Locomotive speed

amarzulli · May 20, 2014, 09:40:12 AM

I have an Tyco DC 4015 Diesel locomotive. My problem is that the speed in reverse is about 10 x's faster that in forward.
Can anyone help me resolve this problem?

jbrock27 · May 20, 2014, 10:14:47 AM

Sadly, going too fast is a function of many Tyco diesel locos.

rogertra · May 20, 2014, 09:47:06 PM

Quote from: amarzulli on May 20, 2014, 09:40:12 AM
I have an Tyco DC 4015 Diesel locomotive. My problem is that the speed in reverse is about 10 x's faster that in forward.
Can anyone help me resolve this problem?

Buy a decent product, not a low end, very low end Tyco product.

A Bachmann Spectrum for example.

That will solve your problem.

Cheers

Roger T.

jward · May 20, 2014, 10:30:18 PM

actually rpger is not far off the mark. if i recall correctly, tyco used the 4015 number for their "f9" (actually an f7)....bachmann makes an f7 model whose chassis could be made to work with the tyco body.

other than that, some have used cd motors to remotor the tyco drive but that still doesn't cure the problems of only 4 wheel electrical pickup, and requires the complete disassembly of the power truck, milling of the truck frame to accept the larger motor, and seating of the drive gear on the motor shaft. not an easy task, but if you are handy with power tools something to try.

personally, using the bachmann drive under the tyco body is the way i'd go.

Desertdweller · May 20, 2014, 11:44:17 PM

Amarzulli,

You have gotten some well-intentioned replies, but none that try to answer your question. Advice that your loco is a piece of junk, or that you should replace it and save the body is not very helpful.

If your loco runs ten times faster in one direction it indicates there is a bind in your mechanism. If your loco uses a worm-gear drive, this problem is often the result of the worm's shaft shifting in relation to the worm gear and causing a bind in one direction. If you can remove the worm support bearing at the end opposite the motor, you might find foreign matter wrapped around the shaft in the support bearing. This will cause the shaft to bind when rotating in one direction, but not in the other.

Disassemble the drive gears as much as you can, and clean it carefully. A small tweezers can be helpful in pulling fibers away from the shaft.

This won't keep your loco from running too fast, but at least it might run just as fast both ways.

Les

jward · May 21, 2014, 02:36:24 AM

tycos do not use a worm drive. the motor and what little reduction gearing they have are self contained in the truck itself. google powertorque and you'll see what i mean. basically, they are similar to the pancake motored bachmann locomotives, except that the motor is much larger. typical tyco powertorque units have this self contained drive truck, which picks up off one rail, wired to a dummy truck on the other end of the locomotive with pickups on the other rail. the body acts as the chassis, and both trucks snap into it. you can actually pull the trucks out of the body, set them on the track, and the power truck will drag the dummy truck around by its wire.

with this description in mind, rich, what would you suggest the op do to solve his problem? there is no binding in the worm because there is no worm, therefore whatever binding is there is probably in the motor itself. there's not alot you can do with these drives. parts are no longer made, and haven't been for about 20 years. any repairs to the power truck by rebuilding in kind wild require a donor unit of similar construction. about the only thing that can be readily done to a powertorque truck is to remove and clean the gears.

all of that assumes the drive in question is a powertorque, and not the earlier but similar mu2 drive. on the mu2, construction is similar, but the trucks are rivited together in a way that makes servicing them next to impossible. you'd have to drill out the rivits without damaging or melting the surrounding plastic just to get inside. then after you are done fixing whatever is wrong, assuming it can be fixe, you have to find a way to fasten everything back together.

people on the tyco forum may be able to help here with advice, but even if fixed, you are probably going to spend alot of time and money on a locomotive with serious design flaws including a tendency of the motors to bind and burn out. replacing the whole drive with one from a bachmann f7 is probably the easiest out.

Desertdweller · May 21, 2014, 10:03:01 AM

Jward,

Thanks for the explanation. It has been about 30 years since I have had a Tyco loco. I do remember the self-contained power truck.

In that case, there really isn't much he can do about it. I did have one Tyco loco, a CB&Q GP20. I don't recall any problems with it, so I never was faced with this problem. It did run pretty fast if you weren't careful, but at least it was quiet and smooth.

Les

amarzulli · May 21, 2014, 07:55:45 PM

Thanks to everyone for your tips. The reason I have this Tyco is because it was from when my sons were just children and I have a problem letting go.

Doneldon · May 21, 2014, 08:35:56 PM

Quote from: amarzulli on May 21, 2014, 07:55:45 PM
Thanks to everyone for your tips. The reason I have this Tyco is because it was from when my sons were just children and I have a problem letting go.

amar-

This is a legitimate reason to "throw good money after bad," and go to the effort and expense of converting the loco to DCC. Lots of us, me included, have locomotives or other equipment in which we have a substantial emotional or sentimental investment. There's no reason to ignore this importance, and it wouldn't work anyway. So go ahead and work on your locomotive; you'll enjoy seeing it on your layout even if you only operate it occasionally.
-- D

jbrock27 · May 21, 2014, 09:02:42 PM

I disagree with Doc's reasoning and offer this counterpoint Amarz.
If this holds that much sentimental value that it is so difficult to let go of, then who cares if it runs any better? Isn't the reason to keep it then, the sentimental meaning and not the running qualities? If this is the case then keep it as a sentimental token and turn it into a display or turn it into a dummy and keep it somewhere on the track. This way you can "enjoy" seeing it on the track. I say don't invest in making it run better, if you do then that says to me it's not so much about sentiment as it is about making a better running loco, a lost cause in this case, in my view.
And before anyone gets the wrong idea, I have sentiments too and I keep some things as sentiments, but if kept every single solitary item that I could assign sentimental value to, I would run out of home. There are times to let some things go and move on, keep memories, keep pictures; better than to collect clutter. If we all kept everything we could assign sentimental value to, we would all appear on a "hoarder's" reality type TV show (maybe some of us have...) The mental disorder those people have is they can't let go of anything. Don't get me wrong, I am also not accusing anyone of being a hoarder, even those who might have catalogs from the 1980s.

Gotta run, HAWKS/KINGS Game 2 is on. Peace.

rogertra · May 21, 2014, 09:43:56 PM

Sentiment has its place but I tore down this: -

http://greateasternrailway.com

http://s94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/rogertra/Great_Eastern/

So I could build something else.

So you can see why I have little sentiment for old locomotive models.

Cheers

Roger T.

RAM · May 21, 2014, 10:46:51 PM

To fix your Tyco locomotive, take a 5lb hammer and one quick blow, and it will run the same speed both directions. Zero.

jbrock27 · May 22, 2014, 06:31:04 AM

Now that's funny RAM!

jward · May 22, 2014, 10:15:57 AM

honestly, i can understand the sentimental. my first locomotive was an n scale rapido fa2 in erie colours. even though they are out of place on my layout, i have an a-b set of erie ft's. couldn't resist them.

for me it wouldn't be enough to keep the locomotive sitting on the sidelines, i'd want to see it run. and if it is easier to rebuild "ford tough" with "chevy stuff" as the saying goes, then so be it.

others have been known to put a bowser c630 drive under the tyco super 630 body, with excellent results.

jbrock27 · May 22, 2014, 11:42:50 AM

Maybe I am alone in holding this view, but wouldn't rebuilding it, change it from its original form and in turn, change what was supposedly holding the "sentimental value" of it in the first place? Rebuilding it would support my statement that it then is not about sentimentality or memory as opposed to wanting to have a better running locomotive.

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Locomotive speed