Hi All.
Long time no post but here goes.
I've got 4 Hornby Castles at the mo, one excellent, one ok, one poor and one slooooow.
Kenilworth Castle (circa 2012 the DCC one but running on DC) goes well, pulls a full rake and behaves like a GWR express.
Warwick Castle (circa 2008) is ok, slowly plodding but acceptable
I've then got 2 Hogwarts Castles circa 2000 (I bought a second one when the opportunity to buy a full set came up).
The one that arrived today smoked a little and then set off slowly. I've taken it apart, oiled it etc. When I apply electricity directly to the motor it still runs slowly. Does that sound like armature death or have I missed something? Were all the 3 pole ringfield loco driven ones just a bit rubbish?
Anyone got any suggestions as to how to improve the situation?
Thanks.
Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
- Ironduke
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Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
The one what? The Second Hogwarts Castle?Johnincov wrote:The one that arrived today smoked a little and then set off slowly.
Regards
Rob
Rob
Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
Hi. Sorry yes the second Hogwarts Castle.
- Ironduke
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Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
the smoke is not good. did you test the motor while it was removed from the assembly?
If its the same as mine, with the DCC socket, I don't think the motor is serviceable. You will need to replace it if it's faulty.
It is a bugger to get the body back onto the chassis too, due to the spring and tender draw-bar assembly.
Service Sheet
If its the same as mine, with the DCC socket, I don't think the motor is serviceable. You will need to replace it if it's faulty.
It is a bugger to get the body back onto the chassis too, due to the spring and tender draw-bar assembly.
Service Sheet
Regards
Rob
Rob
Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
Hi Rob
Thanks for the reply. Its the older model not DCC ready that I'm having problems with. The DCC one is superb even though I'm running it on DC.
I did power the motor directly using the brush springs retainer and it was still slow. I can completely disassemble it but I'm not sure it's worth the time. I just don't know if this model even went any quicker.
John
Thanks for the reply. Its the older model not DCC ready that I'm having problems with. The DCC one is superb even though I'm running it on DC.
I did power the motor directly using the brush springs retainer and it was still slow. I can completely disassemble it but I'm not sure it's worth the time. I just don't know if this model even went any quicker.
John
Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
The problem with slow running of these models is usually build up of conductive carbon deposits between the armature segments. It is very common. You need to clean the armature, motor face plate, brushes, brush holders. When cleaning the armature, the most important part is the gap between the commutator segments. You may need a very fine pin (shirt pin or similar) to gently clean out the gaps between the commutator segments and then wipe with isopropyl alcohol or similar. You may need to do this more than once - you need to be thorough. Work carefully with the pin to avoid damage. When in good condition, these armatures have a resistance of between 15 - 18 ohms when measured directly across any two commutator segments. Down to 12 ohms is acceptable, below that, you risk running slow, smoke and burn out. I have fixed many of these models very often for this problem. This technique applies to Hornby/Dapol Castle before model was changed to can motors and eventually completely replaced, Hornby/Dapol County before change to can motor, Dapol class 150, Hornby/Dapol class 155, Dapol Transpennine. They all used the same motor.
The flaw with these motors is the drive pinion is on the same side as the commutator and flicks and excess oil on to the commutator that causes the build up of conductive dirt between the commutator segments. You need to keep the gears almost completely free of oil. Most other generally similar ringfield models (Hornby, Lima, Mainline, etc.) have the drive pinion the other side of the motor behind the coils and avoid this problem as the drive pinion is not near the commutator.
The flaw with these motors is the drive pinion is on the same side as the commutator and flicks and excess oil on to the commutator that causes the build up of conductive dirt between the commutator segments. You need to keep the gears almost completely free of oil. Most other generally similar ringfield models (Hornby, Lima, Mainline, etc.) have the drive pinion the other side of the motor behind the coils and avoid this problem as the drive pinion is not near the commutator.
Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
Thank you. That's a really thorough reply. I'll strip and clean it and measure the resistance. Out of curiosity do you know where I can get spare armatures for these models?
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Re: Hornby Castles (loco drive Dapol ones)
If you fail to find spares or carry out repairs to these motors, they can be replaced by the tray eject drive motor for a CD or DVD drive, either salvaged from a failed drive or bought from Amazon/Ebay, Proops etc. They are nominally six volt motors, but if you drive them at realistic speeds they seem quite happy on a 12V analogue controller. On DCC you can set the max voltage to use. I've not done one on an Airfix/Dapol/Hornby motor but the standard Hornby ringfield is a doddle, you can even replace the Hornby pinion with the small 10 tooth one from the experimenter packs of gears sold on Ebay.
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