MicroAce contact springs causing 'tilt'?

[quinntopia]

Hello all.  I've been doing some test running of my MicroAce Rap:t, where I noticed one of the cab/end cars had a distinctive 'lean' or tilt at all times (not just around curves!).  It was obvious enough that the body was clearly out of alignment with its neighboring coach car.

 

At first I thought it might be something simple, like the shell not being properly seated on the chassis.  After determining that was not the problem, I then investigated the trucks.  I removed the screw to remove the trucks and found that one of the springs was very compressed, while the other was significantly longer.  In fact, the 'longer spring' was about 40% longer than the the spring on the other side.  The other set of trucks had the exact same issue with the springs (AND on the same side of the car).  As I compared this to other trucks in my set, it looks like the 'shorter' springs are either defective, or were somehow damaged and aren't the same length as the rest.

 

First question: Have other MicroAce owners, or Tomix as they appear to use the same system, seen this problem before? I looked through the forum, but could find no mention of this 'spring' issue resulting in a tilting car.

 

Second question: How to fix?  I tried to manually 'extend' the shortened springs but, as most of you who have tried this before, that's just not going to get the sort of 'tension' thats required.  Even though they looked about the same height/length as the springs on the other side of the truck, it seems once they are reinstalled, their is just not enough tension in that spring to balance out the other side.  A short term solution is to just swap a set of trucks out from one of the intermediary cars, but I'd really like to get this fixed.

 

thanks!

[CaptOblivious]

Quinn, that's a new one!

 

You should measure the height of the longer springs, or of the springs in non-defective cars, and simply order a set of Tomix (which should be interchangeable) replacement springs from HS in Jan when they start SAL small-packet shipping ;D

 

You might also check the spring selection at your LHS, or a electronics store that specializes in robotics.

[quinntopia]

Yeah, weird huh?  I think what may have happened is that the cab car was not properly inserted into its 'foam home' in its case, and pressure has been applied to one side of the trucks while its been in storage for the many years since its manufacture.  Anyway, that's my theory.  Would be interested to know if this is a REALLY isolated thing, or others have ever had this problem.

[quinntopia]

Here's a photo.  Checked, rechecked and checked again to make sure its not the seating of the chassis in the shell.  That all seems 'square'.  There looks to be a little solder on the springs as well, which I think is the culprit.

I was able to bend the bad springs out a bit more, and I swapped a set of trucks from this cab car with a good pair on one of the coaches, and it all looks okay now.  I like the 'spring contact' method that MicroAce (and Tomix) use, seems like its a much more reliable connection than the flimsy method Kato uses.  Also, installing lights in the coach was actually fun rather than a tedious chose! 

[CaptOblivious]

I do think the springs make for a more reliable contact than Kato's leaf-spring method.

 

But…Solder!? seriously!? That's a problem.