Bachmann 47 stalling issues

[meatloaf]

I have recently got a Bachmann 47.

 

Sadly it dosent seem to like my double slip. It has no problems on the straight route coming from any of the 4 entry points, however on the curved route it stalls everytime. Looking at the point it fails the middle wheels of each bogie are bang on the plastic bit of the frog.  ( See pic ). I have class 20 and 25 both sound fitted and they have no issue with the slip. Even the class 08 shunter sails over it. Ive checked the wheels are clean and ive checked the track is clean. Is anyone else having the same issue?

 

 

 

[Andrew F]

Bachmann co-co loco's just don't seem to be as forgiving as bo-bo's even though they have a couple of extra axles picking up. I think this mainly is to do with wheels losing contact with the rail which may be down to track that's not 100% flat or the bogie unit being slightly distorted. 

 

Place the loco on a pane of glass or totally flat surface and check if all the wheels flanges are touching the glass; many of my loco's alarmingly don't.

 

Next check if all the pick-ups are touching the wheel backs with a decent pressure when the axle is over far left and far right and that everything is clean. Bachmann loco's can shed loads of grease all over these important areas making them very stuttery.

[meatloaf]

RE The wheels losing contact with the rails I have noticed with the other locos, that theres a slight bump where the metal rail meets the plastic frog. Its not much but its enough to just lift the wheels slightly

 

Pickups wise is there an easy way to check these as I can only see one touching a wheel on a couple of all the axles

[Andrew F]

What I do is turn the loco upside down in a home made cradle and use an old Triang wheel cleaning brush connected to a controller and add power to an axle and move the axle left and right and see if the loco cuts out; usually it's at one of the extremities meaning you'll need to tweak that pick-up . You could use the Peco brush and scraper or just power up the loco and move the axle left to right. You need a good light to see.

[Stevelewis]

Suggest  you  check  the  PICKUPS  which  could  possibly  be  losing contact  with  the  wheel backs as  they  slide  slightly  sideways on  the  DS,

 

I  have  not  experienced  many  problems  with  Bachmann Co-Cos  on  DSlips  but  occasionally  there may  be  short   stutter usually  rectified  by  pickup attention

 

Also  worth  checking to  see  if  the loco stalls  when  it  is  tested when it  is  turned  round  thro' 180'

[cravensdmufan]

I agree with Andrew F.  I have a number of Bachmann 47's and on a couple the centre wheelsets of both bogies are lower than the outer pair.  This means that not all the wheels are touching the rails at all times - especially, as you say, when travelling over frogs.

 

This doesn't just apply to older models either - my latest NSE 47 Kings Lynnn was especially bad.  There is however an easy fix by slightly filing down the plastic part of the bogie in which the centre axle bearings sit.  It's an old problem that Bachmann have never bothered to fix.  My first experience was on a Deltic many years ago.

 

Further discussion and how to fix are on this thread:   http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/13947-Bachmann-class-47/page-17 post #408

 

and here:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107326-a-noisy-running-Bachmann-class-37/ where tractor-37260 describes in detail the fix in post #7

 

The tip about placing the loco on a sheet of glass is a good one - I was surprised how much the outer wheels stood proud of the glass, hence all the wheels do not make contact with the rails.

[meatloaf]

Thanks ill check and get back to you

[MikeParkin65]

Another thing to check is that the pick ups from the wheels are making a good connection at the circuit board. Yours looks like one of the early models - my version of the same only picked up current from one bogie - the fix was to solder all of the pick up wires to the PCB - as supplied the wires are only held in place by clips.

[meatloaf]

Ok so ive checked all the pickups by powering just one axle at a time and all seem ok. Ive put it back on the track the other way round and it does seem to run better now, and only stalled once one one of the curved routes.

 

I'll pop the body off tomorrow and check the circuit boards.

 

Its an early one, one of the first to come out

[tamperman36]

i would also check the back to back gauge of the wheelsets as this can also assist in forcing the wheelsets up away from the rail if they catch on check rails.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

It's an early one, one of the first to come out

 My one and only Brush Type 4 is the original D1500 release and nearly had the full basket:

bogie frames slightly curved by tight fit of centre axle bearings - eased bearing location to fix;

two pick up connections to circuit board not functioning, one intermittent - soldered up;

one motor feed connection to circuit board intermittent - soldered up.

 

Credit where due, on mine all the wipers were in contact with their wheelbacks throughout the side to side movement of the wheelsets, and the assembly had no spilled grease.

 

With the amendments described, a reliable runner, and nearly a good model:

 

except that the body was too high above the bogies and wobbled around (rolled) from side to side. Slightly narrowing the base of the pivot post on the bogie top so that it fully entered the hole in the chassis casting, and then trimming down the top of the pivot post so that the securing screw was back in its original position, fixed all that. (Some with experience of driving these machines did mention that a bit of body roll was actually a step toward prototype fidelity.)

[dasatcopthorne]

For reliable running, I have found it necessary to tweet all Bachmann Bo bo and Co co loco pickups. After removing all wheels, bend the pickups outwards and then make sure the rear of the wheels don't have too much grease on them.

 

Best of luck.

 

Dave.