Steam loco or space rocket ?

[D605Eagle]

I have a feedback controller which will make these locos creep. Being a bit of a geek I built a circuit into the controller so that the feedback reduces as the controller is increased as running faster than walking pace is a bit erratic on full feedback.

[Bufferstop]

Which motor do the ones you have tried have? The earlier ones have a Johnson semi open motor, which has different characteristics to the latest can type motors.

[Montfort]

Anyone determined to take on one of these chassis with the simplest engineering, could do worse than buying a 12volt, 60rpm N20 format gear motor from eBay along with a 3mm bore pinion and crown wheel with a two or three to one ratio. No problem getting it in the body of even the GWR tank. Should go slow enough for anyone.

Do you have any links to that kind of stuff ? Thanks.

[Bufferstop]

Hi Montfort.
Here's a couple of links you could start with.
N20 gear motors

Gears

Be warned though once you start browsing these sites and get the hang of some of their "quaint" variations on the terminology you can spend an awful long time chasing posibilities. Most of this stuff is coming from China, but I don't think I've waited for longer than three weeks for free delivery. Sometimes it's worth ordering some of the cheapo stuff just to see what it's like.

[Montfort]

Thank you very much for your help Bufferstop.

[sparkhill]

I have several of the Hornby 0-4-0 locos my way of solving the speed issue was to change the wall power supply to 9 volts DC, they all run much slower start and stop at scale speeds I have run them for years this way without any problems, a cheap and easy way to convert a speedster into a decent running loco.

[Bufferstop]

Some of them can be problematical, in that they aren't free running and require a starting voltage much higher than the running voltage. The design tolerances are pretty broad leading to binding and a lot of friction in the gears. It used to be that if you got a good one, then with a decent controller or DCC set up it could be controlled. Of late most of them seem to be much better but you might always get a bad 'un. Fortunately just unclipping the motor allows you to check for tight spots. If the worm seems to be pressing down too hard on the gear inserting a plastic shim between the motor and the front supporting pad works.

[sparkhill]

Thankfully all of my 0-4-0 locos are less than three years old I have eight in all with each one being a very nice runner, I have converted three of them to DCC and to be honest they run as good as any other DCC loco I have in my collection. I had a few of these little engines a few years ago but I do think the later models are far better runners.

[Emettman]

Anyone determined to take on one of these chassis with the simplest engineering, could do worse than buying a 12volt, 60rpm N20 format gear motor from eBay along with a 3mm bore pinion and crown wheel with a two or three to one ratio. No problem getting it in the body of even the GWR tank. Should go slow enough for anyone.

I've just had a go using the existing gears and a 12volt, N20 format gear motor with a 1200RPM count. The problem here was getting an adequate marriage to the 3mm drive-shaft. with a bit of work I managed something at least good enough for test purposes.
Good speed variation was available.
1200 RPM gave 2 revs per second top speed at the driving wheels, excellent for yard work, bit I suspect if local passenger or freight running duties were required then a 1500 RPM motor would probably do a bit better.

a 2mm shaft on a 12v motor at that output would make things very simple. I'm still looking.

Chris.

[Bufferstop]

Chris, I spotted a motor a week or two ago which had the standard 3mm with flat shaft but apart from the first few mm had been turned down to 2mm diameter. I think it might have been a 5-6 volt type but you can always swap the gearbox with whichever voltage you want. Can't remember which dealer it was, a case of keep looking.

[Emettman]

Chris, I spotted a motor a week or two ago which had the standard 3mm with flat shaft but apart from the first few mm had been turned down to 2mm diameter. I think it might have been a 5-6 volt type but you can always swap the gearbox with whichever voltage you want. Can't remember which dealer it was, a case of keep looking.

Yes, that was available in 3v and 6v versions, dammit.

i have a couple more cheap motors coming to try. "nominal" RPM can be significant;y different from actual!

Chris.

[Bufferstop]

The drive gear on the motor seems to be the same on them all, if you have a good magnifying glass and a decent set of watchmakers screwdrivers you can swap the gearbox to a 12v motor, at the price they charge for these things it's worth buying another motor to get the voltage you want.

[Montfort]

Problem solved ! I put a new Hornby motor and worm. Now this loco runs perfectly.