Brass Repair for Forum member Bagman

[bagman]

Hi Tom

Well, that is indeed very good news re the side rods and the overall running of the loco.

Yes, I agree a huge bullet dodged !!

This is turning out to be a great thread. Let's hope you don't get swamped with requests for help and leave no train time for yourself !

Do you think there will be room left in the cab for engineer and fireman figures ??

Will you use the existing 3-pin connection between the sound decoder and the motor ??
My experience was that it was a very "finicky" connection, particulary if you have large hands.

regards
David

[rebel]

Let me ask a question, it looked like the grearbox and the motor were not quite lined up and I know this can cause the motor to work harder, was this part of the problem too or is that an optical from the photo angle?

Rebel,

Good observation but it is an optical illusion and maybe the camera angle as well. I think it looks odd due to the difference in the size of the motor shaft and the gear tower shaft. The gear tower shaft is 2mm and the motor shaft is 1.5mm. The Sagami motor shaft is 2mm and will line up nicely with the tower shaft.

Tom

Good to know, we had one once that was a little off and it took some torque to get it to move before we fixed it, think it had an old pitman type, powerful but!!!!!

[ACL1504]

Hi Tom

Well, that is indeed very good news re the side rods and the overall running of the loco.

Yes, I agree a huge bullet dodged !!

This is turning out to be a great thread. Let's hope you don't get swamped with requests for help and leave no train time for yourself !

Do you think there will be room left in the cab for engineer and fireman figures ??

Will you use the existing 3-pin connection between the sound decoder and the motor ??
My experience was that it was a very "finicky" connection, particulary if you have large hands.

regards
David

David,

Yes, we sure did! This little jem, now runs very smoothly! I have had two requests from this thread but I've graciously declined as the time is just not there. I want to get my stuff done and I explained that I'm helping you as you don't have the resources we have in the states.

Fireman and Engineer are no problem!

I hated that three pin connector. I need to get a price on the Tsuanmi decoder. I have a source for 20% off retail.

I'll send you an email tomorrow to discuss these issues.

[ACL1504]

Let me ask a question, it looked like the grearbox and the motor were not quite lined up and I know this can cause the motor to work harder, was this part of the problem too or is that an optical from the photo angle?

Rebel,

Good observation but it is an optical illusion and maybe the camera angle as well. I think it looks odd due to the difference in the size of the motor shaft and the gear tower shaft. The gear tower shaft is 2mm and the motor shaft is 1.5mm. The Sagami motor shaft is 2mm and will line up nicely with the tower shaft.

Tom

Good to know, we had one once that was a little off and it took some torque to get it to move before we fixed it, think it had an old pitman type, powerful but!!!!!

Rebel,

Yea, those old DC-70 Pitman motors were very powerful but they did have issues.

Tom

[bagman]

Hi Tom

Well, that is indeed very good news re the side rods and the overall running of the loco.

Yes, I agree a huge bullet dodged !!

This is turning out to be a great thread. Let's hope you don't get swamped with requests for help and leave no train time for yourself !

Do you think there will be room left in the cab for engineer and fireman figures ??

Will you use the existing 3-pin connection between the sound decoder and the motor ??
My experience was that it was a very "finicky" connection, particulary if you have large hands.

regards
David

David,

Yes, we sure did! This little jem, now runs very smoothly! I have had two requests from this thread but I've graciously declined as the time is just not there. I want to get my stuff done and I explained that I'm helping you as you don't have the resources we have in the states.

Fireman and Engineer are no problem!

I hated that three pin connector. I need to get a price on the Tsuanmi decoder. I have a source for 20% off retail.

I'll send you an email tomorrow to discuss these issues.

Hi Tom

Will keep my eye out for your email.

Great news that the loco is now running smoothly.
You really have done an excellent repair job, so I am not surprised that you have received requests for help.
A compliment to your fine workmanship !

I really can't express enough my appreciation for the work you have done for me.

Thank you so much.

Once the decoder is installed, will you just leave the loco address at the factory default setting of 3 or program for loco # 66 ??

By the way, please feel free to add an additional enhancements that you feel would be of benefit e.g.updated Kadee couplers front and rear.
I am happy to leave to your discretion and reimburse accordingly.

regards
David

[jimmillho]

Tom,
It always makes me feel good when a craftsman explains how to accomplish a task and that is the way I have been doing it right along.

The steps that you went thru to find just what the problem was is what I do to all of the engines that I have repaired. I may not do exactly as you did, as most of the Engines are either Plastic or Diesel, but taking the shell off and using test leads on the motor can really tell you what the problems are.

It works for "N" and "Z" Scales also.

