I was just given an old(er) Alco RS2 EMD SW1500 loco, roadname CSX #1125, that still has hook style couplers. I cannot determine the manufacturer, nor can I figure out how to separate the chassis from the body so that I can install knucke couplers. I have some jpg photos of the loco, but I cannot for the life of me find out how to import them into this blog. Can anyone help?
This is normal for a motor. The stopping (or cogging) is the iron core aligning with the magnets. A 3-pole motor will cog 6 times, a 5-pole motor will cog 10 times, and so on.
Have you checked to make sure the chassis itself isn’t running stiff? If it’s older, the grease and oil have probably dried up. That can put a lot of stress even on a good motor.
Lubricate and clean contacts. I hear kato has really nice motors, dont know if they have any for your loco.
The problem may not be in the motor. While you have the motor out, put the loco on the rails or even a smooth table top, and push it along, perhaps by it’s tender (so you’re not putting down pressure on the drivers), and see if the mechanism is rolling smoothly and freely. Maybe a good time to lube everything up. Make sure the lube on everything isn’t gummy, as can happen in older models. A thorough cleaning may be in order.
Or, is it that the track is dirty? Do other locos run freely where this one has problems? Dirty wheels that pick up current will cause problems too. Also corroded contacts between tender truck frames and tender frames…Any place along the path of current in a locomotive has to be clean of dirt and corrosion. Dan
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As Darth Santa Fe said, this is normal for a three pole motor.
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You need to do further testing before condemning/replacing the motor. It really sound like an electrical probelm to me.
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Do you know the make and type of locomotive? A picture might be helpful.
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-Kevin
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Hi there. All good advice so far. If you have removed the motor, why not check it by applying 12v power to it? It should start and run smoothly at all speeds. After successfully passing that test, you can check the drivetrain without the motor attached to it. It could be many things, including binds and wheel quartering issues.
Simon
Thanks for all your help. I was impatient, considered the worst, but cleaned and lubed everything and it now works great.
Kevin,CSX 1125 is a Athearn BB SW1500. This engine is painted in the early Gray and Blue scheme.
The advice has been kinda off topic since the engine he mentions is a Athearn BB SW1500.
I agree Larry, this thread has gone nuts. It has responses from a thread on replacing a can motor, but the OPs question seems to be how to get the shell off, something got mixed up.
Mike.
I think Darth Sante Fe responded to the wrong thread. There was another thread about perceived motor cogging.
Right Maxman, and I can’t find that thread right now, I thought it started out as a motor replacement thread.
Oh well.
Mike.
If this is the old OLD Athearn engine (with the metal clip holding the horn hook coupler in place, like the old metal freight cars used, versus the screw on coupler cover of the newer version), then my recollection is that at the top of the cast on metal fuel tank is a protruding ridge of metal, which in turn fits tightly into a slot in the plastic casting of the shell. A screwdriver or knife carefully inserted to pry the shell away (with some toothpicks handy to wedge into the newly created gap) should enable the shell to be popped off.
Since the frame is metal, I would suggest using one of the (to me new-fangled) plastic Kadee couplers to avoid possible shorts - less of a concern now than in the day when many cars had metal frames/coupler housings that conducted electricity).
Dave Nelson
The OP reused an old thread he started the other day regarding a steam engine not running. He deleted that text and replaced it with the SW1500 question. The OP recycled (per se) instead of just starting a completely new topic. That’s why the answers don’t follow the initial post.
Well, anyway, to answer the OPs new question, just gently spread the shell open in the middle, where the tanks are, it should come off. There is a little tab on the frame, on each side, that holds the shell.
As far as the couplers, as Dave said, pry off the metal cover on the bottom of the coupler box, and remove the old, replace with the new, snap the metal cover back on.
Of course you’ll want to check the height, but it usually is really close, without getting too technical.
Mike.
EDIT: Thanks Tony, I guess thats why I can’t find his first thread.
As far as I know, Steve Otte doesn’t charge us everytime we start a new thread.
How to post pictures is in a sticky here. You have to follow the directions and not insert a short cut
Th OP must have done it, Henry. When you go to his profile, and his activity, this thread used to be called “Replacing a loco can motor”.
Just seems like an od way of doing things, never mind.
Mike.
You’re thinking of the SW7 that was market as a SW1500. The SW1500 had the snap on plastic ccoupler box.
To remove the SW1500 shell you gently press on the sides and rocked the shell back and forth.
I was being facetious. Most of us are here to learn. It is better to leave a thread that has been successfully answered so that others the same problem may find it in the future.
Or, returning to my facetious mode, have a newbie offer up a solution in 2020.
Well, to answer the new within the old[:)], do what brakie said. If that doesn’t work, look online! I sure someone else has opened or tried to open the same locomotive.