Heljan Class 14 motor replacement

[David_R]

Not sure if this should be here or in the Motor/Drivetrain section, but as great skill is needed to put the thing back together .....

 

The flappy con rods caught on the cab steps and I didn't notice for a while - and a boost of power (DC) before realising what had happened didn't help, the motor has died (the plastic under the commutator melted). Does anyone have experience of the replacement Heljan motor? I have put in a cheap Ebay motor and it is severely lacking the torque of the original - it now crawls up gradients then races manically down the other side. Do the replacements behave like the originals?

And why are the new ones so much shorter? The original measures about 48mm end to end with the worm end shaft about 12mm long as in the picture. The new ones are 43mm so each shaft is about 6 to 6.5mm.

 

Any comments welcome!

 

Best Regards

David

[RexAshton]

Olivias Trains have commissioned their own range of superior motors for most of the Heljan range including the  class 14. Click here.

Edited August 28, 2021 by RexAshton
Typos

[kevinlms]

16 minutes ago, RexAshton said:

Olivias Trains have commissioned their own range of superior motors for most of the Heljan range including the  class 14. Click here.

Definitely suggests that the Heljan motors are a piece of junk!

[John Tomlinson]

18 hours ago, David_R said:

Not sure if this should be here or in the Motor/Drivetrain section, but as great skill is needed to put the thing back together .....

 

The flappy con rods caught on the cab steps and I didn't notice for a while - and a boost of power (DC) before realising what had happened didn't help, the motor has died (the plastic under the commutator melted). Does anyone have experience of the replacement Heljan motor? I have put in a cheap Ebay motor and it is severely lacking the torque of the original - it now crawls up gradients then races manically down the other side. Do the replacements behave like the originals?

And why are the new ones so much shorter? The original measures about 48mm end to end with the worm end shaft about 12mm long as in the picture. The new ones are 43mm so each shaft is about 6 to 6.5mm.

 

Any comments welcome!

 

Best Regards

David

 

I'm pretty sure there are at least two sizes of these, a 43mm and a 48mm, it sounds as if you may not have the right one.

 

I'd suggest you get in touch with Olivia's as recommended above.

 

John.

[RexAshton]

On 28/08/2021 at 12:03, kevinlms said:

Definitely suggests that the Heljan motors are a piece of junk!

Olivias will remotor the Heljan Beyer Garratt and give you a shiney new 12 month guarantee.

[David_R]

Thanks all. The picture shows the original motor. The recommended replacement on the Gaugemaster and Peters Spares websites is 43mm long hence the question.

 

Will definitely check with Olivia's Trains regarding their motor.

 

Cheers

David

[David_R]

A quick follow up. New motor fitted from Olivia's. Eventually prodded all of the wires back into position and she's running well again.

 

Thanks to all who replied.

David

[andyman7]

On 28/08/2021 at 12:03, kevinlms said:

Definitely suggests that the Heljan motors are a piece of junk!

That's rather a sweeping statement - the Garratt and early Class 17 definitely had issues but most Heljan models are like tanks, they go on forever. 

[kevinlms]

1 hour ago, andyman7 said:

That's rather a sweeping statement - the Garratt and early Class 17 definitely had issues but most Heljan models are like tanks, they go on forever. 

Maybe so, but does it matter? I'm guessing that no one will replace any Heljan motors, until they play up.

[SamThomas]

1 hour ago, andyman7 said:

That's rather a sweeping statement - the Garratt and early Class 17 definitely had issues but most Heljan models are like tanks, they go on forever. 

The HO Heljan Nohab I bought was not a silky smooth runner out of the box - I contacted the dealers & it was the last one they had & was assured that it would get better with running in (not usually something you have to do with HO European models in my experience) - it lasted less than 10 hours running at half speed on it's own before failing.

 

The dealers were no help suggesting I contact Heljan - when Heljan eventually responded (after, IIRC 3 e-mails) they simply did not want to know.

 

Never bought anything from Heljan since.

 

Read plenty about them being power hungry though since.

[Jenny Emily]

The motor on my Loadhaul class 14 let out the magic smoke after spending its life in a display cabinet. Was definitely a real challenge to get it all apart! I had a spare motor from a redundant class 17 chassis and it was a like for like replacement. Took a lot of effort but the 14 has been working fine since. 

[David_R]

The challenge is to put it back together! Glad to hear your 14 was revived.

I also followed the advice on the mega Class 14 thread and added some shims behind the flycranks. I used thin slices from a suitably thin tube recovered from a spray bottle. That should stop stop the rods catching the cab steps.