Break In Period

[MasonJar]

Hi everyone,

I know this has been discussed before (see http://www.the-gauge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2058&highlight=break+period and probably others), but I am wondering if it will solve a specific problem.

My new P2K 0-6-0's drivers seem to bind when moving forward. It is less of a problem when going backwards. It happens with every rotation of the drivers. It is especially noticable at very low speeds -- the loco kind of "lurches" as it moves. It is a sort of momentary pause before it continues on its way.

I am wondering if a break in period solves this kind of problem.

Any advice?

Thanks.

Andrew

 

[davidstrains]

Take a look for a "de-wheeled" traction tire if your loco is so equipped. I had one loose on a Spectrum 2-8-0 out of the box. Lurched and wobbled all over the place. Slipped it back on and the loco runs great.

 

[Vic]

Hi Andrew, This is another of those questions that the answer is yes, no or maybe

In addition to David's suggestion look for something that might be binding the valve gear or the drive rods...sometimes they can get bent just ever so slightly in shipping. Its kind of a bit of work but remove the loco shell and disconnect the motor from the gear box so you can push the loco by hand...you should be able to "feel" the binding and can start to look for it from that point.

Some other things you can look for are...
1. One or more of the screws that hold the main drive rod(s) to the drivers is too tight.

2. There may be a burr in one or more of the holes that the above screws go thru.

3. The worm may be too tight against the worm gear...there may be an adjustment for this (motor mount screw)

4. A rivet or screw in the valve gear is too tight.

5. The loco may just needs to be lubricated.

6. The slides into the cylinders may be binding.

Hope this helped

 

[shamus]

Hi, and in addition to the above remarks (All good) I would check the quartering of the wheels for accuracy.

Shamus

 

[Woodie]

Andrew,

I think I know your problem. I've had it too. If you look closely at the drive rods and gear on the side of you loco, there is a lot a "push/pull" lever style action with them. Some extremities of the level pull/push are very dependant on the position of the drive screws and rods on the wheels themselves. It is very dificult to describe in words. What I did was loosen all the screws/pivot points on the pushrod gear and wheels. Manually move the wheels around so the the pushrods where perfectly horizontal with the screw/pivot points at the rear most extremity of the circular motion. Then adjust all the valve rods/pushrod gear to an appropriate position to match this extremity. Tighten up all the screws and joins.

As I said, it's a bit hard to describe in words.

I had a loco that would "heave-ho" on every rotation of it's wheels. It was just a matter of adjustment of the pivot points.