Heljan 4mm AC railbus dummy 21 pin plug burnt out!

[bubbles2]

My AC railbus seems to have burnt out its 21 pin dummy plug, it was travelling along happily then slowed and the passenger compartment filled with smoke.  Initially I expected the motor to to have burnt out and started dismantling but still haven’t discovered how to access the motor. What I did find was the dummy 21 pin dummy plug with 2 burnt and smelly components, L1 and L2, I’m hoping  the motor is ok, just wondered if anyone that runs DCC has a dummy 21 pin plug from an AC railbus they don’t need, I only run dc, or could I use any 21 pin dummy plug?

[Roy Langridge]

 

6 hours ago, bubbles2 said:

My AC railbus seems to have burnt out its 21 pin dummy plug, it was travelling along happily then slowed and the passenger compartment filled with smoke.  Initially I expected the motor to to have burnt out and started dismantling but still haven’t discovered how to access the motor. What I did find was the dummy 21 pin dummy plug with 2 burnt and smelly components, L1 and L2, I’m hoping  the motor is ok, just wondered if anyone that runs DCC has a dummy 21 pin plug from an AC railbus they don’t need, I only run dc, or could I use any 21 pin dummy plug?

I would be very careful as whatever has caused those components (inductors I assume) to burn out is probably not associated with blanking plate itself and is indicative of another fault. 
 

Roy

[bubbles2]

1 hour ago, Roy Langridge said:

 

I would be very careful as whatever has caused those components (inductors I assume) to burn out is probably not associated with blanking plate itself and is indicative of another fault. 
 

Roy

You’re right, on further investigation I’ve found the motor is burnt out so I guess it’s toast, looks like spares are just about non existent, Gaugemaster is a very poor substitute for Howes of Oxford sadly, have sent an email but looking at their listings there’s not much hope.

[spamcan61]

If you have time on your hands and are feeling adventurous then you might be able to find a drop in replacement on the Laisdcc Ali express site, as pointed out by adb968008 a while back:-

 

https://laisdcc.aliexpress.com/store/2977030

Edited March 24, 2023 by spamcan61

[Albie the plumber]

36 minutes ago, bubbles2 said:

You’re right, on further investigation I’ve found the motor is burnt out so I guess it’s toast, looks like spares are just about non existent, Gaugemaster is a very poor substitute for Howes of Oxford sadly, have sent an email but looking at their listings there’s not much hope.

I have a W &M railbus and that too made a funny smell with smoke ,

On dismantling , it was found to have scorch marks on the pc board (this was running on D.C )

Further dismantling found the motor had given up the ghost .

Peters Spares do these motors , they're very good . 

However , they supply the motors without the combined flywheels/ worm drives , you have to remove them from the stricken motor ......not easy !

I had to use the heat from my  plumbers blowlamp to 'ease' them off .

Perhaps someone out there has a less crude method of removing them,

Hope this Helps 

 

Albie 

[97xx]

How old is it, and did you buy it from a retailer?

[Anoldpom]

I am glad I found this thread. Just today I went through all of what the previous posters have gone through, the slowing down of the railcar, then the smoke filling the passenger compartment and the really foul smell! 

 

I think I am lucky in that it has been in service for many years but then I have many, many locos and railcars that have done far more work than this poor little AC Railcar had done.

 

Oh well such is life!

[Albie the plumber]

1 hour ago, Anoldpom said:

I am glad I found this thread. Just today I went through all of what the previous posters have gone through, the slowing down of the railcar, then the smoke filling the passenger compartment and the really foul smell! 

 

I think I am lucky in that it has been in service for many years but then I have many, many locos and railcars that have done far more work than this poor little AC Railcar had done.

 

Oh well such is life!

I managed to pick up a second hand motor complete with flywheels just last week on ebay.

The railcar isn't the easiest thing to dismantle and probably harder to reassemble , the wiring looking particularly awkward .

Will probably shoehorn an adapter board or maybe just hard wire a decoder into it , not sure yet .

It's at the end of  a very long to do list however.

[Albie the plumber]

Well that didn't end  well ! 

Had a go at fitting the replacement motor after soldering the grey and orange wires to the motor terminals .

It all went pear shaped after fitting heatshrink on to those joints and trying to fit the whole ensemble into the cradle 

into which the motor lays .

Its difficult to get the wires into the channels , the heatshrink comes away and terminals are exposed and they very 

close to the metal casting .

It was while ' fettling ' the wire that the one of the motor terminals snapped  making the motor useless .

It was simply uneconomic to spend another 35 quid on a motor to put into a model that one can buy for around £80 on ebay 

Therefore , the model was quite literally shown the bin .

Were I to attempt to do a similar project , I might leave the heatshrink out and perhaps insulate the terminals with nail varnish 

or perhaps mastik .

I have the spoof departmental version waiting for the sound treatment but will not be going where near the motor .....I hope !