I purchased a couple of older Lifelike E8/9’s that don’t look like they have ever been run but they both have similar problems right out of the box. The first one will start down my test track and all of a sudden the ampmeter will show almost a dead short, amperage jumping up to 2 1/2 to 3 1/2amps. on this one when the Mars light flashes the ampmeter swings way back and forth. On the second engine that does not have a Mars light it will run but draws a little over 2 amps. My experience with these older Lifelike engines is that about 1/2 amp or less is normal. I have a lot of these and that seems to be about right. Anybody ever had this problem? I’ve taken them apart but I can’t find any loose wires etc. I’ve inspected the trucks as best I can and they look normal. Both engines will run but I’m afraid something is going to burn up if I run them drawing that much current. On one of them it always starts out normal then amperage swings up like a component is breaking down. Does anyone know if there is anything on the light board that might cause this problem? I’m leaning towards defective motors but wanted to run it by you guys before tearing them down. Thanks Bill
Over time the original lubrication in the bearings and trucks tend to stiffen and dry up. The gears should be cleaned with some alcohol and a tooth brush and relubed. Also add a drop of oil at each bearing; motor, worm gears.
I agree w/ Jay. These locos are quite old now, released about 15+ years ago. If new or barely run the grease may be like dried peanut butter. Start there first, the one w/ the mars light could be an issue w/ the electronics on the board. These are generally a great reliable fantastic pulling loco. They do tend to draw more amps than any of the newer E or SD versions, but not to that extreme. Even an old BB Athearn wouldn’t draw 2 1/2" A.
Bill,
I am with Jay and Bob on this. It sounds like the gears are jamming causing the jump in amps. Old grease could well be the problem. Since you have opened up the locos, can you observe the gears binding?
Rich
Problem solved, looks like I had a problem on my test track in the switch that switches the track from DC to DCC. Thanks for the suggestions. Bill
I was going to say the same thing. I have 10 of these units and it I do not keep running them they get really stiff. I use my RI E8 to do a lot of DC testing and sometimes it acts like an electric cheese grater until it breaks in.
RMax
I have a fleet of 12 older run P2K E-units (E7s, E8s, and a pair of E6s).
They’re heavy like bricks and will outpull Athearn Genesis six axle units. Worth the effort to partially disassemble the units, clean out the old grease from the gears. Apply fresh lubricant (Labelle’s work well) and you’ll notice much better performance.
Great that you didn’t end up w/ any serious problems. I would still relube these “babies” though. Even if you don’t want to strip the gears out of the trucks, some added Labelle 106 and light oil the worm and motor bearings would be a good idea. Spin it up in both directions while adding to the worm, if any of the old grease has dried you will see bits/ chunks moving around. If so a tear down should be done. This is probably not an issue so much w/ a Proto as w/ the old Bachman’s. I have seen hardened goo in so many Bachman Plus units new out of the box. I don’t think they use that crud anymore.