Looking for ideas on tuning up older athearn locomotives . . .
Clean out all the old oil and grease, clean up the wheels, put in fresh oil and grease (don’t over-do it), make sure all electrical contact points are clean and conducting well, oil the motor bearings, clean up the commutator with a pencil eraser or something similar, and make sure the brush tension is enough for good contact but not enough to make the motor tight.
I’ve also always added hardwiring instead of relying on the stamped metal… Much better electrical contact, and, easier to convert to DCC if so chosen. Cleaning/polishing motor communicator is also something to check, as Darth pointed out. Replacement wheel sets never hurts, but that may be further than you want to go. For just basic tune ups the clean and lube, along with insuring best electrical contact possible, (whether you choose to hardwire or not) is the minimum. More advanced techniques are out there, but are also more time consuming. I.e the site http://hackitup.railfan.net/athearn.html is one example of more advanced methods.
Edited for link.
[:-^]
Just “google” Athern tune up guide, and you will be surprised at the amount of info that comes up.
Johnboy out,
If I may refer you to David’s excellent tutorial here:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/241180.aspx
You have to copy-paste. For some reason this forum does not like to link to itself?
Even if you are not going to install a DCC decoder, Dave’s advice here is valuable.
Good Luck, Ed
Replace the stock sintered metal wheel sets, which are gunk magnets, with NWSL wheel sets.
Even the Athearn NS replacements work OK. make sure you get the right size … either 40" (40028) or 42" (40029).
Another link to a great tune-up aid:
http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.html
Len S
That was the site I used prior, but seems to now come up as not existing? Maybe it will work for you though…
Sorry, I just tried it and it came up as non-existing for me also. Too bad as it was pretty comprehensive.
try this:
http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Athearn_TuneUp.php
Len S
I replace the old wheel sets with the newer RTR nickel silver units.One 6 axle units I leave the sintered wheel sets in the middle position to help with traction.Sometimes I will do the same on 4 axle units just replacing the outer sets with nickel silver wheels.I think hard wiring is a must but I suggest using spade male/female connectors so the trucks and/or motor are easy to remove for servicing.
[EDIT] The Athearn RTR wheel sets are complete assemblies and simply just drop into place.The also cost less than the NWSL wheels.