Lima Ringfield problem

[JohnR]

I have an old Lima 27 that I have converted to DCC. Before the conversion, I ran it on a R3 circle of track with seemingly no problems.  As part of the conversion, I dissembled and serviced/cleaned the ringfield motor, with new brushes etc. I added an extra pick up on the un-powered bogie. 

 

However, now have a problem with it spluttering on the track, and seeming to be sticky, especially on curves (gentle ones - I've got an end-to-end layout). I've tried applying a 9v battery to the wheels to test, and it runs freely for quite a while in both directions with no problems. 

 

On the track, if I lift the chassis at the power bogie, so it is no longer resting on the bogie, the motor works fine. But as soon as the chassis is back on the bogie, it struggles.

 

Any ideas?

[andyman7]

I think many of us can relate to mysterious gremlins that sometimes occur during 'improvement' work. It's hard to pinpoint something without more detail but I would work from the basis the *something* you have been working on must have created the issue. There are 2 broad possibilities I would check first:

- Something has not been reassembled properly from when you services the motor bogie. Often the exact orientation or adjustment of parts can make a difference - which way round a keeper plate is fitted, how tight a screw is etc.

- Something you have changed is fouling or restricting operation - your extra pickups? The DCC fitment? It can be something very minor that just prevents free movement of a part and means that either the mechanism is being interrupted, the wheels are not sitting square on the track at all times (curves, points, gradients) or a connection is not making good.

I would start with understanding what happens when you lift the pressure of the power bogie/put it back down again. Good luck!

[JohnR]

2 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

I think many of us can relate to mysterious gremlins that sometimes occur during 'improvement' work. It's hard to pinpoint something without more detail but I would work from the basis the *something* you have been working on must have created the issue. There are 2 broad possibilities I would check first:

- Something has not been reassembled properly from when you services the motor bogie. Often the exact orientation or adjustment of parts can make a difference - which way round a keeper plate is fitted, how tight a screw is etc.

- Something you have changed is fouling or restricting operation - your extra pickups? The DCC fitment? It can be something very minor that just prevents free movement of a part and means that either the mechanism is being interrupted, the wheels are not sitting square on the track at all times (curves, points, gradients) or a connection is not making good.

I would start with understanding what happens when you lift the pressure of the power bogie/put it back down again. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the advice. I didnt really do much at the power bogie, other than obviously replace the bushes, and solder in new leads for the pickups and motor. I'll look there, maybe something is fowling something.

 

[cypherman]

Hi,

You said that you added more pick ups to the none powered bogie. Could it be that the wire you have used is not flexible enough and is causing the bogie to stick and lift the engine slightly. Thus giving it poor connection to the rails. I would also suggest that you swap out the Lima motor for a replacement cd motor. That is if it will work with DCC as they are a much smoother runner.

Edited May 9, 2021 by cypherman

[The Johnster]

You will need to fault find by process of elimination, but my instinct would be to look at the new wires you soldered in between the pickups and motor.  As the problem is connected to the body being fitted and the chassis runs well enough without the body fitted, look for places where the wires are fouling against the inside of the body or catching.  It may be that they need trimming to 'dress' properly or replacing with more flexible wiring.

[Matt C]

Certainly worth running on your track with the body off, watch closely as it goes round the curves to see how the wiring behaves. I had one simular that ran fine with body off, but the body was trapping the wires against the side of the motor stopping the bogey from swinging freely.

[JohnR]

34 minutes ago, The Johnster said:

You will need to fault find by process of elimination, but my instinct would be to look at the new wires you soldered in between the pickups and motor.  As the problem is connected to the body being fitted and the chassis runs well enough without the body fitted, look for places where the wires are fouling against the inside of the body or catching.  It may be that they need trimming to 'dress' properly or replacing with more flexible wiring.

Apologies if I wasn't that clear - the problem exists with the body on and off. 

 

I lift up the chassis slightly on power bogie end, so it is not resting on the bogie, and it works. Let it down and it struggles or stops.

 

As far as I can see the wires are not restricting the power bogie swing, but I will double check and report back!

 

[ISW]

1 hour ago, JohnR said:

Apologies if I wasn't that clear - the problem exists with the body on and off. 

 

I lift up the chassis slightly on power bogie end, so it is not resting on the bogie, and it works. Let it down and it struggles or stops.

John,

 

I also have an old Lima 27, to which I retrofitted a CD motor, additional pickup on the non-powered bogie, and converted to DCC. Here are a few photos of my motor bogie for comparison:

 

 

As you can see I also fitted Kadee couplings, which brings me to suggesting that you check the clearance between the bogie and the underside of the bufferbeam. It's less than 1mm on mine, but it might be fouling on your example and causing the issue you describe.

 

Ian

 

 

[hallmodelspares]

Also another tip if you can there is an excellent tutorial on getting a lima running well, on the youtube mikesmovies which shows how best to get them running well I learnt a lot from the video