Problems with a Bachmann class 04 diesel shunter.

[brian777999]

I purchased a second hand Bachmann class 04 diesel shunter from ebay. It is probably quite old as it has the older style of tension lock coupler. It was a hesistant runner when I received it and seemed to have a slight rocking motion so I pulled the chassis out to have a look. I cleaned all the electrical contacts as they were very black and dirty. I tested the contacts before reassembly and the motor seems to run well. But now I am having problems getting the gear on the middle axle to mesh with the motor gears. Is there a trick to getting these back together ?

Edited July 21, 2020 by brian777999

[Horsehay Railway Modeller]

31 minutes ago, brian777999 said:

I purchased a second hand Bachmann class 04 diesel shunter from ebay. It is probably quite old as it has the older style of tension lock coupler. It was a hesistant runner when I received it and seemed to have a slight rocking motion so I pulled the chassis out to have a look. I cleaned all the electrical contacts as they were very black and dirty. I tested the contacts before reassembly and the motor seems to run well. But now I am having problems getting the gear on the middle axle to mesh with the motor gears. Is there a trick to getting these back together ?

 

Hi there, 

I have just tackled some of these problems myself having just dcc fitted one. 

I found to get the centre axle in you just have to rock it from side to side as you drop it in and make sure the connecting rods are all straight. 

 

As for the rocking motion I have just this afternoon cut the pins that hold the connecting rods to the flycranks and now it is almost completely smooth. The flycranks are now stationary however you can't really see them behind the steps anyway. 

 

Hope that helps, 

David 

[brian777999]

Thanks, I will try that tomorrow.

[DCB]

I seem to remember the gear is off set to one side so won't mesh if you have the axle the wrong way round.  Mine expired twenty years ago with motor failure and no spares were available.

I fitted a second hand Mainline 03 chassis temporarily one which had failed with pick up problems and which I had fitted pickups from the chassis to the cab end wheels to.   It has just kept going and going. The Bachmann chassis is still in bits in my scrap drawer.

[brian777999]

The chances of me finding a Mainline chassis in Australia are about the same as winning lotto  but I will keep in mind that they can be interchanged.

[brian777999]

I had a go today but still no luck : I disconnected the fly cranks but that has not helped much. I may reconnect them later if I can get the loco to run at all ! Everything seems to be fitting nicely but when the keeper plate is put back on then the wheels will not move (or not move much at all). The gear is not engaging with the motor although I am certain that that axle and gears are seated low enough. I would not be able to get the plate back on if it were seated to high.

 

NB. I did not have a small enough nut driver for the flycranks. What is the correct size nut driver for tie rod nuts on Bachmann and Hornby locos ?

 

I have also noted that the plastic axles are cracked and these will have to be replaced at some stage (available from Peters Spares).

Edited July 22, 2020 by brian777999

[stewartingram]

At one time I had 6 or 7 of the 03 & 04 shunters, of differing ages. (None were of the present Bachmann 03 type, which is a completely different model). I found the shunters had interchangeable bodies, and 3 different types of chassis. There was the original Mainline chassis, an early Bachmann, and a later Bachmann type. They got better with each design. Through mix & match, the bodies were swopped around, though I still have 2 of the last design - one under an 04 body (not its original), and one with an 05 resin body. Both excellent runners. I also now have 2 of the new 03 in stock as well.

 

Stewart

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by stewartingram

[brian777999]

That is interesting. I was beginning to wonder if I was wasting my time and money trying to get this loco to run smoothly. But I will purchase replacement axles and see how that goes. No wonder the class 04's always go cheaply on ebay !

[brian777999]

Further mucking about has resulted in me getting the wheels out of quarter WITHOUT REMOVING WHEELS FROM THE AXLES ! How did I manage to do that ? Instead of being at 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock on each side, the wheels are now the same on both sides.

[brian777999]

I have pulled the wheels apart and had a go at quartering them. It was much easy than I thought. The loco runs much better than it did before now that the fly cranks have been disconnected. It is still not a really good slow runner but I will lubricate it and see if it improves. (Wahl hair clipper oil for the axles and white grease for the gears).

 

1. Did these class 4 locos ever had headlamps ?

 

2. Is it worth buying a set of new axles from Peters Spares ? Even though the old axles are splitting, I am not sure a set of new axles will make it run any better.

 

3. Why do the fly cranks cause problems ? They don't run on an axle so they should be trouble free.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

4 hours ago, brian777999 said:

 

2. Is it worth buying a set of new axles from Peters Spares ? Even though the old axles are splitting, I am not sure a set of new axles will make it run any better.

 

3. Why do the fly cranks cause problems ? They don't run on an axle so they should be trouble free.

2. Throwing good money after bad in my opinion. Put the money toward the current 03, very sweet running conventional mechanism.

