2-10-0 Maintance

[Irbricksceo]

Hey all, Time for some routine Maintenance on a few Locomotives such as cleaning (I have to check for pet hair daily!) and an LED headlight conversion if I can get the parts. The 2-10-0 Needs significant Work. The chief issues I will be resolving are it's occasional loss of power which is probably related to my messing around with the pickups to resolve a short, and the fact that it runs rather rough and noisy, almost grinding. I figure the first step on that road is to Lubricate it, as it's long overdue on that front. Here's the question, How do I get the shell off? I thought it would be similar to the 2-8-0 (which I have opened and worked on) but the shell is still stuck.

Thanks!

[jonathan]

Irbricks,

I don't own a decapod, so my thoughts may be out in left field, but...

Having poured over the diagrams and parts in the catalog, it appears, as you suspect the shell is removed like the 2-8-0; screw under the cab, swing boiler stays out of the way, then push forward and up...

I can't see any other screws or ladders that may be holding the shell back.  Ocassionally, I find a little excess glue may have caused the shell to be a little sticky against the split frame.

As for the rough and noisy running:

If you get the shell off, the first thing I would check would be the drive belt.  If it is split, it will make a rough noise, as well as making the locomotive run rough as the cogs slip on and off the motor shaft gear.  The split, while rare, has happened to me twice, appearing to be a factory defect rather than wear and tear.

Just something to get you started.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Irbricksceo]

Well thanks Jonathan, Unfortunately, (or fortunately really) The decapod differs on different roads, My version, the NYSW one (same as the Erie), Does not have the kind of boiler stays the 2-8-0 has. I unscrewed all the correct screws but get no movement, frontward, laterally, or upwards. My first suspicion was that there were hidden tabs or something, especially since the firebox molding below the boiler has a gap between it and the frame. I couldn't find any however. This glue idea seems plausible, though I have no idea what to do about it since, as I said, there is no movement whatsoever. If I do get it off, I'll check your suggestion. Split belt is not something I had thought of.

[richg]

Did you remove the screw under the front truck? I see one on the parts diagram.

Rich

[Irbricksceo]

I figured it out, well rather I separated the boiler and motor assembly from the wheels and rod part, not quite the goal but It'll do. To be honest, I'm none too happy about what I needed to do... Reassembly will be a nightmare. It amounts to what is, In my opinion, a poor choice by the designers. What happened is that almost all of the piping on the under frame and some from the boiler is fed through holes in the plastic piece between the Valve gear Links. this means that to get the shell off, you need to pull the detail out. additionally, more detail parts served as a sort of clip. I dont want to think about how I'm gonna re thread all that piping but for now, I can start looking into the source of the issue. the belt looks fine, onl thing I see it some of that white Lube that's always in excess. I'll be testing a bit and lube it using the same method I used on my 2-8-0 (thanks for that Jonathan by the way)

[Doneldon]

I figured it out, well rather I separated the boiler and motor assembly from the wheels and rod part, not quite the goal but It'll do. To be honest, I'm none too happy about what I needed to do... Reassembly will be a program, nightmare./quote]

Irb-

Well, congratulations on opening your decapod. You probably don't realize it but the challenge of removing a locomotive's shell and then getting it all back together so it looks something again is part of Bachmann's little-publicized self esteem enhancement program. They don't talk about for some reason (maybe it doesn't work if you know what they're doing?)  but the idea is that they confront you with a task which, although difficult, is surmountable, giving you greater confidence when you must conquer the second part of the quest, putting things back together. Once you accomplish that feat your self esteem will be doubly improved and you will be formally admitted to the Ask the Bach-Man wizard club which permits you to answer questions like a professional while the rest of us serfs stare in awe at your mastery of the mysteries. All Hail Irbrickson!
                                                                                                                                                                 -- D

[rogertra]

1.   Unscrew pony truck assembly being careful not to lose the spring.

2.   Gently pull the grate shakers free from the frame under both sides of the cab.

3.   Remove the drawbar and the screw up through the cylinder saddle freeing the boiler assembly.

4.   Use a very thin screwdriver or knife blade to gently pry the cab free while jiggling it back and forth.  Look for the little tabs at the front corners of the cab that will release with a little pressure.

5.   Now remove any of the piping detail from the boiler that looks as though it will interfere with the boiler removal.  Can't be more helpful as this varies by model.

6.   It should now be possible to very gently lift the boiler from the chassis.  Look carefully for any boiler details that may get hung up.  The boiler subassembly includes the motor, drive screw, upper plastic shell, metal boiler bottom and running boards.

7.   To free the shell from the weighted base, carefully lift off the running boards and separate the shell from the motor housing and weight.  The front firebox wall, under the boiler, needs to be pulled forward and removed to fully release the motor housing.

That should be it.

Just take your time.


Cheers

Roger T.

[rogertra]

It disassembles much like the 2-8-0.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

What you think is two bottom plastic pieces are really the two halves of the boiler weight painted black.

To get it out I had to remove the two side board assemblies:

Fireman's side needs a pipe removed from front of air pump.

Engineers side needs a small ladder removed.

Then the weight assembly will slide out of the shell except that the front of the firebox appears to be glued to the sides.

Pry apart with choice of implement AND one pipe from the back of the air pump is routed up under the handrail
to the steam dome. I removed the end from the dome and fiddled it under the handrail as I pulled the interior piece back to the rear and down.

Once you get the motor/weight assembly out you will discover why some models have a lot of starting noise. The motor is loosely held in place and can rotate/vibrate in its holders.  A bit of glue or RT. will fix that.

Reassembly is of course a simple matter of doing the above in reverse.

Shouldn't take more than a few days.

Cheers

Roger T.

[Irbricksceo]

Well, I managed to figured out that the wheels were binding and that something was hitting something else at a certain point in the wheel's revolutions. While examining the Wheel and Rod assembly, the tiny metal pin that holds on the rod into the steam chest fell out (I've had these rods pop off before) and the pin has disappeared... I hate the fact that the whole Locomotive can be ruined by the lack of a tiny metal pin but if I dont find it, I may have to demote this Decapod to spare parts status (I have two of them).

Edit: I found that the decapod will sort of run even without that rod, though it can stop up. It still catches something that I can't see either. For now, the Locomotive will probably sit on the track until I think of a possible course of action, It will still look good!

Also, since the piping is held on at multiple points, I found the best route to reassembly, rather than re thread all that piping, is to clip the ends that fold down under the boiler. You cant tell when It's assembled.