Is there a SOP for curing that Sprectrum Diesel “waggle” as one starts up or changes direction?..I’m talking about the DCC onboard locos…I can’t remember if all my other older split frames do it too.
I just figured out what causes it, while no other locos have the problem. The motors do not sit tightly in the frame of these Spectrums. Now that I am replacing all the crappy Lenz 100 decoders with the NCEBachDSL replacements, I can see that every motor “waggles” in my fingers.
I think I could just slip a flat washer between the motor and the bottom of the frame space, and maybe solder it in a few points against the motor housing. That would stick the motor in place, slightly rotated, but I bet I will get rid of the waggle.
Any thoughts or links to previous threads on this would be appreciated.
I wouldn’t solder a few points from the motor to the frame, as the motor needs to be electrically isolated from the frame in order to run it on DCC. I don’t own any Spectrum diesels (and I don’t run DCC), but if you’re getting a ‘wobble’ from the motor, perhaps ‘cushioning’ it toward the bottom with some non-conductive silicone gel might cure it. It would ‘cushion’ the wobble, and still keep the motor isolated from the frame.
Actually Tom, soldering the can to the frame will not effect the electrical isolation of the motor. The can IS electrically isolated from the motor brushes.
Only the wiring or connections to the motor brushes will effect electrical isolation.
Flash…a plastic screw will not make any difference if the screw is attached to the frame or can of the motor. The frame/can IS already isolated from the electrical workings of the motor.
Plastic or metal, the screw won’t have any effect on electrical isolation of the motor as long as the motor brushes are isolated, and the motor doesn’t have a short in the armature.
Yeah, I know what I am doing with these. This is the 86th loco in my collection that I have converted. You all can be sure the can motor can be on the frame…a lot of steamers are set this way.
A lot of people have this isolating the motor scenario alarming them. Just keep the brushes clear of the frame.
Thanks for the responses so far.
You know, I have become so impatient with the drying time of the latex caulks that I use the most serious version of liquid nails in many applications where I am certain that I will never be wanting to alter the setup. That cuts the waiting time to continue a job from 24 hours to 15 minutes…but one has to be really sure that what is being glued down will never need to come out again. In this case, caulk is better because one may need to replace brushes etc. in the future.
But what about any Spectrum owners…anyone has solved this problem before?
I don’t know. I’ve only got 1 Spec diesel and it doesn’t wiggle. The motor has a rubber “boot” on each end that keeps it pretty snug in the frame. The only wiggler I had was an IHC SD unit with the plastic frame and U lugs that clipped it to the frame. That’s the one I fixed with the hot glue gun.
I have seen cheap can motors that used the metal motor housing as a power lead. But these weren’t used in trains.
Cisco Kid,
The “waggle” is a result of Newton’s Third Law of Motion, that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. [:)] The motor’s torque is what’s the cause. Simply securing the motor to the frame will not make any difference whatsoever to the body twisting or “waggling”.
To eliminate this issue, you must secure one of the trucks to the frame in a better fashion. Usually, that means adding shims to the top of the truck or to the underside of the frame to eliminate the side to side play of the truck. BTW, only do one truck in this way, not both or it will tend to derail.
Old Athearns, BTW, have the same problem. When starting up or changing direction, the whole body will twist on top of the trucks.
This is the best method to correct the wobble issue. I have an undecorated SD45 that is in line as my next project. As I was test running it, I noticed that it has the wobble that Cisco Kid describes. I removed one of the power trucks to find the source of the issue and noticed that the pin that is on the truck is a bit longer than the recess on the frame that it’s supposed to go into. Two remedies came to mind: file the metal pin a bit in order to reduce its length or add shims as Paul3 describes. I’m going to attempt Paul3’s method since filing the metal pin will lower the height of the engine and mess with the coupler height, which happens to be correct.
You are supposed to hold the Glue Gun by the handle, not at the end where the glue comes out. That is why it is called a HOT glue gun. ALSO, do NOT smear the hot glue into place with your fingers. (Please do not embarass me by asking how I learned that little gem.) [oops] Be assured, you do not do it a second time.