 

3. It is because they are not on a common axle that they are so problematic, there's so much slack that they lie at all sort of odd angles causing friction. Best disconnected as already mentioned.

[stewartingram]

  the current 03, very sweet running conventional mechanism.

 

Odd that you should say that. With my experience (see above post) of a number of Mainline & Bachmann 03 & 04 locos, with the changes in design, I can honestly say I never had any running problems. Just a progression through a better design with each type.

With the introduction of the new Bachmann 03, I had a cull, swopping chassis around on the old ones to keep the best runners (ie the latest) under the 3 bodies that I retained, and sold the rest. My 1st new 03 was great, another improvement, though the body soon came off to remove the lighting. When the next release came along, I bought another, for conversion to one of Chesterton Junc's departmentals (thanks to Railtec for the custom transfers). However, testing it before I did the repaint, I found that the cranks - I believe - were seizing up. (Usually I fix things, but this time I didn't). Back to Ian Allan at Waterloo for a quick swap,the replacement was fine.

That loco is the only one I have ever returned!

 

[uax6]

You could just scrap the chassis and buy the Branchlines chassis kit.....

 

Andy G

[brian777999]

5 hours ago, stewartingram said:

  the current 03, very sweet running conventional mechanism.

 

. My 1st new 03 was great, another improvement, though the body soon came off to remove the lighting.

 

 

Does the new 03 have some sort of lighting : Headlamps or cabin lights ?

[brian777999]

4 hours ago, uax6 said:

You could just scrap the chassis and buy the Branchlines chassis kit.....

 

Andy G

 

Do you mean the HIGH LEVEL chassis kit ?

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/03page.html

[Robin Verth]

The DCC ready 03 has a cab light.

[uax6]

19 hours ago, brian777999 said:

 

Do you mean the HIGH LEVEL chassis kit ?

 

http://www.highlevelkits.co.uk/03page.html

 

I didn't know that High Level did one, but Branchlines have had one for years... Although the HL one looks much nicer! I might get one myself!

 

Andy G

[brian777999]

Where is the Branchline website ? 

[brian777999]

5 hours ago, uax6 said:

I didn't know that High Level did one, but Branchlines have had one for years... Although the HL one looks much nicer! I might get one myself!

 

 

Where is the Branchlines website ? I am not having any luck finding it.

[RobinofLoxley]

The reason that you could get the axles out of quarter is that when the plastic bushes split eveything is so loose that the wheel stub can force the plastic open enough to turn it one step. It won't run out of position as i recently found out... If you replace the plastic bits and get everything in line it might run. With everything loose it will just jam up.

[brian777999]

It is running now but not as smoothly as it should ; very rough at low speeds. When I get some test track set up then I will give it a good run and see if it improves at all. I might then use some slow set Araldite to cement the axles to the wheels and prevent them getting out of quarter again. 

 

Where can we buy spare screws for the keeper plates on Bachmann locos ? Are they all the same size ?

[brian777999]

I bought two of these class 04's from ebay before I discovered how bad they were. The other one still has not arrived from the UK yet. Out of curiosity, I have ordered a spare set of axles/gears from Peters Spares. I want to see for myself if I can get one running reasonably well before ditching both of them into the scrap box. I will clean the wheels and gears with soapy water then apply a small amount of Araldite (super strength has a 6 hour setting time)  to the metal axles before insertion into the plastic axles. A back to back gauge is also on order.

 

Quartering : Is the right hand side supposed to lead the left  on UK locos ie. loco facing to the right, right hand side will be at 3 o'clock and the other side will be at 12 o'clock ? 

Edited July 30, 2020 by brian777999

[brian777999]

Very odd : I received the second of my class 04 shunters today and this one runs very well even with the fly cranks still connected. I hope I can get the first one to run as well as this when the new gear set/axles arrive.

[Barclay]

On 27/07/2020 at 02:16, brian777999 said:

Where is the Branchline website ? 

Branchlines are old-school (no website) but you can call them, or in your case, probably email, on sales@branchlines.com

 

They are very helpful - I ordered a flywheel this week and got it in 2 days.

 

I got their products leaflet too - the 04 chassis kit with jackshaft, rods, and spacers is £19.50.

 

 

[boxbrownie]

On 25/07/2020 at 18:31, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

2. Throwing good money after bad in my opinion. Put the money toward the current 03, very sweet running conventional mechanism.

 

You say that but........I have one and it has always been a awful runner, rocking and quite often at slow speeds just stopping (the motor still trying to move it, must be sticky mech somewhere).

 

It was so bad it was put on the shelf and forgotten until I unpacked after our move and found it once again, this time I was determined to fix the carp mech and fit sound to it while I was at it, in the end I ordered a new set of wheels and rods (all assembled) from Bachmann and it has run perfectly ever since, completely transformed.

 

Must have just been the wheels/axles and rods just not quite right.