure is either use an ohmmeter or a bug-light to check for continuity. If the motor parts are burnt that bad, could be it oxidized the contact surfaces badly enough to cause loss of electrical conductivity. worth checking at this point.
Jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 2:34:09 PM
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I swapped out the whole commuter assy. along with the brushes and springs from another running powertorque.
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 2:55:08 PM
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also, it ran on the track before the parts swap. I cleaned the axles and the slots. Nothing still!
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 3:13:45 PM
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ok can't remember if a PT was one side pick up or not but I'll throw this theory out there:
if it is a one side pick up, sounds like a continuity issue. check the wires with a multimeter as they could be broken inside and the insulation is hiding it (had some issues with Humvees so I have some personal knowledge of that)
while you have that multimeter set for continuity check , see if there are any shorts in the system itself sometimes a twist or a turn could hit metal to metal and bingo short city
give that a shot and see what happens
just me Ray... and just because I have Tyco doesn't mean I am not a model railroader
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 5:22:57 PM
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Found my issue. Wrong commuter plate!
" Heck with counting 'em rivets, TRAINS ARE FOR FUN! Not called the Mad Scientist for nothing either!"
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Posted - May 30 2011 : 5:25:38 PM
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quote:ok can't remember if a PT was one side pick up or not
Originally posted by rgcw5Â -Â May 30 2011Â :Â 3:13:45 PM
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Yes, it has to be, otherwise the whole motor chassis would short across both tracks. One side of the axles are insulated, and the other carries the current through the chassis to one brush contact.
Only thing I can think of is the brushes either aren't making contact properly, the brush tension is off, or something else I missed. Isn't much to go wrong with them.
jerry
" When life throws you bananas...it's easy to slip up"
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