I’m new at all this so bear with me. I bought my first steam loco today, I have a couple of diesels already. It is a BLI L&N J-4 2-8-2 #1776 HO scale and it seems to be a nice little locomotive but being unfamiliar with them I have a couple of questions you may can help me with.
First of all, it seems to be a little bit jerky, barely perceptably. I noticed it when it was pulling one car. Put 5 or 6 cars behind it and its not noticible… not that I could tell at any rate. By jerky, I mean in a really rapid motion that seems to be timed to the chuff of the engine, not smooth like a diesel would be. Is that normal? You mostly notice it when you watch the couplers between the tender and the car.
The other question concerns lubrication. The book is kinda contradictory in that it says the locomotive has been lubricated internally, to lube the moving parts on the outside. Then there is a separate sheet with the book that says to open the shell and grease certain parts inside. I’m wondering which is it?
Thanks for any help!
Jarrell
Hey Jarrell, I had a BLI 2-8-2 light, I couldn’t get it to run nicely no matter what I did.
I believe it’s to do with the flywheel/ worm drive out of the motor moving in and out ( the whole shaft including the motor ). This is causeing the wormdrive to mesh incorrectly with the gear in the tower. I tried to shim the whole thing to stop the movement, but didn’t work. I have returned my 2-8-2 [:(] and now have a Class J instead.[:D]
Tony’s had a look at the 2-8-2 and thought they’d fixed it but she still ran jerky.
The J has the same motor/flywheel/gear setup but is alot smoother.
Sorry to bring you bad news.
Ken.
I’m with ya, jacon12…I just received my 2-6-2 Hudson in C&N livery about a month ago and I have the same question. How do you lubricate these puppies??
Ken, I didn’t think it was running right. At first I thought it was the way steamers did but the more I thought about it I realized the engine just wasn’t running smooth. You know, you try to rationalize these things away sometimes.
Thanks Ken.
Anyone else have experience with them?
Jarrell
OK guys, here’s my take:
BLI engines are actually designed pretty well. I own three of the USRA heavies and one light, and plan on getting a few more of the lights. But they do require preliminary lubrication and a bit of run-in time. When the manual states that they’ve been lubed, but need to be lubed before operation, what they’re trying to tell you is that they added just a hint of oil when they tested the engines at the factory, but they need much more prior to real use.
I didn’t pay any attention to the manual the first time I ran my first BLI heavy. Having loads of experience in running and fiddling with model steam (I was rebuilding Mantuas by the time I was 13), I wanted to see what the engine would do right out of the box. The engine performed exactly as Jarrell described: jerky, stiff, and with a lot of squeaking. After about 10 minutes of this, I took the engine to the workbench, took it apart and gave it a shopping.
I use Aero Lube for all my engines. The stuff is absolutely fantastic, and will turn the oldest clunker into a pretty decent performer. A package or AL comes with three types of lube: a general bearing oil, a conductive oil, and a gear “butter”. Follow the directions, and you’ll get the hang of servicing a steamer in no time.
Essentially, you want to make sure that any moving part gets SOME oil, just as with any other type of machine. Many parts are made with slippery engineering plastic that doesn’t require direct lubrication, so you sort of have to “know” what those parts are. Oils will eventually destroy any plastic or nylon component, which is why you always want to add lube sparingly.
I generally add the conductive oil to the motor shaft (on open frame motors only; don’t oil a can motor!) and to any pickup wipers. The more conventional oil gets added to any bearing surface, such as the bearing blocks of the wheels. I also add a SMALL amount to the main drive rod pin (I apply oil to this spot with a pin) The gear "butter
Two things to remember with BLI locomotives…
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Most of them don’t come from the factory with any lubrication, and this must be done before running the locomotive at all!
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BLI recommends at least 50 hours of break in time. If the locomotive has a slight hitch in it at low speeds, this may dissapear altogether. If the hitch is more serious and causes the locomotive to stall at speeds less than say 5 smph, break in probably wont improve it and I would return it for repair.
Good luck!
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by orsonroy
OK guys, here’s my take:
BLI engines are actually designed pretty well. I own three of the USRA heavies and one light, and plan on getting a few more of the lights. But they do require preliminary lubrication and a bit of run-in time. When the manual states that they’ve been lubed, but need to be lubed before operation, what they’re trying to tell you is that they added just a hint of oil when they tested the engines at the factory, but they need much more prior to real use.
I didn’t pay any attention to the manual the first time I ran my first BLI heavy. Having loads of experience in running and fiddling with model steam (I was rebuilding Mantuas by the time I was 13), I wanted to see what the engine would do right out of the box. The engine performed exactly as Jarrell described: jerky, stiff, and with a lot of squeaking. After about 10 minutes of this, I took the engine to the workbench, took it apart and gave it a shopping.
I use Aero Lube for all my engines. The stuff is absolutely fantastic, and will turn the oldest clunker into a pretty decent performer. A package or AL comes with three types of lube: a general bearing oil, a conductive oil, and a gear “butter”. Follow the directions, and you’ll get the hang of servicing a steamer in no time.
Essentially, you want to make sure that any moving part gets SOME oil, just as with any other type of machine. Many parts are made with slippery engineering plastic that doesn’t require direct lubrication, so you sort of have to “know” what those parts are. Oils will eventually destroy any plastic or nylon component, which is why you always want to add lube sparingly.
