hey fellas,
I just want to say its good to be back.
now, for my problem,
I just got athearns new swoosh scheme BNSF AC4400CW, but its really noisy, is there any way that I can make it less noisy?
Also, the wheels pick up grim and other crap off the wheels really fast is there anything I can do?
I heard that some of the motors in the new RTR diesels are noisy because of the magnets contacting the rotating armature. You may be able to fix it by gluing the magnets to the top and bottom of the motor’s gold part. That should hopefully stop the armature from hitting the magnets as it turns.
I thought Athearn had fixed some of their problems i hate to hear that, maybe you just got a bad one.
Athearn RTR loco motors are noisy compared to the Genesis line, Atlas, P2K, etc. Magnet rattle and commutator brush noise/rattle are factors. They also draw more current than the other brands. I opt to replace them with Mashima motors from Proto Power West / A-Line. The unit runs quieter, draws less current, and makes them more palatable for sound installation.
You will also find the wheels will collect less carbon with the reduced current draw. If you want to further improve the wheel issue, try replacement wheelsets from NWSL (Northwest Short Line).
If you are using DCC, you choice of usuable decoders increases as some decoders can be damaged by the high current/ back ElectroMotive Force (EMF) spike issues.
IMO the best thing Athearn can do is retire this motor and choose a low current skew wound can motor.
Carl in Tampa
Athearn locomotives are noisy, ah, some things never change.
Can you tell if, as the others suggest, that it is motor noise or is it possibly gear noise. Perhaps a bit of grease could help.
Unfortunately I am not familiar with the new Athearn models, but the with older Athearn BB, the solution was to change the wheel sets from the steel to nickel-silver. The Northwest Short Line company made special kits just for this purpose.
Let’s try a new approach and see if we can find the BEST solution for you…EXACTLY what type of noise are we talking about? Is it gear click? Is it flywheel chatter? Motor chatter? At what speed? Combination of all?
To find the source of the problem run the engine slow on your test track with your ear (not joking) close to the drive and listen for the noise and get back to us for serious replies that is base on more information…
As far as the wheels the BEST solution would be to use NWSL wheel sets.
You mean Athearns don’t come with sound units???
Actually I have had some wheel binding problems on a RTR SD45T-2. The truck frame was not square and the front wheel set would rub on turns. Re-aglinment with hand pressure solved the problem.
Good luck
it turns out that it was gear noise.
so I took each gear box apart, washed all the gears with warm soapy water, put my magnafine glasses on, and took a jewlers file to the geras, and just lightly ground on the teeth, then I took 900 grit sanpaper, and sanded inbetween each tooth, then I put it all back to gether and gaver er a good lubing, and now she runs like champ, still pics up stuff on the wheels very quickly.
Now how do you get the fly wheels off to glue the magnets ( hope i spelled that right ) and what glue to use.
I dunno, I did not do that.
Sean,Be careful if you don’t have the experience because youcould damage the motor or not get the flywheels replaced properly on the shaft causing a viberation…I did that about 9 years ago…
I haven’t glued the magnets in none of my RTR units and have no plans to…IMHO if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.[:)]
I have never glued magnets either, but generally the fly wheels are just pressed on. So you can get a wheel puller, or just remove the motor unit grab a fly wheel in each hand and pull while twisting back and forth gently.
If you dont have the time or money to switch out the wheel sets, you could always clean the existing wheels by holding a napkin on the track, placing one truck of the loco on the track, and the other on the napkin. While holding up the “napkin” truck (slightly), turn the throttle to full and let the wheels spin on the napkin. Switch the trucks around (for all-wheel electrical pickup engines) and repaet the process. You’d be surprised how much grime you can clean using this process. Do this pretty regularly for the best results. Hope this helps!
-Brandon
About the wheels getting grimy quickly, it won’t do much good to thoroughly clean the wheels if you don’t clean the track. I’ve read quite a few posts about polishing the rails with metal polish. I haven’t tried it yet, but will in the future to see how it works.
Actually, the current gold motors from Athearn are 5-pole skewed armature can motors. If they’re adjusted and oiled just right, they can be as quiet and smooth running as higher quality motors.[:D] They also draw as much or less current than most P2K diesels (again, if everything is adjusted and oiled just right).
ATHEARNS HAVE TO BE NOISY SO THEY CAN SOUND SO REAL.
Two quick things, in old Atherns, take out the connecting piece the connects front and back wheels to the motor, it is a long clip, then soldier wire from the front and back wheels to the motor. Get Labelle 101 oil, it will provide good electrical contact for your engines, may not have to clean for months. You could change to Northwest Shortline, but using the LaBelle 101 oil will make a difference in running. Run a foot of oil on various parts of the your layout, both sides, I run some oil every 10-15 feet around the layout, each oil slick is right on the track, both rails, for one foot. When the wheels hit the oil slicks it will be spread the oil around the layout and improve the running of your trains.
Yard Master
WTRR
There are a couple things you can do to make your Athearn R-T-R’s to run better. I have an SP SD45T-2 and the best thing I can suggest is to open the bottom of the trucks and use like a jewlery polish tooth past stuff (I don’t know what exactly what the stuff is called) and place some of the tooth past in the trucks around the gears, Then run your locomotive at max speed in one direction for like 1/2 hour to get the tooth past worked in (It helps to have a curcle track) then run the loco in the oposite direction for 1/2 hour. then clean out the geers and that should do the trick. Some times the Athearn gears are so tight though that you have to work in one truck at a time (Thats what I had to do.) Another thing that will make your Athearn rtrs run smoother is to go and buy a can motor and swap out the Stock Athearn motor.
Any questions just ask.
Good luck
i cant find any Northwest Short Line wheel set to replace the ones the engine came with.