Tomix 489 Series

[Gryphr]

Hi,

I recently got my hands on a Tomix 489 Series "Asama" (Basic Set HO-050 and Extension HO-051) as my first steps into H0 for a pretty good price through Yahoo Auctions.
The sets are from the first 2006/2007 lot, but seemed to be unused as none of the detail parts or stickers were applied (Or the previous owner just never did it, either way more fun for me 😄 ).

Now, the train had 1/2 smaller issues such as one of the headlights not working, but these were solved quickly with some tinkering around and a soldering iron. However there are still some problems/question I got, maybe someone who also has this (or a similar) model can help here:

 

1: The cab roofs don't sit flush on the windscreen. There's a little bit of air between the two, enough to be visible on a photograph or when looking from the right angle, although it's not a dealbreaker. I removed the roof and tried to slightly bend it a bit more downwards, but it doesn't seem like anything changed. Is this a common problem with the flat front 485/489 Series (and similar cabs from Tomix)?

 

2: After I finished with the detail parts I started doing the dry transfers. I've only did one of the cab cars so far and whilst the normal dry transfers were applicable easily without any issues (despite being 10+ years old), I had some trouble with the car numbers: They seem to be a bit thicker than the usual dry transfers and while they were arranged in groups (i.e. "クハ489-") the letters/symbols are separate pieces. It happened several times that most of the symbols would stick to the car but one of the katakana or the dash would come off again when lifting the sheet. Is there any trick to get these to adhere to the car body more consistently?

 

3: Both of the motors are pretty loud/growly. They are Canon DN16 motors sold by Tomix as "HO-M83". I demotorised the motor car from the extension set and to replace the one in the basic set I ordered a Tomix HO-M85 motor which seems to be the new, updated version of the same motor. Is the noise a common issue with the HO-M83 motor/older Tomix HO models or does it also happen with new ones? Or was I just very unlucky and got 2 bad ones? To add to this, the motors have a very high resistance (cogging torque/detent torque?) when trying to turn them by hand and will turn "in steps", not sure if this is normal behaviour or a sign that something is wrong with the motor.

Edited December 11, 2018 by Gryphr

[Kiha66]

I've had a similar roof gap issue in my n scale tomix HG EMUs, so I wouldn't be surprised to find it happens to the HO ones too.

[dmustu]

I've had trouble with dry transfers, in particular the thicker metallic coloured ones, on both new and old models, tomix and kato! Make sure the area your applying the transfers to is clean and grease free. Once you've applied the transfer, I often leave the carrier film on for 24 hours or more before slowly easing it off, a little at a time. This seems to give the transfer time to stick to the model, it's not foolproof, but leaving the carrier film on for sometime after applying the transfer has made a difference.

 

The excessive noise and rough running may well be down to the lubricant in the gears drying out, which can be quite common in older models. You can always try running the model in, leave it running at a moderate speed for 30 mins or so in each direction, it should become quieter and smoother running, although the model may run quite hot at first. Alternatively, you might want/need to clean and regrease all of the gears and joints on the model.

[bnicolas1987]

Hi,

I had the same problem with car number on mine JR 489 Asama, and I haven't yet solved the problem.

 

For motor car, I haven't noticed any strange rumor.

 

If someone has an idea how to make new car number I would be very interested...

 

 

[Gryphr]

Thanks for the answers so far. I guess I'll wait until the new motor arrives to see if it is quieter. I am going to clean and regrease/oil the bogies/drive mechanism in the meantime, although the motor was already quite noisy running by itself, without anything connected.
I wonder if someone knows how to remove the bogies of the powered cars? I have not found a way to do this so far, so I probably will have to do the maintenance with the bogies still attached. I can't really run the model in over longer times yet as I practically only have straight track right now...the curves I have from an old Fleischmann starter set are too tight. I will order some H0 Unitrack soon to make a proper temporary layout for the train.

 

As for stickers, I will try dmustu's method with leaving the transfer sheet on for a while, I hope this will make it easier.
@bnicolas1987 When searching Hobbysearch I found that Tomix sells those Metal Number sheets as replacement parts, however the 489 series sheets are neither for this exact model nor in stock. I think it would be possible to buy some of the other sheets and piece the needed numbers together from those.

I'll try the "slightly bending it" method again for the cab roof, but if it doesn't work maybe sticking a thin grey paper under the roof mght work to visually "seal" the gap. Otherwise I'll leave it be I guess.

[marknewton]

I’m a bit late to this conversation, so bear with me. Where is the gap you mention? I have both versions of the 489s, the fit of the parts seem alright to me.

 

 

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by marknewton

[Gryphr]

Hm, it doesn't happen on your model. I have the later, flat front style like in the second picture although in the green JR Asama livery but it shold probably be a similar molding (mine doesn't have the "rear windows"). On my model the roof lifts up a bit along the front edges, under the top headlamp. I will upload a picture once I'm back home today.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Gryphr

[Gryphr]

Here is the picture, although it's not very noticable here. It also happens only with this KuHa I noticed and is not as bad as I remembered it...

 

[bnicolas1987]

For the roof, try to open the car and remove the roof. (from the rear to the front)

 

Control the roof LED, it can be the problem.

[Gryphr]

A little bit of an update:

I controlled the roof and the top LEDs a few times but I couldn't find anything wrong with them, so It might be just the form of the plastic/roof itself, but I suppose I can live with it, it's not really noticable unless you look really close.

I also received the new motor yesterday and right out of the box it felt much better, when turning by hand this new one would turn freely, while the old one has a pretty high resistance and "locks" in place every ~60°. After swapping the motors out and reassembling the motor car I gave it a test run and it was all smooth and quite running now.

When running the full train together however, I noticed that the motor car was running in the wrong direction. Upon closer inspection of the motor it turns out that pickup tabs on the new motor are below the center line of the motor, while on the old motors they were above it. The model also required them above the center of the motor which lead me to installing the motor upside down... Luckily the tabs were soft enough so that I could bend them in a similar position as the ones on the old motors and mount the motor right side up, so everything runs fine now.

 

I also found out how to remove the motor bogies and while they were turning fine, curiosity got the better of me so I went on to disassemble them too. To my surprise Tomix? seems to have used absurd amounts of grease inside which I went on to remove and replace with new grease (in moderation).

[Welshbloke]

It might be worth putting a tiny drop of oil on the armature bearings of the old motor, then hooking a pair of test leads up to it. That sounds like a motor in need of lubrication and a long running session.