Ive got an older DC locomotive that has what I think is a cracked univeral joint. Whats the best way of going about replacing these? I think its the universal on the motor side because the worm and univeral stops spinning but the motor makes high rev noises. Its on a long discontinued brand, and there aren’t currently any diecast or plastic models of this locomotive available on the market. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Andrew
How about a photo? I have used NWSL in the past but he is going out of business in August and might still have parts.
His stuff is excellent.
Get your dial caliper out if not sure.
He use to answer calls. Tough time. Wife passed. Catalog below.
http://www.nwsl.com/nwsl-online-catalog.html
You will need a p[hoto hosting site if you have not post photos before.
Rich
You can get complete u-joints from North West Short Line.
Measure your shaft sizes and just replace the u-joint assembly .
you need to hurry and get an order in has soon NWSL will close its doors. Then we will all be in a world of hurt!
I have used this A-Line universal #12031, universal kit.
https://ppw-aline.com/collections/miscellaneous-re-powering-parts
Yes, NWSL would be my first choice and I have used their parts for some brass rebuilds but you have to be sure of your shaft sizes and order accordingly.
Good Luck, Ed
Thanks. I will Bookmark that one.
Rich
For a photo, click on the Silverton, Lake City and Northern hyperlink at the bottom of this post.
Andrew
A piece of R/C (Radio Contro) car gas line tubing works pretty well. Its flexable and chemical resistant. it might wear out after sitting for long periods of time (10+ years).
It was used pretty commonly in older brass for just such a purpose.
Ok, I can see the black plastic coupling and the brass worm. Cannot see a crack but I am sure you can.
If it is an import, it must be metric and NWSL does sell metric if you looked at the catalog. They do sell SAE/metric adapters as I have used them in the past.
I used Sagami when NWSL parts was in Seattle, WA
Rich
Rich,
Both were approximately ~.094 (just slightly over that). So I ordered 2.4mm.
The crack is hard to see, but is definitely there.
Also took the opportunity to pick up replacement bevel gears for my two truck climax should the worst come to pass…[:(]
Great planning.
Going to be sad to see this place go away but know the feeling.
Lost my wife in 2001. Almost gave up.
Rich
After having a very hard time finding gas line tubing I tried screen door spline as recommended somewhere. Works great and I have a hundred year supply for $6.
What I think of screen door spline is solid most is <1/8" in diameter and holds the screen in. I see some of it has a center hole, 1/4" in dia. but that hole looks tiny. https://images.homedepot-static.com/productImages/c9563308-1fb6-43b8-ad01-0d25e8312032/svn/blacks-prime-line-screen-spline-spline-rollers-p-7604-c3_1000.jpg
If that is what you mean, how does it work like tubing?
Hobby shops these days that would have gas powered RC planes would have tubing. There used to be gas powered cars, but I suspect batteries have taken over that market.
My LHS, which has almost no train stuff, but does have Evergreen and Plastruct, and plenty of music wire, always has the RC car and plane stuff, plenty of fuel line. It isn;t a permanent solution in my loco, it allows the truck to swivel just fine but it binds on rocking motion because there is no fore-aft slack in the fuel line. If it were on the long end, it probbaly would be fine, but there is about as much distance between the motor and worm as in the picture of the OP’s loco, and it just doesn’t work - the loco runs but it tracks poorly. A real universal is desperately needed. Long end has Athearn 6 axle components in the drive train (loco was remotored before I got it) and works great. Short end was fine, except someone glued the drive shaft to the universal where it was designed to slide freely back and forth.
–Randy
There was some discussion here about drive shaft tubing:
http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/226643/2533240.aspx
It has to be silicone, well, the silicone works the best anyway, anything else is too stiff.
I don’t recall if I found mine here:
or at Greenway Products:
http://greenway-products.com/brass-builders-corner-trackside-specialties/flexdrive-tubing-clone/
Good Luck, Ed
I have the silicone stuff, the LHS has both, cheap plastic fuel line and the goood silicone stuff. The cheap plastic stuff isn;t good for the intended use, either - I had at least one gas engine thing that wasn’t the typical .049 with built in fual tank, and the plastic fuel line it came with turned to so much mush after long exposure to the nitro and castor oil.
One thing I’ve considered for this loco (Alco models brass RS-3) is moving the motor more to the center to get equal drive lengths on either side. It’s kind of silly the replacement motor is shoived all the way to oone end like it is. Wasn;t a fit issue, the replacement round can motor is a fraction of the size of the original Alco Models open frame motor.
–Randy
Course, it’s the inside diameter we’re concerned with. Ace had quite a few sizes and I found the perfect fit. Take a motor down with you and fit it. I’ve done this to 20 brass locos and it works great.
Like some cracked gears, a cracked universal may be repairable.
This Proto USRA 0-8-0 developed a cracked gear quite some time ago…
…but upon disassembling it, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it had a fairly substantial hub on one side of the gear.
I selected a piece of brass tubing with an outside diameter larger than that of the hub. The inside diameter, however, was smaller than the hub. After measuring the hub’s diameter, I used various drills (fractional, numbered, and letter-types) in a pin vise to gradually enlarge the inside of the tubing. When it was very close to the size needed, I manually compressed the gear to close the crack, then pressed the re-sized tubing onto the hub, using a small vise.
The re-assembled loco runs as it did before the crack developed, and has been troublefree since then.
In a similar manner, it may be possible to rescue that cracked universal.
Wayne
Thanks Wayne,
I kept the parts, will attempt this repair when the time comes.
Andrew
Northwest Short Line is coming back!
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Their new website is almost functional. Product pictures are being added every day.
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-Kevin
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