Problem with Tomix 2235 DE10-1000 Diesel Locomotive

[MeTheSwede]

 

My Tomix 2235 has started missbehaving and I need some advice. It's making noices it's not supposed to make, especially when passing points and going through curves,  and it keeps stalling on points. Since I'm new with these kind of things, I don't really know what to look for and taking stuff apart is a bit scary.

 

 

 

At first I thought there might be something with the way the 3-axled boogie is attached to the locomotive, causing friction at points and curves, but maybe not.

 

 

 

 

Some photos with boogies removed. Since I don't really know what to look for, I don't know what to take photos of.

 

 

 

 

 

I cleaned off some dust from the worm gears and put it all back together again, with no noticeable changes. I've checked that on a straight, both boogies were able to pick up power and provide traction when lifiting the other boogie off the track. The track is fine and wheels should be clean enough.

 

I suppose the sounds could come from problems with gears, but then shouldn't the sounds be more consistent between different parts of the track?

 

Does anyone spot any potential trouble or know what I should look for next? Attempting to disassemble into smaller pieces may be the next step I presume. If giving advice, please remember that I'm new at these things and not good with what things are called.

 

 

 

 

 

[disturbman]

What you are describing would points me toward an incorrectly set driveshaft. I would remove these and then put them back.

 

I would then use that opportunity to do simple maintenance: oil were needed and fully clean and regrease the gears.

Edited February 12, 2023 by disturbman

[cteno4]

Yeah it does sound like maybe a drive shaft issue or just very dry gears that growl and lock up when they are in friction positions. Many times if the gear train is hard to turn the driveshafts can slip loose or even strip the universal heads.

 

if you don’t want to take the trucks completely apart you can try an ultrasonic bath (a tool well worth $20-30 for your train in the long run) with warm soapy water a few time on the whole truck. Run the bath for like 10 min, then repeat and if lots of black stuff is still coming out repeat again. Then rinse under the tap and do a bath with just water then pour some isopropanol over it and do a quick isopropanol bath. Then shake dry as best you can and let sit in a warm place for the isopropanol to evaporate. You can hit the contacts behind the wheels with a tiny bit of good contact cleaner (like wd40 contact cleaner or deoxit). Then apply a bit ot thicker weight oil to the gears in tiny bits with a toothpick, not a drop! Tiny bit of grease on the worm gears as well. Last tiny bit of very light weight bearing oil to the motor bearings at either end of the miter where the shaft goes in.

thats the quick tuneup. 
 

with this sort of thing many times you just do some things and the it starts working well and you are not sure exactly what thing got it working, but are happy it’s running again. When you have issues it really doesn’t hurt to do the full tuneup anyway as usually means things have gotten to a state there may be several places with small issue brewing and a tuneup like this just removes most of them. The more of these you do the easier it gets!

 

jeff

 

[Kamome]

My Tomix JRF DE10 was also a bit temperamental and needed a fair bit of tweaking to get it running well. 

 

As others have mentioned, I also think the most likely cause of the noise is a driveshaft issue. The driveshafts on this model are quite short and if the bogie has been slightly over-turned, one may have slipped out of its housing. 

 

However, before dismantling everything, I’d first check that the bogies move freely by running them along a piece of track with your finger. The traction tires should allow the wheels to turn without issue. If there is any binding then you know the issue is in the bogie. From the photos, the gears look quite dry so may need some lubrication. It could just be the photo however so don’t add if not required.

 

Word of warning.

DON’T USE ANY ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE LUBRICANT AS IT WILL LIKELY GET THROWN ONTO THE SPLIT CHASSIS AND CAUSE SHORTS.

 

If not the bogies, then you’ll need to take the rest apart.  It looks as though you’ve done most of the disassembly already. The rest involves first removing the coupler and snow plough pieces, then the running board/fuel tank unclips from the metal chassis as one piece (excluding the handrail details)  It is predominantly held on by clips on to the front ends (headlight ends) of the metal weight. 

 

The bogie pickups make contact with some brass strips which fit loosely between some notches in the metal chassis. These have a tendency to fall out, especially when putting the loco back together so be careful. 

 

It’s relatively straightforward to assemble and reassemble but always a good idea to take photos at each stage in case you forget where something goes. 

 

As for the stalling issue

 

It may be a case to switch over the wheels that have traction tires on. Check where it is stalling and where the traction tire axles are in relation to see if the loco can pick up power at that location. 

 

You cannot really just decide to remove the tires entirely as IIRC the wheels have a recess that the tire fits into, and without it, that wheel won’t make contact with the rail properly. 

 

  I think I ended up changing the traction tire location on my Tomix DE10 as it was stalling on certain points. (Can’t remember whether Kato #4 or #6 were the culprit.) 

 

To get to the wheel axles, you need to remove the plastic base-keeper plate from the bottom of the bogie. It clips on with lugs on the front and rear of the bogie. Once removed, each axle can be taken and will also allow you to take the brass pickups out to clean if needed. Make sure the tires are located on opposite sides from each other. 

 

Mine also seemed to get suddenly more reliable after I bought its Kato counterpart. Apparently N sale trains can also get jealous. 😁

[MeTheSwede]

Thanks guys!

I've find a reasonably good "take apart and reassemble" video now, so feel more confident about taking everything apart into little pieces. It will be a project for next week.

 

If everything else fail, I'll fall back on threatening to buy the Kato version.

[Jimbo]

it could be like mine!  mine only likes to run in cab forward mode!!  going to follow your adventure!

[disturbman]

Only cab forward is most definitely a driveshaft issue on the side that doesn't run.

@MeTheSwedeyou have your lubricants?

[Wolf]

 

12 hours ago, MeTheSwede said:

I've find a reasonably good "take apart and reassemble" video now,

Can you link it, I have a Tomix DE10 literally every part dissassembled in a bag somewhere ... 

[MeTheSwede]

22 hours ago, disturbman said:

Only cab forward is most definitely a driveshaft issue on the side that doesn't run.

@MeTheSwedeyou have your lubricants?

 

I should have by next week. 🙂

[MeTheSwede]

12 hours ago, Wolf said:

 

Can you link it, I have a Tomix DE10 literally every part dissassembled in a bag somewhere ... 

 

 

Sure!

 

The video indicates that reassembling is very fast indeed...  😅

[Wolf]

Thanks a ton!