I want to test run some ventage loco’s I was given. Four of them. After examing the underside of them there is extensive corrosion on the electrical wires, rust on metal gears,mold on plastic underside and rust on the drive shafts of the motor gears. I don’t want to fry them with just turning on the juice. Is there a way to do a quick test without have to do a complete service? thanks for the help
Tom
Perhaps a multimeter to test for shorting. From your description it would seem a tear down and lube and cleaning would benefit you and the locos. This way an inventory of good and needed parts can be had.
Pete
I assume these are old dc locos, possibly brass? If so I wouldn’t worry about hurting the loco but rather the power supply. The age and corrosion is more likely to cause an open circuit than a short, an open won’t hurt the power supply but a short will. As for testing the loco, you could use a multimeter to check for continuity between power pickups and frames, motor terminals and motor case etc. I would just take a 9 volt battery and power em up, if they run then do a service, if they don’t then go into finding the problems.
This is one of the reasons to keep an old cheap power pack handy, although I would do a full teardown and cleaning before even thinking about trying to power it up. So my reccomendation, if the locomotives are worth the effort, is to tear them down and give them a good cleaning before trying that. After the motor is removed, you can test it by itself. Look at the bright side, you got them for free, so if you do damage them or they’re not worth it, you’ve lost nothing. You could learn how to fix your own locomotives, so there is something to gain.
First of all, what brand are these vintage locomotives? Are we talking steam or diesel models? This info can help us give you better and more specific guidance.