Thanks for showing that I am not always wrong, and sometimes am actually right.

Jim

[gnatshop]

Tom,
It works for "N" and "Z" Scales also.
Jim

This was informative as hell, but you don't have to talk 'dirty' in front of us visually 'shorted' and physically 'fat finger, fumbly minded' old
folks out here!

Tom and Bob are already doing enough to put us to shame with their recent N scale builds, but y'all ain't gonna get my goat!
If I can still do HO stuff, it amazes my friends and family, and I'm a happy camper with BIG Ho scale stuff.

Mention the Z scale stuff again, and I may have to send the wet cat after you!!!

Wet Cat Avatar.jpg (11.87 KiB) Viewed 326 times

Actually, the Wet Cat has tremendous respect for anyone that can do this kind of quality work in these smaller scales, just not in
my range of capabilities!

[ACL1504]

Tom,
It always makes me feel good when a craftsman explains how to accomplish a task and that is the way I have been doing it right along.

The steps that you went thru to find just what the problem was is what I do to all of the engines that I have repaired. I may not do exactly as you did, as most of the Engines are either Plastic or Diesel, but taking the shell off and using test leads on the motor can really tell you what the problems are. I think I'm a dying breed when it comes to brass! Not many of us left!

It works for "N" and "Z" Scales also.

Thanks for showing that I am not always wrong, and sometimes am actually right.

Jim

Butty Jim,

Thanks very much! I guess Jimmy we have done this for so long we sometimes forget that it's second nature for us! I think now I can disassemble, clean, paint and reassemble a brass loco blindfolded, don't care what it is!

However, I won't even touch an "N" or "Z" scale loco! I'm not that brave!

I seem to remember that you are correct most if not all the time.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Tom,
It works for "N" and "Z" Scales also.
Jim

This was informative as hell, but you don't have to talk 'dirty' in front of us visually 'shorted' and physically 'fat finger, fumbly minded' old
folks out here!

Tom and Bob are already doing enough to put us to shame with their recent N scale builds, but y'all ain't gonna get my goat!
If I can still do HO stuff, it amazes my friends and family, and I'm a happy camper with BIG Ho scale stuff.

Mention the Z scale stuff again, and I may have to send the wet cat after you!!!

Wet Cat Avatar.jpg

Actually, the Wet Cat has tremendous respect for anyone that can do this kind of quality work in these smaller scales, just not in
my range of capabilities!

David,

I won't ever, ever touch a "N" or "Z" scale loco, I'll leave that to Butty JIm. Structures are another matter all together now! At least my tweezers still work with the Opti-visor! Thank the Lord for small miracles.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Last night I had time to check the tender and see what kind of sound that guy stuck in David's loco!

I removed the tender shell and found a micro sound decoder by LOK sound. Man that is tiny but necessary as the tender wasn't modified prior to the sound being installed. I think David mentioned he had the loco painted several years prior to DCC even being a consideration.

Micro LOK sound decoder with speaker in tender.

bagman18.JPG (177.88 KiB) Viewed 298 times

One thing I noticed is that several of the function wires are cut off. I'm not sure if this is by design or just plain laziness! Function wires are wires to the decoder that control functions such as head and back up lights, cab lights and firebox lights and the function for wiring in a driver axle cam! I'll cover more on the axle cam later in the thread when I install the cam wiper. The White, Blue, Yellow, Brown and Green wires are all cut off at the decoder. Again, refer to the above photo.

I then checked the speaker. I know from past experience of 30+ years of installing PFM and PBL DC sound in brass locomotives the speakers are ALWAYS 8 ohm speakers. This is true for the past three years that I have been installing DCC in locos. In the photo below you can see the green printing on the speaker. The speaker is a "100" ohm speaker! I had no idea a 100 ohm couild be that small but what do I know! Anyway, this can't be good for the sound. It sounded like crap so maybe this is one of the reasons?

"100" ohm speaker? Sound systems call for the DCC speaker to be 8 ohms!

bagman19.JPG (90.91 KiB) Viewed 298 times

This speaker will be returned to David along with the motor, LOK sound decoder and the 100 ohm speaker.

The next photo shows you the new Tsunami sound decoder. It is the normal size and won't fit into David's tender shell so I'll have to get a Micro-Tsunami decoder for this loco. The Micro-Tsunami decoder has all the same wires, sounds and functions as the one shown. I can't do any more for now so when I get the new decoder and speaker, I'll return!

Tsunami Sound decoder - this loco will require a smaller decoder.

bagman20.JPG (93.26 KiB) Viewed 298 times

Thanks for following along.

Tom