Got this unit new around the 4th of Feburary, and I've had an issue I've been trying to track down. I haven't run into this problem doing a Search on this forum, so maybe I'm the only one.
I've noticed a slight lift off of the rails from the middle left (port, not starboard) side of the loco. It is enough that in the 'up' postion I can fit a razorblade under it. There is that kinda gap! This is causing serious traction problems on a grade, and an annoying but slight wobble everywhere. It kind of catepillars along, slight but I notice it because it's mine
. If a car is pulled behind it you can see it better, even on level track. It doesn't like to pull a single car up a grade- mine are at most 1.5%, but were planned at 1%. Even with a run from 5 feet away it starts slipping after 8 inches, and the grade runs up for another 4 feet. I set a 1/4 oz weight in the cab floor and set some washers on the smokestack to test, and put some BS on the wheels for some grit, but the slippage remains.
At first I thought it was an off-center wheel axle causing an egg-shapped rotation, or a bit of flash, but after numerous observations on its back with the bottom plate off, and lifting the drive assembly off to observe just the one visible gear, I've concluded all of the rods, axles and wheels are fine.
Also, and this is important I think, if you kick it up to speed step 2 or higher you hear a 'plastic' sounding rattle. At first I thought this some loose plastic part (the shell or cab maybe) but couldn't find anything loose or that would stop rattling after a little finger-pressure. On its back, with the bottom and drive assembly off the gears, the rattle is still there and I was able to listen carefully to pinpoint it to the motor area. So with the motor turned off, I took my small screwdriver and touched that visible gear (00K02 on the .pdf blowup I believe) and it has a lot of lateral movement on its axis(side-to-side, not forward-to-back). In other words, it is not firm on its axle, but twists on its axle.
Not sure from the blow-up diagram what holds those two gears, and I haven't been brave enough to take off the shell and take apart the two halves and have a look at the two gears (00K01 and 00K02 I believe), but I do think something in that area is causing a gear to spin oddly, thus causing the drive assembly to spin oddly, thus causing my middle left wheel to lift off of the track, thus causing some severe wheel slip.
Whew.
Thoughts?
I've noticed a slight lift off of the rails from the middle left (port, not starboard) side of the loco. It is enough that in the 'up' postion I can fit a razorblade under it. There is that kinda gap! This is causing serious traction problems on a grade, and an annoying but slight wobble everywhere. It kind of catepillars along, slight but I notice it because it's mine
. If a car is pulled behind it you can see it better, even on level track. It doesn't like to pull a single car up a grade- mine are at most 1.5%, but were planned at 1%. Even with a run from 5 feet away it starts slipping after 8 inches, and the grade runs up for another 4 feet. I set a 1/4 oz weight in the cab floor and set some washers on the smokestack to test, and put some BS on the wheels for some grit, but the slippage remains.At first I thought it was an off-center wheel axle causing an egg-shapped rotation, or a bit of flash, but after numerous observations on its back with the bottom plate off, and lifting the drive assembly off to observe just the one visible gear, I've concluded all of the rods, axles and wheels are fine.
Also, and this is important I think, if you kick it up to speed step 2 or higher you hear a 'plastic' sounding rattle. At first I thought this some loose plastic part (the shell or cab maybe) but couldn't find anything loose or that would stop rattling after a little finger-pressure. On its back, with the bottom and drive assembly off the gears, the rattle is still there and I was able to listen carefully to pinpoint it to the motor area. So with the motor turned off, I took my small screwdriver and touched that visible gear (00K02 on the .pdf blowup I believe) and it has a lot of lateral movement on its axis(side-to-side, not forward-to-back). In other words, it is not firm on its axle, but twists on its axle.
Not sure from the blow-up diagram what holds those two gears, and I haven't been brave enough to take off the shell and take apart the two halves and have a look at the two gears (00K01 and 00K02 I believe), but I do think something in that area is causing a gear to spin oddly, thus causing the drive assembly to spin oddly, thus causing my middle left wheel to lift off of the track, thus causing some severe wheel slip.
Whew.
Thoughts?