Ok, so here is the deal. I have a garage layout here in Phoenix Arizona. Most of the summer, well, its just freakin[8D] hot. The last couple of months, it has been in the 80’s/70’s and has been great. But a few nites ago, it finally got cold. Well, like maybe mid 50’s. (mind you, for Arizona, 50’s is cold ok?)
So, I headed out in the morning and started to run some trains. I notcied they started stalling more and jerking a bit. (only here and there, which usually, they never do)
After a few laps, ( I have a big layout, maybe 90 feet main line running) they settled down and purred like they normally do. it has happened a few more times since as it has gotten cooler. i was wondeirng if may the lube gets a bit stiff or the oil around the motor is abit sticky.
But darn if they dont smooth out after getting warm.
And no, it has nothign to do with the track being cleaned, I allready checked that variable. So, any thoughts or others with the scenario?
Every mechanical device has clearances and it wouldnt suprise me if that was your problem, things being out of clearance when cold. Most machiniery has an operating temperature range and it doesnt run well when out of that temp. just look at old carburated cars, they run rough when theyre not warm.
that makes sense that they would run erracticly when very cold… run it for a while without pulling any cars til’ it smooths out and warms up then add the cars and have fun.
Although clearances and tolerances on model railroading equipment are small, I think your problem is more the lubricant being used. All lubricants are denser at colder temperatures. You locos are straining against cold lubricants, causing the jerkiness you describe. After a short time of running, the lubricants warm up and your locos perform as they should.
Locos that have been in storage for a long period of time suffer the same problem. The lubricants get a little “stiff” from non-use. Running them gets the “juices” flowing again. Some light-weight lubricants actually dry up after a period of non-use, or they may be so light-weight that the lubricant ‘settles’ out. They may need to be re-lubed before use.
Over Thanksgiving, I entertained my 3 yr old grandson by running some trains on the layout. He wanted to see different engines running, so I took some out of storage. All of them were slow to run or ran in a jerky fashion until they “warmed” up. Most of these locos have been in storage for at least 2 or 3 years. Before storing locos, I disassemble them, clean the old lubricants out, then re-assemble and re-lube them. I never know if they are going to be stored for a few weeks, a few months or a few years, but I know they were in excellent condition when I stored them. When I take them out to run, I operate them slowly for a few minutes. If they don’t perk up after a short period of running, I pop the shell off and put a tiny amount of lube on the motor shaft bearings and on the drive gears in the trucks. Only takes a few seconds, and they usually perform as expected after that. Had to do that on one loco, the rest ran fine.
i acquired my grandfather’s layout and all his trains(he only had 3 loco’s) the last time he had the trains running(they were only used during winter)was 2 years ago. wahls hair clipper oil was the lube (i’m sure there are better alternatives) the old athearn b-b gp38-2 squealed terribly for the first few minutes of running during each session. the last time it was run(2 yrs. ago) it was quiet. i found the wahls oil and lubed it ,-it doesn’t squeal at all now. i recommend you don’t use clipper oil.
I would agree that you not use clipper oil for lubricating engines. Clipper oil is a sharpening oil for steel blades as in hair clipper blades. Use a plastic compatible hobby lubricant like HobbyLube or Labelle. Clipper oil does have detergent qualities, which is why it works good on track.
just on a side note here. i dont know about america, but over here on the real steam locos they used to use a steam oil that actually didnt run at all if it was cold. in order to even pour it they left it on the top of the firebox for a few minutes. it was totally useless at low temperature but heat it up and it was the best thing they had.
Last winter while wife and I were gone for the day on a weekend our furnce quit. The air temp outside was 15 degrees. After replacing the thermal coupler on our furnace and letting house warm up I grabbed a few engines I had been working on and headed to my layout. They would not even hardly move and hummed quite a bit before they loosend up. I have had a few loco’s squeal over the years do to lower temps, I always let them make a few laps on the mainline before letting them run, the oil or lite grease in the gear boxes does get heavier do to cold.
I let all mine warm up a bit most of the time anyway when air temp is colder, I have one BB Athearn SW7 that if it had an odometer on it would have over 250,000 miles on it. It is a quiet running SW that is so loose you could put it in the freezer all day and throw it on the track and run it at as if it were 90 degrees out. The loco is about 25 years old or so.
You’re a real funny guy. Hopefully no one will try this,if you do or already have ,sorry about your fried locomotive and microwave.
Gtr did you by chance see ST Elmos fire??? Maybe even the effect of an electric arc furnace. How about the scaled down version of a thunder-storm?
Folks, if you don’t want your locomotive’s destroyed,don’t “quote on quote” put them in the microwave,to warm.
Thats still pretty funny…microwaveable locomotives…just open the package…nuke for 15 seconds…and presto warm locomotives LOL[:D]
I’ve had locos that needed a few minutes running to behave properly before now - this one turned out to be in need of some commutator polishing after which it performed perfectly straight from the box. Just another thing to check if they’re rough at first then smooth out during a running session!
I live in Sierra Vista, Arizona, 200 miles southeast of Phoenix. We are at an altitude of 5,500 feet, and it gets much colder here than in Phoenix. Our HO scale club is in an unheated building.
I have noticed, too, that engines don’t run well when they are cold, and attribute this to the thickening of the gear lube that manufacturers use.
This is interesting. I have slept directly on snow in an Army sleeping bag at -10F, and spent many winter exercises out on the prairies in my armoured vehichles, trying to keep them mobile at that range of temps. I could see a small ecletric motor and drive having some difficulty at those temps, but I find it dificult to understand why the locos would have problems at only 40 deg F. Lubrication might certainly be an issue, but I would wonder if condensation might not be the real culprit. When items cool, but not as fast as the surrounding, moist, air, condensation is a sure thing. We have to keep our gas tanks filled in the winter so that there is not substantial air pocket in an otherwise half-filled tank where moisture condenses and runs downto the bottom of the tank. So, droplets of moisture might be causing electrical problems inside cool engines.
I suspect that gravity rather than temperature may be the culprit. The longer that the mechanism stands the more lubricant heads south, and then the cool temperature may impede the flow and redistribution of the “settled” lubricant back up into the drive train where it belongs. Check the bottom covers of your drive trucks for excess oils, and grease. A drop of lube into the top of the drive train may help speed up the redistribution of the needed lubricant.
Will
Well, a couple of things to pont out in this discussion.
Engines are fairly new, only a couple of years old. They are the Athearn RTR types.
They are run at least 2 times a week, on average and have been since I got them.
Only a little jerky here, MAYBE a stall where a slight finger push is needed, a little winking of the lights, and sputter. Then, seems right when I was getting ready to get cranky, they smooth out and purr… One thing I have thought about is maybe lack of lube. During the summe rmonths, it will get up into the high 90’s,easliy. for awhile, it was breaking the hindered mark. When it is that hot, I wont run them more than 20 minutes or so, just to watch out for heat damage due to the decoders. I have no idea how much heat they can take, or hard they can be pushed, but I dont wanna found out the hardway. Always bug me that before you turn it on, its allready hot to the touch. But with the heat, maybe the oil got thinner and moved on to othe rplaces… or dried up. Now, its cold and maybe they just dont like it. Of course, now I am so off the wall specualting… Who knows…
This morning i did run them for a lap by themselves to loosen up. No problems.
Well, all ealse fails, one more aspect to make it more prototypical… Got to warm that baby up before you run it