What is the best way to break in my Athearn GP38? Fast, slow,constant speed, variable, load, no load?? or does it really matter. I just got mine last night and ran it for about 20-30min total. It makes a racheting/klicking noise, mostly in the curves, but is already getting noticably quietter. I read this is normal? When can you tell when its time to lube the gears? I understand that using Dextron ATF is a good choice? Is there any thing else to do? Does anyone have a link to a sight for maintenence?
Thanks
Chris
looks nice
Everyone has their own ideas on this. I generally run an engine on DC for 15 minutes forward and then 15 minutes in reverse, at about 3/4ths full speed. Then if I think it needs it I lubricate it and add the decoder. (I like to make sure there are no problems with it before I begin making changes to it, just in case there were a problem with it and it would need be returned to the seller or manufacturer.)
In one of the boxes of trains I bought there was literature on breaking in the locomotive. It said to run it at 50% throttle forward for 10 minutes then reverse for 10 minutes.
After the initial break in I hook up 6-8 50’ box cars and let it go for another 10 minutes.
Diddo what wjstix says about installing the decodeer after breaking it in. Don’t want to install a decoder then find out that the loco has mechanical problmes.
Bill
I’m in N-scale, but tend to follow the above given guidelines. However, I add maybe five or ten cars at a time. Along with increasing pressures on all the involved parts of the running gear, I can soon learn the engine’s pulling capacity, which I had to a 3x5 " ‘Maintenence Record’ card I keep on all my motive power.
Don’t know if I’d use the ATF for lube. It may or may not be plastic compatible, but I don’t care for the smell. Also, it’s pretty thin and might not stay where it’s supposed to. Go ahead and get some plastic compatible lube such as Labelle makes. A little goes a long way; too much is probably worse than too little.
Break in on my layout consists of flat switching the yard for an hour or 2. Smooth starts and stops, varied heavy load/light load/no load, no more than about 1/2 throttle, and many direction changes. After switching the yard for an hour, I may run it on a way freight switching every siding on the way, or I may make a “mine run”, or something similar. After that it’s given a quick check (similar to a car’s first service), and turned loose for general service. I also do the same break in procedure for any loco that has been in storage for any length of time.
Brad
From Northwest Shortline’s literature: “Mechanisms don’t wear in; they wear out!” The problem with a lot of these cheaper mechanisms is that they are sloppy to begin with. So they growl. But abusing them does not make them better.
Would you run your car without oil for any length of time to “break it in”? Then why are you doing this to your trains?
I confess that my locos are used brass steamers (can’t afford the new ones). And supposedly they already are “broke in.” However, invariably, I will get them stored serviceable after several years in another’s trunk, and it is not uncommon for me to find the lubricants reduced to putty. That means the entire mechanism has to be completely disassembled, cleaned, and re-lubed.
I always preferred LaBelle, but I recently obtained some Hobbylubes from Woodland Scenics, and they so far have worked well. My basic procedure is the same for any model:
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Remove the gearbox so that the mechanism turns freely; test the mechanism on a glass plate to see if it rolls freely. Look for any binding. Take everything apart and check the drivers for quartering (you diesel guys of course don’t have to worry about that). Also check the springing to insure it is not too stiff.
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Disassemble the gear box and clean everything not plastic in acetone – get the metal parts squeaky clean. As for the plastic, brush it clean with a shaving or mascara brush – make sure you do every tooth – you don’t want any sand, grit, filings or similar here.
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After inspecting to insure they are free of burrs, coat the insides of the gear box and the outsides of the bearings with molybdenum grease.
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Use gear lube on the worm and light oil on the shaft where it is borne by the bearings. Reassemble the gear box.
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Reassemble the mechanism. Use a drop of the light oil on all the wheel bearings and bearing surfaces, then reattach the retainer plate. A drop of light oil also should be pla