I generally add the conductive oil to the motor shaft (on open frame motors only; don’t oil a can motor!) and to any pickup wipers. The more conventional oil gets added to any bearing surface, such as the bearing blocks of the wheels. I also add a SMALL amount to the main drive
50 hours!? Whew, thats a long break in time. This isn’t a hitch, but more of a back and forth rapid horizontal movement. I’m going to lube it like the instructions say to do and if that doesn’t work I’ll get in touch with BLI and see what they say. If THAT doesn’t work, then its refund time. Its a nice little engine so I hope I can get it worked out.
I appreciate your advice!
Jarrell
Mine was lubed correctly and had alot of run time, Tony’s gave it the once over and checked for lube, I gave it more run time on mine and a friends layout. EXCHANGE time. I did talk to Jimmy at BLI he said sometime the motor mounting tolerences were "out’’ causing them to jerk.
Ken.
Excellent Epistle Ray. It deserves," hit the print key".
I believe the jerkiness on some units is caused by the electronics, especially if you run DC like I do. My BLI Heavy 2-8-2 exhibited this, so when I couldn’t find any binding, I temporarily rewired it so the motor fed directly from the tracks. Presto, smooth. So, I thought about that and then I raised the starting voltage. Now, It has just the tiniest hint of roughness in reverse only, and that’s just at VERY slow speed. I can live with that.
None of my other BLI’s have shown the slightest problem.
Follow BLI’s lube recommendations. If they lubed it at the factory inside, then you need to lube the outside points. Always use plastic compatible lubes, and use them sparingly. I was so thrilled when I got my first BLI Class A I just slapped her on the tracks. Noisiest engine I ever heard in 30 years of this. Labelle made everything right with the world.
When in doubt lube the valve gear linkage, pivot points , gear lube on the main gear/drive shaft,oil on the tender’s axles, as stated by others use a plastic compatible oil sparingly for anything you oil on the loco, just enough grease to lightly cover the gear(s)/driveshaft. Find a name brand lubricant and grease (I use Woodland Scenics with no problems so far and have heard good things about Aero Lube) that is plastic compatible. So far this has worked for me on new locos and some very old and neglected brass locos too. I have a BLI N&W class A also, mine was quiet and smooth out of the box (lucky I guess) even before I lubed it.
One of the reasons the 12 inch to the foot railroads leaped to diesels was cost of maintenance both on the road and in the shop. With the advent of the 5000 mile oil change on automobiles we have lost sight of the need for lubrication as Americans. Steam locomotives require frequent sparing oiling of the moving parts. If you watch any of the current live steam videos I think you may catch the engineer’s ritual with the oil can lubricating the valve gear and the rods. It would probably be a good rule of thumb “if it moves oil it”! I have had good luck with LaBelle plastic compatible oils and greases.
Two other thoughts based on your description of the problem: 1) Already mentioned is to try disconnecting the electronics so that the chuff and the bobble are not related. 2) You may have side rod bind in the mechanism itself from several sources including between the rods themselvese, to one or more out of “quarter” drivers. Good luck .
Will
I’ve checked the rods etc as well as I can and can find no evidence of binding. The only ‘grease’ I have on hand is some Lionel that I use for a couple of O scale locos. I also have their oil and I’ve place a little on all moving parts on the outside.
Jarrell
I tried that with my 2-8-2 light as well but with the motor wired direct to the tracks she still jerked, I guess mine was just a ‘lemon’ like the guy from BLI first said when they replied to my email!!! And then he appoligised for not making models to my standard.
Ken.
Engine manual??? What engine manual? IHC sent along a fold out parts list with approximately 50 words describing “how to care for your engine”… It does say to lube the engine, but does not show where or specify what type of lubricant to use. So, what’s a new steam owner to do…take it to a friend for help!!
Jarrell, my BLI Hudson ran well right out of the box, and on DC. I only added lube after a few hours of operation, and then only because the manual stated that the running gear was not factory lubed. Upon conversion to a DCC layout, the only change in behaviour is that the loco won’t move until several seconds have elapsed after dialing in acceleration. I will dial up, say, 15 scale mph, and nothing happens for at least 8 seconds. Then, it will accelerate to that speed based on the inertia that I had programmed into the decoder. But, it is buttery smooth.
Sounds like a mechanical problem with your loco.
jacon12, it could be that there is a bent axle on your engine or the drivers are slightly out of quarter. (the right drivers on steam engines were always turned one quarter farther than the left) NWSL has a tool for quartering steam engine wheels. If that doesn’t work than try a Bachmann Spectrum steamer. I heard that they have some of the best steam engine drives around.[:D]
be sure you use plastic compatible oil/grease.
hit all the outside parts with oil, bearing surface areas of the wheels, and a few dabs on the motor and anywhere theres a moving bearing surface. worm gears should use grease.
make a loop of track and slowly run it around a while.
or maybe just run it normally as the parts will slowly wear in.
Relative to quartering, not all locos had “right hand lead”. I believe Pennsy had left handed lead, and maybe a few others.
You ought to be able to see a bent axle/wheel, and I believe most of the quartering issues went away with the old Bachmann models. To check for linkage binding, try tunning very slow and when it hesitates, stop it and try moving all the small linkage parts very gently with a toothpick. They should all be free.