Athearn motor clips help

[Neil4915]

Would anyone have 2 motor clips for a blue box sw1500 switcher lying around.  I was given the loco but it has a motor but no clips and they are like hen's teeth.  

[shortliner]

Not sure if this will be of help  http://www.llxlocomotives.com/?p=21

[Yardman]

Best to ditch the clips anyway and solder wires direct to the trucks.

[Neil4915]

24 minutes ago, Yardman said:

Best to ditch the clips anyway and solder wires direct to the trucks.

I need the clips to do a DCC conversion.  Grey and orange wire has to be soldered to them unless there's another way to do it.

[298]

You could solder the wires directly to the brass brush caps? The only completed 1500 I have near me at the moment had a replacement Mashima motor in it, and I'd look at doing the same on future conversions to give more space inside the shell.

Edited February 20, 2019 by 298

[Neil4915]

14 minutes ago, 298 said:

You could solder the wires directly to the brass brush caps? The only completed 1500 I have near me at the moment had a replacement Mashima motor in it, and I'd look at doing the same on future conversions to give more space inside the shell.

Is the Mashima a direct replacement without any modifications.  And is the performance a lot better?

[298]

3 hours ago, Neil4915 said:

Is the Mashima a direct replacement without any modifications.  And is the performance a lot better?

I'm not sure exactly why comes with the Rail Power Products kit as the loco already had it fitted, but regardless of how the motor spins ( and a good decoder or controller helps), you're still reliant on the trucks which can be inconsistent and still have some degree of slack through the geartrain. 

[Yardman]

For DCC make sure the lower motor clip is removed so the motor is NOT earthed to the frame,  then the grey and Orange wires go to the motor and the black and red wires go to the trucks and the frame. If you're not happy soldering, 1/4" spade connectors will joint to the trucks and the motor wires can be clamped under the phosfor bronze brush holders. A suitable mounting point needs to be found for the other pick up wire, but it can be clamped between motor insulator and frame. just be sure there is no shorting between orange/grey  motor wires and black/red pick up wires or the decoder will be toast.

[long island jack]

I take it you mean the brass clips that hold the spring/brushes in and hold the motor together(see diagram) there not a spare, keep an eye out for someone  with a no runner on ebay ,think it's the same small  motor in the Blue box, SW7, SW1000 and SW1500, not sure about the S12 that maybe bigger.

[Neil4915]

On 21/02/2019 at 09:47, Yardman said:

For DCC make sure the lower motor clip is removed so the motor is NOT earthed to the frame,  then the grey and Orange wires go to the motor and the black and red wires go to the trucks and the frame. If you're not happy soldering, 1/4" spade connectors will joint to the trucks and the motor wires can be clamped under the phosfor bronze brush holders. A suitable mounting point needs to be found for the other pick up wire, but it can be clamped between motor insulator and frame. just be sure there is no shorting between orange/grey  motor wires and black/red pick up wires or the decoder will be toast.

I thought the bottom clip had to stay as the grey wire is usually soldered to it and it holds the brush & spring in place.  Sorry for the questions.

[Yardman]

39 minutes ago, Neil4915 said:

I thought the bottom clip had to stay as the grey wire is usually soldered to it and it holds the brush & spring in place.  Sorry for the questions.

The phosfor bronze clip that holds the brush in stays, that's the one you make connection to, but the barbed steel one that earths the motor to the frame goes.

[Neil4915]

30 minutes ago, Yardman said:

The phosfor bronze clip that holds the brush in stays, that's the one you make connection to, but the barbed steel one that earths the motor to the frame goes.

What confused me was I watched several YouTube videos on how to convert.  The grey wire was soldered to the clip underneath and isolated with electrical tape from the frame.  I assumed the bottom clip had to stay to hold the brush and spring in place

[long island jack]

 

[w124bob]

Sit the motor on a bed of Bluetac , friend of mine is doing a bluebox SW1500 . Mashima with altered fly wheels and an ESU sound decoder everything hard wired, swears by the sticky blue stuff. It's been in service some years, only being rebuilt for sound so the Bluetac method is well run in . He did a similar conversion for me on an SW800 ran like swiss watch.