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Wobbly running Bachmann 4mt easy cheap fix.


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Hi all.

Now how many of you have had a Bachmann 4mt 4-6-0 engine with warped wheels and just decided to scrap it. A waste of a decent engine. Now this fix is not for the purists and rivet counters, But those of you who just wanted their engines to run.

I was just about to send 4 of my Bachmann 4mt 4-6-0's for what I hoped would be a repair job and not a scrap job. Then I remembered some one saying they had seen one running without the plastic inserts but it looked odd without the wheel balance weights. Any way with nothing to really loose I decided to take a look at this idea with one of my engines. Well the fix could not have been more simple. Please note this fix is for the older split chassis engines.

For this fix you need.

1 pair of small pliers or locking clip.

Very sharp knife/scalpel blade.

Superglue of your choice.(I use Hafix)

Small scissors.

Small screwdriver.

Flat piece of wood or steel plate with a 10mm hole drilled into it.

And a decent pair of glasses if your eye sight is as bad as mine....lol

First disconnected all the valve gear from the wheels. They are held on by a tiny bolts. Make sure you take photos of they way you have disassembled the centre wheel valve gear to make sure you put it back together in the correct order. Remove the base plate to free the wheels. The just flick out the plastic inserts(Do not throw them away you will need the later). Remove the wheels from their plastic shafts. Now in turn place each wheel in the hole in the plate you are using to make sure they have returned to a straight wheel. If not just put a little pressure on the wheel to flatten it out. I must admit the none of my engines actually needed to be flattened as they went back to being flat once the inserts were removed. Now reassemble you engines wheels making sure you get the quartering right. It is very easy with this engine as the slots between the axle stubs and wheels are square.

Now for the inserts you removed. Just cut out and trim the wheel balance weights. Then carefully glue them back into position. I suggest gluing the larger middle weight first and using that to be the set up point for the 2 smaller weights. Do not put glue directly onto the wheels. Just put glue onto the weights. The last thing you want is for excess glue to seep down into the axels.

Now 2 of my engines are Chinese and 2 are from Hong Kong. Now the only difference besides the size of the axels is that the Chinese engines have blackened wheels and the Hong Kong ones do not.. Now this means that you really do not have to repaint the wheels as they look good as they are. You may want to paint the Hong Kong engines wheels as they are a bright steel colour. That is of course up to personal preference.

Here are some phots of one of my Chinese engines after the fix. They now all run perfectly straight and smooth.

I said this was a cheap fix. It cost me the sum total of nothing the fix these 4 engines. Just the cost of the superglue that I already had.

I hope some one finds this of some help.

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Edited by cypherman
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Small parts such as the valve gear retaining bolts can be kept safe while the repair is in progress by being stuck into a blob of Blutack or similar; you can now sneeze or breathe heavily without them disappearing forever.

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Hi all,

Well I went to my local train shop today to get some track for a friend. And I succumbed again. They had a black 4mt which looks just so nice I had to have it. Looked in really good condition and ran well. With I might say not a wobble insight. So for £32.00 it is now mine.

I am weak, I am weak, I must stop buying engines, I must stop buying engines. If I keep repeating this mantra I may well stop buying extra engines. But eh, Not today...………… lol

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On 04/04/2019 at 15:07, cypherman said:

Hi all,

Well I went to my local train shop today to get some track for a friend. And I succumbed again. They had a black 4mt which looks just so nice I had to have it. Looked in really good condition and ran well. With I might say not a wobble insight. So for £32.00 it is now mine.

I am weak, I am weak, I must stop buying engines, I must stop buying engines. If I keep repeating this mantra I may well stop buying extra engines. But eh, Not today...………… lol

 

Why?  'Too many trains' is an oxymoron!   (SWMBO does not agree :scratchhead: , but smuggling them in....

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