brill27mcb Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 (I am duplicating this post from the Japan Prototype section / Euroliner topic, since it really belongs here in the "N Gauge" section) I have added a page to the Tomix Modelers' website that shows the "Spring Worm" drive, describes it, and lists all product numbers that I could find for individual locos and powered cars (including set numbers) that had this drive: http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/rollingstock/springdrive.htm As part of the research, I did search this forum for references to this drive, and the only lead I could not confirm was Aaron's mention of a KiHa 40 with M4 motor and this drive. I'm not familiar enough with Japanese prototypes to know if this also goes by another name, but I could not find a reference to any Tomix product number for this series. The bottom line is that the "Spring Worm" drive is now mostly gone from the Tomix product line, except for a number of those cute private railway passenger trains, the Class 193/192 inspection train, and two specific electric locos. But they remain inside older stock, including those being sold second-hand and on auction sites, so the list should be useful for that purpose. For what it's worth, all of the Tomix trains with this drive that I have personally seen run well enough. But I would rather have an improved drive, given the choice! Rich K. 4 Link to comment
Guest JRF-1935 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 A lot of research and very nicely done. My early Odakyu Romance train has this drive and runs very well and smooth. So far I've been lucky purchasing early Tomix sets and Motors with this drive as they run very smooth. Thanks for the info. Rich C Link to comment
Bernard Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Rich - Excellent research on the spring worm and with Tomix models have them! I haven't been as lucky as you have with your trains. I have the Nagoya Railway 7000 & the KiHa Furano Express and they are by far the "loudest" trains on my roster. The first time I opened a train with a spring worm my main concern is the way it sits on top of the gears of the truck. My fear was that the worm would wear down the gears a lot quicker that other trains. Link to comment
cteno4 Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 Rich, thanks, after fiddling a lot wit Aaron's DE10 i have learned to hate the spring worm! i found that i had to be very careful in the reassembly of parts. the identical end caps which the ends of the spring fit in (the worm gear sections) have to go in a specific orientation even though they are identical parts. this im sure is due to the inside of them getting reamed out in a specific pattern to each spring end. was a pain to keep track of that when re assembling all the time. also even when all the parts were reassembled correctly it would sometimes work well and other times bind some, loosing up, jiggling parts and tightening would then get it to behave better! was a very simple design though, but not a machinist's design, thats for sure! his motor ended up full of some grit between the armature and the magnets. not sure if this came from some engine wear or external sources, but it did bind the motor up some and that along with the resistance in the spring drive train would make it seize or take a lot of voltage to get going, along with a lot of grinding noise, hence Aaron's nickname for it -- Growly. New motor made it work better, but even then i wound not classify it as a good runner, barely ok. cheers jeff Link to comment
Guest ___ Posted January 25, 2011 Share Posted January 25, 2011 (I am duplicating this post from the Japan Prototype section / Euroliner topic, since it really belongs here in the "N Gauge" section) I have added a page to the Tomix Modelers' website that shows the "Spring Worm" drive, describes it, and lists all product numbers that I could find for individual locos and powered cars (including set numbers) that had this drive: http://www.trainweb.org/tomix/rollingstock/springdrive.htm As part of the research, I did search this forum for references to this drive, and the only lead I could not confirm was Aaron's mention of a KiHa 40 with M4 motor and this drive. I'm not familiar enough with Japanese prototypes to know if this also goes by another name, but I could not find a reference to any Tomix product number for this series. Rich K. This is listed in several of the TOMIX documents that I had found from TOMIX's website. Also I had located a dealer in Japan who listed all the models and their motors and drives. (The age had ot be translated by a friend of mine in Japan as I could not read Japanese.) All of this was nearly two years ago. (Last year for the M4 in the KiHa 40, I believe that information came from disturbman when we had talked about the KiHa 40 prior to its release Feb. 2009) EDIT: I retract it being an M-4 motor, it uses the M-5 motor, 3-pole. Link to comment
Bob_NZ Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Yes a great resource Rich. In 1990 I bought 2x motorised cars - Series 112 - with an assortment of other cars to make 2x 5 car units. The catalog number for the motorised cars was <2382> but the number stamped on the base is <2362> . I see from my '91 Tomix catalog that the same base is used on a number of models such in Series 102; 103; 112; 113; 114; 115; 414 - sold individually or in sets. No doubt they all bear the number <2362>. I am pleased to say they both still run reasonably well given their age and use. Interestingly one always had a higher speed range, although the components were identical as far as I could tell - perhaps the number of windings on one motor differed. Bob Link to comment
Bernard Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 Rich - As I posted before, what an excellent resource you've put together. I do have a question, my KiHa 84/83 Furano Exp.* 92042 2001-2009 Retired (your listing) needs a new motor. Do you know were I can get one for this model? Link to comment
brill27mcb Posted February 1, 2011 Author Share Posted February 1, 2011 According to catalog info, the Furano Express takes a motor with product number 0605. This also has the name "M-5." I would try with your normal online seller or other source and see if they can get it for you. My understanding is that most don't list all of this little stuff, but will try to accommodate the requests of their customers. Rich K. Link to comment
The_Ghan Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 I have five spring worm drive Tomix models: EF64, EF66, EF81, Odyaku 7000 and Nagoya 8800. They're all noiser than worm drive, but the noise is nearly like the "clickity-clack" that you'd get on a private line with short rails. I don't mind it. What DOES annoy me is low-speed running of the locos without any cars attached - the stopping is not very even. So, I run them with 5 or 6 cars attached and it is fine. Cheers The_Ghan Link to comment
Guest ___ Posted February 2, 2011 Share Posted February 2, 2011 According to catalog info, the Furano Express takes a motor with product number 0605. This also has the name "M-5." I would try with your normal online seller or other source and see if they can get it for you. My understanding is that most don't list all of this little stuff, but will try to accommodate the requests of their customers. Rich K. The M-5 was tough to get. I begged HobbySearch, and they finally got it in six months after I needed it. A few other places I tried had little luck with them. Ny friend in Japan managed to talk to a store who ordered one, but I had to pay with a wire transfer. Finally, I just asked alpine to order one for me.Motors tend to be tough to get. Link to comment
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