I just found a magic Athearn motor, shutting up solution. Immagine running your Athearn locomotive, no matter what it’s age, and hearing no more than the wheels against the rails. Hit up your local Home Depot, or Lowes, and grab a can of 2-26. You’ll find it in the electrical section, and its a blue can with white text. First clean your commutator with electrical contact cleaner, or alcohol (applied with a Q-tip), and let dry for a few minutes, then apply just one tiny little drop of 2-26 to the commutator of your loco’s motor, and spin by hand a few revolutions, then with a dry Q-tip, remove the excess with 1 or 2 revolutions and then let set for about 5 minutes.
When you get your shell back on, and put power to your loco, you will be amazed at how much quieter it is. I also applied 2-26 to the bushings where the drive axes pick up track current.
I also noticed that my 15-year old Athearn’s that need at least 30% throttle to pull 10 cars up a 2% grade, can now do it at 25%.
A 5 oz. can is under $2.00, and the larger can is about $5.00
I’d like to hear if anyone else has used this stuff, or the remarks from those who use the product as a result of this thread.
It’s good that you started this thread as quieting Athearns has always been an interesting topic.
As a fellow forum member I’m just passing to you a friendly caution…be cool with the language. Bergie, our moderator, allows us a lot of freedom but he also upholds the standards to keep this a high quality forum.
Anyway…I’m going to pass your idea on to a friend of mine who is an Athern tune up pro.
There have been various methods that modelers have been using including the “Pearl Drops” toothpaste method on noisy gears from the trucks. For the worm gear slack, experts recommend shimming (though not too tightly).
So it appears that by performing your method “PLUS” the toothpaste method on the trucks, an Athearn can run much more quietly. I’ll buy a can of 2-26 on my next trip to Home Depot.
BTW:
For those of you with quiet Genesis units, I’m glad they’re quiet. I know that the F units are usually smooth runners. However, as I’ve stated on other posts, my wife’s cousin purchased two Genesis six axle units in the BNSF schemes. One is an SD75M the other a modern GE. Those $100+ puppies are as loud as my old Blue Box Athearns. One had a warped truck. He is so irritated that he no longer will buy Athearn locomotives
You found a magical elixer that takes the noise out of Athearns. It’s a Petroleum Distillate (read thin) Oil Lubricant.
As a Lubricant, it will reduce friction - where ever that is - for a while - and attract dirt. Without finding the source of the noise, I predict it will return. Some find vibration in the gears, Brakie finds it in the shell. Others have found it in the motor or flywheels.
I think it’s really poor Quality Control, no matter where it is.
It may attract dirt. It may wear out and need to be re-applied. I don’t care, my Athearns are quiet! For now… [:D]
And I do agree, it is poor quality control. Athearn can’t shut 'em up, nor can I. Since I started this quick-fix tip topic, I will offer to regularly report my findings after having used the product, and at which point the product is re-applied, or com cleaning is evident.
I suggest anyone who is willing to use the product to do so at own risk, since I cannot yet prove it’s worth.
Years ago, I found a tube of graphite lube. It had a runny consistency, but when applied to a commutator in Athearn motors, then wiped off, the results were amazing. Not only was it quieter, but the graphite also helped low speed operation immensely.
It’s actually very similar to non-conductive WD-40. We use a lot of it, and a lot of Liquid Wrench, a little Gibbs, some As Seen On TV (PB B’Laster) and some Bolt Buster (really cheap stuff). All of them are very similar really, some just foam more than others, or are lighter or heavier or non-conductive so they meet different needs. Bolt Buster smells alot like Vanilla Ice Cream when it burns. (don’t ask)
I think the biggest problem with this is, the carrier will slowly evaporate, and as the lube that’s left sits there, it’ll slowly distribute and disappear, so I think you’ll probably have to re-do it pretty often.
This is such a great forum! Everyone relays their bit of info from their personal knowledge, and experience, to provide a wide angle view of the topic at hand. I’m not just talking about this particular topic, but in general, as I have noticed in reading many of the other topics throughout the forum. I’m glad that all that we share in this hobby, can be expressed so vividly.