Ok, from all that we’ve have done to make our athearn BB’s run better and and quiet, there 1 more thing that we could do. I’ve found this to be very affective after tweaking my F45 even more. I’ve looked at my other loco’s by other makers; like the P1k F3’S & Stewart/ Kato and even some Atlas, and said to myself “What makes these loco’s so quiet”? and then it hit me. Most of them have plastic trucks which the chassis sit on plastic.
I hear a lot of people who repower they Athearn with an A-line kit still complain about the noise and heavy vibration. Hear’s why ! I studies the chassis with the motor assembled, lifted the chassis off the trucks and turn the power on to the motor FULL BLAST. It was quiet as you holding only the motor in your hand. Then I put it back on the trucks and again turn the motor on full blast. What did I get? A whole lot of hum and vibration.
This is what cause’s the hum and vibration. It’s the metal clip on the trucks where the chassis sits. So I took out my dremmel and a cutting blade and cut the metal clip off and got a general piece of THIN PLASTIC. NOTE: The piece of plastic must be or close to the same thickness as the piece of metal you removed from the trucks or the housing clip will not go on fully and properly. So, I got a piece of plastic and trimmed it to fit on top of the truck. Made a big enough hole so the chassis can sit in it. Once I did that, I added a little “Krazy glue” to hold the piece of plastic in place. NOTE: BE CAREFUL WHERE YOU PUT THOSE DROPS OF KRAZY GLUE, DON’T WANT TO GLUE YOUR GEARS TOGETHER. Now, I did a test on the motor sitting on the trucks again with the piece of plastic in place. Perfect, sounds just like I had the chassis or motor in my hand. Keep in mind, The wheels were on the tracks too. So save your money for another model before buying a new flat can motor for your Athearn. I used a Kato motor, which fits a Athean chassis well. The rubber/plastic mounts have holes in them for screwing.
A Train. If you really want to make a basic Athearn run quiet - Read on.
o - Take the engine apart(right down to the gears in the trucks).
o - Take a small file and clean ALL of the flash off of the gear teeth.
o - Now, re-asemble the trucks ‘minus’ the worm gear, U joints and their housing. Roll the engine back and forth - it should roll with very little friction and no tightness.
o - re-assemble the rest of the engine and put some ‘pearl drops’ in the gears and run the engine for 3-5 minutes in both directions. Then take the engine apart and clean out the gear area and re-lube with Labelle grease. Amazing what a difference it will make. While not a Stewart or Kato, it sure is a huge improvement.
o - I also poli***he contact area on the frame and the trucks, then ‘hard wire’ the electrical pickup. A nice set of N/S wheels from NWSL or Jay Bee complete the transformation.
BTW - the new RTR engines have good wheels and the ‘hex’ line drive - Just no Genesis motor. Very good engines for the price. As you have found, a little ‘elbow grease’ goes a long way with what is a good basic engine.
Thanks for your info and idea! I’m going to share this with a friend of mine who is an expert on Athearns and often modifies them.
I’ve gotten rid of my Athearn BB locomotives, except for two U-Boats and four FP45s. I’m currently working on painting passenger cars shells. But I’ll make sure to select one of my units for a trial. Your idea is worth a try!
Thanks Jim, but I know about all of that already. These tecnique’s don’t always resolve the noise problem. Like I said before. When you have metal against metal, vibration will happen. And with Vibration you get noise. If you have Proto 1000 F3’s, take a look at the trucks while they are not mounted to the chassis. There is a small piece of plastic that they (P1K) specially designed for the chassis to sit on. These part pop right out and also can be used on Athearn trucks. Try it and see the tremendous difference.
I did an Athearn F45, it is so quiet, and it coasts like a P2K.
Using a loarge Athearn motor I mounted two oversize flywheels (you will need to gring the frame a little to give the flywheels clerance when you reinstall the body) shimed the worm gears to minimize play (back and forth movement) not too tight they need to have some play, used a combination of graphite and Labelle 107.
I did not installed NWS wheels yet and I may not, because the unit runs so quiet and it pulls beautiful.
Do you guys think this well also help with the new Athearn RS3 RTR?
I did a bit of run-in on the roller for my NYC RS3 over the weekend and it’s still a bit OFF. I think most of my problems will actually go away once I get the DCC Decoder in it, but I’d rather make it run the best I can BEFORE the DCC install.
I am also wondering about the pickups? What I am getting is that you put a .010 ,or so ,piece of plastic with a hole in it between the truck and the frame . Is this correct? . Then You must run a wire to the ground side of the truck?
Thanks,
Tom
what cause’s the hum and vibration. It’s the metal clip on the trucks where the chassis sits. So I took out my dremmel and a cutting blade and cut the metal clip off and got a general piece of THIN PLASTIC. NOTE: The piece of plastic must be or close to the same thickness as the piece of metal you removed from the trucks or the housing clip will not go on fully and properly. So, I got a piece of plastic and trimmed it to fit on top of the truck. Made a big enough hole so the chassis can sit in it.
So, any chance you can post some pics of this process? I’d like to try it, but I’d like to see the process. And the electrical hook-ups. Thx.
Wayne
Many people do not rely on the truck pad for current flow to the motor. We run a wire down to the side of the truck and solder it near one of the rivets on the metal truck side frame.
NYC56, running the RS3 on DCC may solve the problem. My two Kato SD80MACs growled and whined quite a bit when run on DC, but after I ran them on DCC last saturday, it was amazing! Not a sound!