what are some procedures everybody uses for breaking in a new locomotive? Pretty much everything I’ve ever owned has been used and broken in (or just plain broken), but I now find myself in the pleasant situation of having some genuinely NEW motive power, and I want to break it in correctly. Any suggestions?? Thanks [:)]
Ray
Yes The way i break in my new locos is to run then about 45 mins one way at differnt speeds then the otherway, then put some load on it ,run at differnt speeds
Carl…
I just use them for 30-60 minutes of yard switching. I can just see the foreman’s face when he finds out about using 6 E8’s for switching a dozen empty hoppers! Boy is he gonna be mad!
Brad
I probably don’t do a very good job of it. I run 'em in circles for about 45 minutes and that’s pretty much it.
And while I’m sure this is dead wrong, since I’m exclusively steam power, I don’t even run 'em backward… I so rarely run them backward in “real” usage, that I can’t imagine 45 minutes of breaking in going in reverse is necessary…
kchronister,
Breaking in a locomotive in reverse is important, not because you run in reverse a lot, but because you want to even up the fit in the drive train. Breaking in settles all the drive train parts into position. Running in only one direction settles in the parts for that direction only.
I don’t use any special break-in procedure. I usually disassemble the loco, clean the gears and bearings (manufacturers almost ALWAYS over-lubricate!), check for flash and burrs on the gears, reassemble everything and give it proper lubrication. Then I run it (in both directions) for maybe 10 or 15 minutes at different speeds, with and without loads. That may be why my oldest Arnold N scale loco still performs as well as it did when new 36 years ago!
Darrell, quiet…for now
I’ve always run mine at medium speed for about 30 minutes forwards and 30 minutes backwards with good results.
Tracklayer
Pretty much the same for me; I run them slowly at first to listen and watch, both directions. Then I add more speed and rolling stock over the next 15 minutes.
I think a loco will let you know quickly if something is amiss. If it runs well after pulling the first train around your main once, it should be fine. So I do as BLI says to, and lube the gear right away on the steamers, and assume that I can run LL steamers for a week or so before I lube them.
I follow the instructions.
I do the same as On30Shay, if it doesn’t have instructions I run it for 15-20 minutes at various speeds ( not at full throttle at any time during the break-in) in either direction without any cars hooked up. Then I will run it lightly loaded with cars at various speeds again, without hitting full throttle until I have at least a good hour or more running time on it, or seeing what the maximum amount of cars it can pull until then either. If I hear any squeaks I lube everything and restart the breakin. So far this seems like a good method, everything is running as good as the day it came home.
I leave it running for about 30mins on a test oval, then change direction, leave for another 30mins then repeat. 2hrs later it should be in full running order. Obviously I keep an eye on them to spot anything like lack of oil, bent rods, etc before serious damage can occur. After that I usually just add a drop of oil to each motor bearing and put it into service. Hope this is of use!
I always take mine apart to install a decoder so while its apart I check the gears for burrs and make sure the wires are not frayed or broken anywhere. After the decoder is programmed then I run it for 10 minutes one way, 10 minutes the opposite way then 30 minutes one way and 30 minutes the opposite way. After that is done I put a load on to it and run it 10 minutes one way and 10 the other way. I then pop off the gear cover and look around for any damage. This seems to work for Protos that don’t have broken gears to start with because I’ve never had a problem with one. I have found burrs and plastic flash on a new loco’s gears though, maybe that contributes to the broken gear issue.
the instructions for my L-L train set say run 10 minutes forward at half speed then 10 minutes backward at half speed. however my new athearn doesn’t say anything about breaking it in so i ran it 10mins forward at half speed and 5mins backward at half speed.
the gear noise really quieted down. also don’t pull cars when breaking in. if it’s new don’t lubricate it unless the instructions say to.
Just run the new loco around the layout, adding another car every 5 minutes or so up to about an hour.