Jump to content
 

Problem locomotive...Thomas


ikcdab
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Gold

Yesterday we bought a brand new Hornby Thomas 0-6-0. Ran it on a circle of track connected to an old h&m controller. All was ok until just now.  The engine just ran slower and slower for the same controller setting over about 5 mins, then just ground to a halt. Nothing can persuade it back into life.

I have had the body off, nothing jammed in it. Motor appears to rotate ok. Pickups are ok and there is voltage at the brushes. I get a high resistance reading when metering across the brushes. 

With the motor out, the wheels rotate freely.

We will take it back to the shop,  but just wondered what on earth has gone wrong? 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

I don't think so, but thanks for the point. I'm just interested why it stopped. It got slower and slower over 5 mins and then died. I wonder if the motor windings or insulation has broken down?

Link to post
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Sounds like a winding burnt out from the gradual failure, take it back if you can or a new motor from Peters Spares. 

I'm trying to buy a motor at present. Unfortunately Peter's Spares (who are very good) are out of stock and the item has been on order for some time.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
4 hours ago, Phaeton said:

 

I hope that is soon, not actually

Well actually ,my wife was driving....

I can now name the shop. They were excellent. Friendly and understanding, tested the engine and the replacement which they happily supplied. I can heartily recommend pecorama shop at Beer.

  • Like 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

I think that if the loco stops working the idea is that you can take the body off to see if there is a fault which can easily be rectified without voiding the guarantee, providing that you take care and do not damage anything.

 

Certainly the retailer has responsibility to honour the guarantee for a reasonable time period. Depending on how old the item is and its condition reputable retailers would just swap the item over,

 

Even if the loco is play worn if its less than a year old and its apparent that the (play ) damage has not caused the failure it still should be repaired under guarantee free of charge. Lets face it many models are sold for the use of children and should be designed for that purpose

 

What the dealer did was the right thing and should be applauded, but we should expect every retailer to act simmerly providing it is a genuine fault

 

Going back a few years the locos were basically bulletproof, then came more detailed models which in turn made them less robust. Now we expect our models to be of a museum standard, sadly their mechanisms seem to have inbuilt obsolescence. I have a Bemo loco, absolute work of art. But remove the body and there is no way too much of repairs can be done. This is driving me away from RTR to kit built locos, at least I know I can service and repair them   

Link to post
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, hayfield said:

Going back a few years the locos were basically bulletproof, then came more detailed models which in turn made them less robust. Now we expect our models to be of a museum standard, sadly their mechanisms seem to have inbuilt obsolescence. I have a Bemo loco, absolute work of art. But remove the body and there is no way too much of repairs can be done. This is driving me away from RTR to kit built locos, at least I know I can service and repair them   

The instructions for the Hornby 'Thomas' state that the motor should be replaced by a dealer after 100 hours of use. Shame that dealers don't seem to be able to get these motors. The gears are also plastic with a limited life. Inbuilt obsolescence indeed.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Plastic gears are quite common, for instance High Level gear boxes use them and I guess if worn down they are replaceable. I am surprised about the life of the motor, but I guess its the brushes that wear down and are not replaceable, if a dealer can replace the motor I guess a competent modeller also could 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold

Plastic gears are cheaper and also quieter without having to adjust the mesh precisely so perfect for quick assembly. I’d rather have metal gears on axles and plastic elsewhere as the axle bound ones are the hardest to replace ;) 

100hrs is a lot in kids play time but I’ve seen ones operate in shop windows for much longer without issue. I’ve also seen a steel worm destroy a brass gear in less than 6 hours under heavy load ;) 

Link to post
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

Plastic gears are cheaper and also quieter without having to adjust the mesh precisely so perfect for quick assembly. I’d rather have metal gears on axles and plastic elsewhere as the axle bound ones are the hardest to replace ;) 

100hrs is a lot in kids play time but I’ve seen ones operate in shop windows for much longer without issue. I’ve also seen a steel worm destroy a brass gear in less than 6 hours under heavy load ;) 

It is noticeable how short the trains are on these displays where trains run continuously like Pecorama and the Model Shop in Bucfastleigh.  There are often similar motors to the "Thomas" motor but lower voltage available on eBay and elsewhere for about 50p each.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Gold
9 minutes ago, ikcdab said:

Ok,  I hope the new one will be ok.  We will see.  It's a pity that something designed for youngsters to get them into the hobby should apparently be so problematic!

They aren’t that bad, I’ve seen loads as I used to service them for a friend who picked them up as part of collections and they run until the body is covered in dings yet still run well. You get the odd failure like yours but I’ve only seen one burn out when new before, just a nick in the wire during manufacturing possibly caused a short. 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...