steamer issue

[keitaro]

so i'm not 100% sure what happened here but all of a sudden my steamer seems to have issues. It seems that the arm is rubbing on jamming causing it to run a bit jerky. Also derail it self when in reverse due to the jam than a sudden quick spin of the wheels.

 

I figured running it at a not insane speed but rather fast speed would loosen it up and get it back into shape but it didn't work.

 

do you think a bit of oil would dot he trick? or maybe I need to adjust the arm or something.

 

Not usre if this could be the problem but the pther side is not in sync with the other. Most locos i have are and perhaps this is the cause?

 

see quick video here.

[Fenway Park]

The Piston and the cross head are at a strange angle. The piston should enter the cylinder horizontally not pointing down towards the ground. Or has the piston come out of the cylinder when you tried to free it by running the loco at speed?

 

Malcolm

[Martijn Meerts]

Looks to me like the wheels aren't aligned correctly anymore, but that's not something that just happens.. I have had brand new steamers having that problem, usually I had to send them back for service, but not all of them actually came back fixed.

 

Fixing it yourself is possible, but it takes a long time and is really tedious. Last time I tried, I spent about 4 hours on it, and while it improved a lot, it still doesn't run quite smooth.

[keitaro]

Thanks fenway. I thought it was odd they were angled too.

 

I went over the prototype pics and it definately should be straight.

 

I used a small (very small) jewlers screw driver and adjusted it to be straight on both sides. I can now notice a very nice improvement in running but strangely enough it still derails in reverse, the rear 2 wheels under the cab pop up and off on corners.

 

Seems to be not enough weight on them to hold them down so they like to lift up and off.

 

One thing I can also say is the paint comes off very easy on these real lines I had it on a cloth while adjusting and there is slight chips of paint missing can't notice untill up close. i'll try using a touch of chaos black on it and hope it dries a very similar black.

[keitaro]

Looks to me like the wheels aren't aligned correctly anymore, but that's not something that just happens.. I have had brand new steamers having that problem, usually I had to send them back for service, but not all of them actually came back fixed.

 

Fixing it yourself is possible, but it takes a long time and is really tedious. Last time I tried, I spent about 4 hours on it, and while it improved a lot, it still doesn't run quite smooth.

 

 

Well lets just say i got no sleep last night fixing the piston etc. It did take a long while. They are now flush straight on both sides and slide quite easy back and forth.

 

Still they are out of sync being one is pushed in to the front and the other side will be out all the way. Is this a problem?

 

My tomix c-57 Is synced same spot each side. Same goes for some of my older n locos non japanese.

 

 

While I am sure this is not causing my derail issue in reverse i'm worried this could be a cause for it going out of whack?

 

 

Also when you say out of allignment do you mean the wheels themselves are not completely straight in a line with each other?

[angusmclean]

 

 

 

 

Still they are out of sync being one is pushed in to the front and the other side will be out all the way. Is this a problem?

 

My tomix c-57 Is synced same spot each side. Same goes for some of my older n locos non japanese.

 

 

While I am sure this is not causing my derail issue in reverse i'm worried this could be a cause for it going out of whack?

 

 

 

 

The crank position on the wheels should be 90deg different on each side (eg if one side is fully forward, the other side should be at either bottom centre or top centre), but it really doesn't matter on a model as the motion is only for show anyway, so don't lose any sleep over that. But be sure that the parts of the motion aren't fouling as they move.

 

Angus

[Martijn Meerts]

Keitaro, it's a bit difficult to explain what I mean with misaligned ..

 

The thing is, steamer usually have several driven wheels with sprockets. Those wheels only fit in the train in 1 specific way in order for the train to run like it should, because of the drive rod. If 1 of the wheels is slightly off, the drive rods will stop the wheel from turning smoothly. Often this means turning the wheel 1 tooth of the sprocket in either direction. Figuring all that out is a lot of trial and error though, because you rotate the wheel 1 tooth, but it back together and try it on the track. If it's still not running smooth, you rotate the wheel another tooth, try the other direction. Of course, it might well be that more than 1 wheel isn't aligned properly, in which case you have a much bigger problem.

 

I've had this issue with my Kato Roundhouse Orient Express steamer, where the wheels got messed up when I was taking it apart to install a decoder. It's still not running like it should, but I decided to leave it for now because I want to install a headlight in it, so it'll have to come apart again anyway. (Unfortunately, the orient express steamer doesn't have any lighting at all ...)

[keitaro]

ahh ok i know what you're talking about. Even my tomix Thomas had that the wheel had to be in right position otherwise it wouldn't go right i had that issue when i upgraded to all wheel drive on the thomas took a bit of fidling to get it smooth again.

 

Although the Thomas was pretty easy being only 3 wheels each side.

 

Anyway here is a video of the fixed d51 now. Also i painted the slight scratches and it's looksing perfect again.

 

In regards to de-railing it's only corners and is ok if i go really slow. It's okay iguess for now as steamers don't revers all that much besides on straights.

 

 

note my kiha 130 hidaka in the back ground hauling a passenger / freight combo. Times are truly tough.......

[westfalen]

If that's a Real Line D51 my D61 derails occasionally in reverse as well, coming out of curves into turnouts mostly. I haven't looked into a fix yet because I haven't run it for a while but the wheels may be a bit out of gauge or a little weight added to the trailing truck might help it track better, I did that fix on a Bachmann 2-8-0.

[keitaro]

The extra weight will probably help the trailing truck is the culprit wobles a bit then on corners manages to pop off. I figured adding a small bit of plastic to restrict it lifting so much?

 

Strange I never noticed when I first got it I ran it for 30 mins in reverse and it did not derail once.

 

Now it does on almost every corner... oh well like I said I dont intend on reversing them except when putting into their sheds.