Current Collection: Re-tensioning of Wheel Pick-up Wipers.

[Right Away]

Would any member know of a straightforward method of slightly increasing the tension of wheel pick-up wipers?

 

They can loose their ability to maintain contact with the wheels after time; indeed I have experienced new items where contact to the wheel is lost alternately on one side and then the other due to axle side play.

 

What I am seeking is a way to keep all the wipers in contact but in such a fashion that they can be further retensioned should it become necessary at a later date and therefore would preclude the use of spacers fitted by the use of adhesives.

 

I'm thinking along the lines of using thin plastic shims but fixing them could pose a problem.

 

I would relish the input of others who have faced this scenario.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Most wiper pick ups on current productions are in some type of bronze, and this obligingly work hardens. What I do on practically all new models is ensure that every wheelback wiper that runs on a powered wheelback is formed to stick out at least twice the distance it has to reach when the wheelback is at its most distant position. That way the wiper is still well tensioned into contact even when the wheelback it has to reach is at the limit of its sideplay. If you draw the wiper between your fingernails to form a curve to achieve this, they stay good thereafter in my experience. (Some fear that this will increase friction to the detriment of the model's running, It doesn't in a modern model with a good motor and multistage drive train. If the model will slip its wheels when held back then the motor has the power to overcome the friction and there is no problem.)

 

Give the model a good hours running at a moderate speed with no load to get all the contact patches and tracks well polished after such adjustments.

[HLT 0109]

It would be nice if we all had 34C's level of ability to dismantle and reassemble our locos (especially steamers) without causing damage or upsetting settings, in order to be able to get one's fingers around the pickups,  but I for one do not.  Yet I have had the same problem as Right Away from time to time and it can be very difficult to achieve the necessary good contact - indeed it is difficult even to see the pickups on some examples.  I have had some success with the loco upturned in a suitable cradle so that both hands are free then, using a lit magnifier (desk standing or head fitted so hands are still free) one can manipulate a small, flat scredriver in one hand and tweezeers in the other.  The screwdriver can be used at the fixed end of the pickup prise it away from the wheelback while the tweezers push (or bend but not crease) the free end until it touches the wheelback.  Try also to arrange for the wheelset to be at the extent of its travel away from the offending pickup.

 

This is not to criticise 34Cs method but if, like me, you feel unable to dismantle a model, my method is worth a try.  I had the problem recently with my Bachmann class 37 and couldn't access the pickups without removing the body.  Having done that, I dropped the bogies one at a time but the wires to the decoder etc were too short "to do a proper job" but I was able to effect a cure in the manner I described.

 

Harold.

[Right Away]

Thank you all for your suggestions.

 

This can be a quite frustrating problem in so far as the cause is so visible but a successful cure doesn't seem possible without the inevitable dismantling. Dropping a steam loco's drivers just in order to allow manipulation of the pick-ups is a sobering thought and one that my pensioner's fingers would struggle with.

 

We are to be grateful that many of today's models have multiple pick-ups on both engine and tender - I'd been even more grateful if they all functioned!

 

Where a brand new model is concerned there is always the dilemma of whether to return it or fix the problem oneself.

I am not averse to sorting minor issues but is ours the only hobby where we prefer to effect repairs on new items, which cost a packet, rather than return them to the retailer?

Edited August 9, 2018 by Right Away

[HLT 0109]

I have had repairs carried out professionally in recent years, with mixed results.  Some shops do repairs in house and you know the quality of the result to expect (until staff changes) but others outsource to free-lancers and one takes the results very much on trust.  No doubt all the professionals have some work they are really good at and other work they struggle with - just like me but, if a job comes in, they are going to do it whatever the result.  Hence, where we can do it ourselves, we choose to so so.  I must say that I have not found professioal repairs expensive, but by doing the job ourselves, we can make a financial saving (unless the repair is under warranty).

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

...I am not averse to sorting minor issues but is ours the only hobby where we prefer to effect repairs on new items, which cost a packet, rather than return them to the retailer?

I would see most of my 'sorting' as adjustments and improvements, rather than repairs, and it is not unique to this hobby by any means. (I have fiddled about with every piece of hi-fi kit  in my present and past systems for example.) If something is broken - not just detached but actually damaged - then it is going back pronto.

 

Major factors in my opinion that lead to the need for 'sorting' are that the layout the model is to operate on is not standardised, and owner's tastes vary. Pity the poor manufacturer aiming to please every potential purchaser.

[Butler Henderson]

Take a small flat head screwdriver and press the pick up wiper onto the wheel with the wheel at its furthest from the frame, then use another small screwdriver (or something similar) to push the wiper between the wheel and the frames back towards the frame slightly.

[cctransuk]

It would be nice if we all had 34C's level of ability to dismantle and reassemble our locos (especially steamers) without causing damage or upsetting settings, in order to be able to get one's fingers around the pickups,  but I for one do not.  Yet I have had the same problem as Right Away from time to time and it can be very difficult to achieve the necessary good contact - indeed it is difficult even to see the pickups on some examples.  I have had some success with the loco upturned in a suitable cradle so that both hands are free then, using a lit magnifier (desk standing or head fitted so hands are still free) one can manipulate a small, flat scredriver in one hand and tweezeers in the other.  The screwdriver can be used at the fixed end of the pickup prise it away from the wheelback while the tweezers push (or bend but not crease) the free end until it touches the wheelback.  Try also to arrange for the wheelset to be at the extent of its travel away from the offending pickup.

 

This is not to criticise 34Cs method but if, like me, you feel unable to dismantle a model, my method is worth a try.  I had the problem recently with my Bachmann class 37 and couldn't access the pickups without removing the body.  Having done that, I dropped the bogies one at a time but the wires to the decoder etc were too short "to do a proper job" but I was able to effect a cure in the manner I described.

 

Harold.

 

What you need are very fine, pointed tweezers such as https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Rolson-Number-Seven-Stainless-Steel-Tweezers/1028412158 .

 

Grip the pick-up where it leaves the chassis and GENTLY bend it outwards towards the wheel back.

 

This will increase the contact pressure of the pick-up.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.