A fellow Nscaler graciously gave me two older UP C-Liner engines (a matched set of A/A units where one is wired reverse polarity to run backwards with the other unit) made by Altas (in Italy). I have not seen motors like these and need help figuring out why one runs and the other doesn't.
Background:
The motor is vertically mounted above the front wheel set and seems to drive the wheel set gears by a shaft coming from the bottom of the motor assembly. The shaft appears to run the length of the motor (vertically). The front wheel set does not transfer the track current to the motor. The entire rear wheel set picks up the current and via a wire, lights the nose light/number boards and powers the motor. On the engine that won't run, the light does work and changes brightness with cooresponding increase from the power pack. I can see no broken wires, nothing out of place. There does appear to be a crack in the top of the motor housing cover. I oiled the wheel set and gears and have left it sit over night. I also added a very small amount of oil in the top of the motor at the opening where the drive shaft is exposed hoping it would run along the shaft and lube the gearing as well. I removed the screws that keep the wheel sets on and two that I thought would let me get the engine out, but to to avail, I still couldn't remove the motor. The engine "floats" inside the solid metal engine body and above the wheel set and gears, but I still couldn't figure out how to get it out of there and lube everything a bit better. The other engine runs ok...a bit better now that I oiled it, but because the wheels need to be cleaned, it jerks around the track in some places. (I've never seen an engine that you could hold the front wheel set completely off the tracks - but leave the rear set touching the tracks to provide power - and have the front wheels rotate like normal).
Question:
Has anyone experience with these engines and this type of motor? Is there more that I can do, possibly a better solvent (WD-40 perhaps?) than light weight machine oil to open up the stuck metal? And secondly, what does everyone use to clean engine wheels?
Background:
The motor is vertically mounted above the front wheel set and seems to drive the wheel set gears by a shaft coming from the bottom of the motor assembly. The shaft appears to run the length of the motor (vertically). The front wheel set does not transfer the track current to the motor. The entire rear wheel set picks up the current and via a wire, lights the nose light/number boards and powers the motor. On the engine that won't run, the light does work and changes brightness with cooresponding increase from the power pack. I can see no broken wires, nothing out of place. There does appear to be a crack in the top of the motor housing cover. I oiled the wheel set and gears and have left it sit over night. I also added a very small amount of oil in the top of the motor at the opening where the drive shaft is exposed hoping it would run along the shaft and lube the gearing as well. I removed the screws that keep the wheel sets on and two that I thought would let me get the engine out, but to to avail, I still couldn't remove the motor. The engine "floats" inside the solid metal engine body and above the wheel set and gears, but I still couldn't figure out how to get it out of there and lube everything a bit better. The other engine runs ok...a bit better now that I oiled it, but because the wheels need to be cleaned, it jerks around the track in some places. (I've never seen an engine that you could hold the front wheel set completely off the tracks - but leave the rear set touching the tracks to provide power - and have the front wheels rotate like normal).
Question:
Has anyone experience with these engines and this type of motor? Is there more that I can do, possibly a better solvent (WD-40 perhaps?) than light weight machine oil to open up the stuck metal? And secondly, what does everyone use to clean engine wheels?