If you are ‘in there’ & have the worms open, do this test…
Pull those drive shafts & worms out, & then fire it up on your DCC track & listen close to the motor.
A) does it start easily at low throttle range & run evenly ‘through’ the range"
B) add slight tension to it with your thunmb on a flywheel or spinning surface & see if it does the same…
That may tell you if it is decoder &/or Load releated.
If all is well there, I would remove the bottom plate from the trucks/disassemble the trucks to make sure there is not any hardened grease chunks (curds) in there, & fully clean & inspect for damage.
This may be the real culprit, if kept running that way, may overload the DDC decoder or break a gear tooth.
I hope this will help, when running properly these are good little performers, I hope you find out what the issue is & can make it into one of your favorites.
Best of luck!
OK, I pulled out the worm gear and shafts and ran it and the motor spins up REAL fast and smooth. NICE. I’ll bet it’s full of gunk. How do I clean it? What do I use to clean it with? And what do I use to re-lube it?
Paul,
Well that’s a start, starting good news too.
Honestly I do not have a 44T, but I do have a 45T, so let me go get it & see how I can figure out how it is assembled. -Hoping they are very similar, & you told me yours was a single motor like mine…
There should be a diagram in the box, I will check mine to help me along.
Usually the Tower Clip, over the worm gear will let the truck drop out, but the Bachmanns may differ.
Also, ther are commonly a bottom clip that holds the axles in place that cvan be popped out (very carefully) with 2 Knife blades on the clips or other thin wedge shapes.
Another thing you may be able to ‘Feel’ is if you run the trucks (without the worm drives) over track, & they do not roll freely, there may be an issue. However, if it is geared low (which these are) they may ‘seem’ sticky…
Hold on, please & let me see what I can come up with…
Other folks can chime in if they have the 44Tonners, …Please.
OK, On my 45T my trucks will pop out from the bottom of the chassis, & have two tabs that locate them into the Worm Hub.
The bottom Truck Cover plate has Tabs on the bottom of the Front & Rear of the ‘drive box’.
One end can be popped off & then the other can be hinged out as in a lifting motion from the ‘popped’ side.
(PS: Even in my new model, there was lots of grease & it is easy to see how it could get thick or clogged, as the covers are actually open on the bottom, & could pick up debris).
If you can wait, I will take a picture so you can see if they are similar.
Also ‘Full Disassembly’ will go further, & I will also talk about that.
Chad, I got it apart, the wheels turn freely. I did accidentally break off two of the wires but I had to re-strip them and place them back in their little slide on clips. Holy cow!! What is this like 28 0r 30 gauge wire? I mean those wires are TINY!
I put it all back together again except for the shell and it still runs poorly. I have to jack up the speed all the way to 28 to get it started it seems. I did let one truck run on the track while I lifted the wheels off on the other end, did this on both ends and it runs FAST if I let it at full throttle but at slower speeds it is just VERY slow starting. Is this normal for this type of worm gear loco?
Which TCS decoder did you use? I normally replace Bachmann decoders with Digitrax, but prefer TCS when possible. I understand that a couple of ¼" stick on weights also helps the beast factor. Have not tried that yet either.
If you saw wires, we may be talking different units & my efforts my have been misleading, & I do apologize.
However, should any major parts resemble these, I do hope it is of some benefit to you.
Please click on the Photo, or bottom of the Photo to enlarge it to ‘FULL Size’.
Paul, I was hoping your unit would be more like this one, but it sounds like it is very different, I hope I have not led you down a wrong path.
PS, I have limited space, & may remove this, so for everyone, (as usual) please save this picture if you feel you would like to reference it in the future! I will honor a request for it if it is missing, as I only delete the internet link, not the master picture. Thanks
First, you make a lot of assumptions you that you have no idea about. I have the simplest system. Two wires soldered to the tracks. All the other locos run fine. I am an electrician by trade, an aircraft avionics electrician so I think I know what I’m doing.
Second, my grammar? Who made you a grammar troll?
Have a nice night and thanks for your help and God bless you.
Chad, thanks a lot for the photo. Mine looks exactly like this however I haven’t disassembled it all the way as shown in your photo.
While waiting for your responses (which I really appreciate) I have learned how to program the CV’s. But no luck. It simply will not even start moving till I set the speed to 8 or 9. I think the worm gear system as opposed to the flywheel system is where the problem lies.
A guy named cuyama posted this then either he or someone else deleted it. “And you shouldn’t. His layout is very strangely wired (as is his grammar) and does not apply to typical DC or DCC.”
So I posted back to his deleted post. I feel sorry for people who have to belittle others, after all they had to start out as newbies but you can’t change people can you.
When I mentioned grammar, I was talking about the guy (Lion) who pretends he’s a stuffed toy.
I was saying to you don’t wire your motor directly to the wheels as he advised. He has a weird set-up that doesn’t apply to anyone else’s layout I’ve ever seen. (or ever will.)
I was making no comment about, you, your wiring, or yo Mama. [:)] Sorry for the confusion.
I understand the reason you might be confused, but believe me, I wasn’t directing anything towards you. Best of luck with your layout.
I have helped dozens and dozens of newbies – including, briefly, you. Check my posts. My gripe is with people who make impractical suggestions that don’t apply to the newbie, confusing them. So it wasn’t directed toward you. When I rethought it and tried to delete it, you were too quick on the draw.
Again, best of luck with your layout – but don’t wire your wheels directly to the motor as you were advised. [;)]
I have one of the newer single motor DCC-equipped 44-tonners. The orange capacitors – IF they are present – will be buried under the motor. I looked for them there like on my 70-tonners, but couldn’t see any without disassembling it. It’s possible they may be on the board (not on the decoder) instead of directly attached to the motor. In which case, you might be better off leaving things alone in the absence of better guidance of what to snip off.
I will say this. Bachmann decoders are worth what you pay for them – free, included with the loco. I eventually gave up on the ones in the 70-tonners and installed NCE decoders – things worked MUCH better. The drive in these locos is actually pretty good.
So far, I’ve played with various CVs and have got the different decoder that’s in the 44-tonner to work fairly well. I suggest keep trying different settings for voltage, etc, rather than trying to sort out anything else that’s not obvious at this point. It’s is most likely the decoder, as you’ve verified the motor likes to go round and round just fine when it gets the juice.
Hi Paul,
Hey, You are very Welcome, when it comes to similar models, & similar interests, I make an attempt to respond.
On my model my driving trucks popped themselves out when I was going for the body mounting screws behind the coupler pockets.
Until then I mistakenly thought they were capped units like most SD & GP models, they are not, (& I did mis inform!) so these can Gently be pryed out from the bottom of the assembled chassis…
Then one can try to remove the bottom covers (like in the pic), & the wheel sets should pull out & then can be cleaned.
I, typically use a toothpic for this, the wood will grab the grease, & let me scoop it out.
To address another question I missed, there willbe enough lube there to test with, once the cleaning & issue has been remedied, then a little ‘plastic compatible’ or ‘very light’ plastic compatible grease will do, here, less is more.
On mine, I will ‘de-clump’ it & maybe rub only a smidgeon back into the gear mesch, & call it ready-to-go!
I have not smoked a crankcase yet with that approach, but, I also do not run 24/7, but they do run often.
Again, I hope I was able to offer some helpfull info, & hope it can help you identify the issue with your little guy.
Actually when I saw the open gears on the truck bottoms, that is a real sign that a peice of ballast, some pet hair, or some oter foreign object got embedded in the gear train. I would spin & tooth check that carefully, as that would really be my primary suspect…
