Lube Question

[Mr Mechanic]

I have a Bachmann F7 A diesel that I have noticed,when I service it,there has been what I would describe as copper anti- seize around where the axle rides in the truck. I thought it might have been some wear off of the contacts and didn't think anything about it. Today,when I was cleaning and lubing it,I took a really close look and found that the axle was actually wearing down where it rides in the truck. The metal is worn,not the plastic truck. I use Labelle 102 on the axle where it rides in the truck and today after cleaning I used 106 grease. I run my trains sometimes for 5 hours in a day and sometimes they don't run for a week. I have been servicing them about once a month or sooner. They are all about a year old. Am I using the wrong lube ? Not servicing them frequently enough ? Or is this something that wears out normally.If I run them that much,do I need to buy replacement trucks in bulk ?

[digitalgriffin]

Stupid question, but do the wheels on both sides seem to rotate evenly and smoothly?  If it wobbles, maybe the axle is bent.

[jbrock27]

Have a picture?

[jbrock27]

The front left one, looks like the metal is grooved on the "half axle" where it comes out from the wheel.  Am I seeing that right?

What happens when you roll these wheel-sets on a flat, level surface like piece of glass or kitchen counter?  See any funny motion?

[jbrock27]

And are the gear teeth all slanted in the same direction or in different directions?

[jbrock27]

Where's the "copper anti seize" stuff you have mentioned?

[jbrock27]

And no, you should not have to put oil on the trucks themselves, it only serves to collect dust and crud.  PTFE grease for gears and if there are wipers that ride against the inside of the wheels, ok to put some Conducta lube on the copper wiper where it meets the wheel, but only from time to time.  And I would only do that if your getting noise from that spot.

[jbrock27]

Maybe I am not seeing your picture correctly but the back 2 wheel-sets look like they are fine on the "half axle" but the front 2 look like they have been worn to a conical shape.  Am I seeing that right?

[jbrock27]

Which model F7 is this?  Plus?  Current "blue box" version?  Older "white box" version?

[jbrock27]

Are you talking about wear on the wheel treads?  Is this the wear you keep referring to?  If not, I am still not following you on the anti seize stuff.

What videos are you watching?  Never have heard or found necessary to lube "axles" on diesel locos.

See my other questions.

[jbrock27]

Great.

Response to other posed questions?

[jbrock27]

You need to post of picture of the wear at the plastic housing your are talking about...1) are you talking about the plastic housing of the axle?  2) of the truck? 3) of the side-frame of the truck?



I don't see axle bearings on these, so not sure why lube would be needed on the axles.

Metal side-frames?  This an N or Ho scale loco? 

Someone posted a link to a video by Bachmann on maintenance on a n scale

Who did that?  I am sure you realize there is a difference between N and HO scale locos.

If N, you really are better off posting this in the N scale section of this Forum.

[jbrock27]

Right, which is why more pics would be infinitely more helpful.

Plastic housing of what?  

You managed to post a pic of the wheel-sets so how about some more pics instead of 20 more questions?

I will have to see these videos...

Bottom line, what problem, exactly, is all of this causing?

[jbrock27]

And it seems very odd to me, that given you have been lubing the snot out of the axles, that the metal on them would be worn.  That does not make much sense.  To me, the reason lies with some other cause or flaw.

[jbrock27]

The wear is between the wheel,the metal part that rides on the track

This would describe the wheels' "tread" that I asked about and you said no.  So is there or is there not wear on the wheel tread(s)?  In your picture, it looked like there was, which is why I had asked you to confirm.

Again, it makes no sense that if you have been lubing the axles so much that the metal on them is worn, but not the plastic where they sit in the trucks-which is a harder material metal or plastic