Erratic running of Fleischmann re 465s - anyone else experienced this?

[Michanglais]

11 hours ago, Gottardo said:

Hi Michael,

The magnifying specs are a great help. I use them myself for some jobs.

With the help of the specs and some decent lighting I'm sure that you will be able to service the motors. Do you feel confident enough to remove the motor completely to check that it's working by applying a separate power supply to the brush holders? This will rule out any problems with the electronics.

 

John

 

Not quite sure I've quite got that far in my journey into electricals and electronics!

 

I think, for the time being, I'm going to put the models to the test as much as possible and see where to take it from there. If they continue to perform well, I'll probably not explore any further for the time being but if other issues show up, I've got a couple that I'm less fond of and wouldn't mind 'messing' with before possible installation (not by me!) of coreless motors.

 

 Cheers,

Michael

 

 

[Michanglais]

On 21/10/2022 at 09:57, Gottardo said:

Hi Michael.

WD-40 Fast Drying Contact Cleaner is a suitable alternative (NOT the well-known standard WD-40). You basically want an electrical cleaner that does not leave any residue.

A very short blast from each side is all that is required to clean out any carbon debris and you don't normally need to turn the motor.

If you do spray for too long and the motor gets soaked in cleaning fluid just leave the excess to evaporate before refitting the brushes and testing.

 

John

 

Hi John,

 

I just wanted to pick your brains again on this subject, if that's okay.

 

One of the locos I got running successfully again started to judder and then came to a dead stop so I carried out the cleaning procedure, this time turning the motor a bit so that the spray got all the way round the shaft and I also replaced the brushes with new ones that I cleaned first. 

 

The loco is now running again, if not as smoothly as I'd like, but the motor gets quite hot to the touch (I'm testing with the body shell off, so I'm touching the motor sides, not the plastic shell). Is this normal?

 

Perhaps I need to apply a little oil here and there because I presume the spray is 'cleaning' off any lubricant as well?

 

As usual, any ideas would be much appreciated!

 

Cheers,

Michael

 

 

[Gottardo]

Hi Michael,

I don't think you will have stripped any appreciable amount of lubricant simply by giving a few quick squirts of cleaner into the brush apertures.

However, assuming you have some suitable very light oil (preferably from one of the model railway manufacturers e.g. Fleischmann 6599), I see no reason why you can't try putting the tiniest drop of oil on each of the motor bearings. The instruction inlay in the loco box shows you where to lubricate the bearings. Dry bearings could be a reason for the motor getting hot but I don't think they would be the cause of your rough running.

In the case of these Fleischmann locos I think the rough running is more likely to be caused by ongoing contamination of the brushes/commutator, dirty wheels/pickups or even your track.

[Michanglais]

1 hour ago, Gottardo said:

Hi Michael,

I don't think you will have stripped any appreciable amount of lubricant simply by giving a few quick squirts of cleaner into the brush apertures.

However, assuming you have some suitable very light oil (preferably from one of the model railway manufacturers e.g. Fleischmann 6599), I see no reason why you can't try putting the tiniest drop of oil on each of the motor bearings. The instruction inlay in the loco box shows you where to lubricate the bearings. Dry bearings could be a reason for the motor getting hot but I don't think they would be the cause of your rough running.

In the case of these Fleischmann locos I think the rough running is more likely to be caused by ongoing contamination of the brushes/commutator, dirty wheels/pickups or even your track.

 

Once more, many thanks, John!

 

I've yet to work on the loco that's over-heating, but I did strip down completely a relatively new sound-equipped re465 model that was completely and utterly dead. 

 

Cleaned the brushes/commutator (again...), wheels, pick-ups, removed some of the masses of grease that was in the gear boxes and gave the track a good clean (my track is Kato Unitrack, which tends to stay 'magically' quite clean except when you've been running in new locos, which seem to dirty it considerably, and I've run-in a few new locos recently). Machine is now happily pushing a rake of Dostos (perhaps not very prototypical!), without hesitation and making all the right noises! (I could probably do with servicing the wheels on the coaches, too, the Dostos seem to attract an inordinate amount of fluff...). 

 

Now to carry out the same process with the mini microwave! That's an old model, tho it did run okay when I first got it - hopefully the same process will help. I don't know how long the motors on these things last for. It could have seen heavy use before I got it, no knowing with this one. 

 

I've got a couple of re460s being re-motored with coreless motors (didn't fancy trying to do that myself). It'll be interesting to compare running qualities, tho I've heard coreless motors can be problematic on DCC. Fingers crossed on that one. Obviously, the wheels/contacts/track will require just as much attention, I guess.

 

Once again, many thanks!

 

Cheers,

Michael