Heljan and dirt

[Railpassion]

Lots of wonderful models from Heljan, but does anyone else find that after a few months performance becomes erratic due to dirt, dust etc? 

I have Bachmann class 20s and 24s and they have always been smooth tunners for almost 20 years now. I can't say the same for my Heljan class 26/27s. I've had to strip them down for a thorough clean to get them back to initial performance. 

 

Is this common to other members? 

 

[ColinK]

My Heljan 26 and 33 are superb runners, but their shunters are awful, I think it is pickmup problems with the shunters.

[SRman]

1 hour ago, Railpassion said:

Lots of wonderful models from Heljan, but does anyone else find that after a few months performance becomes erratic due to dirt, dust etc? 

I have Bachmann class 20s and 24s and they have always been smooth tunners for almost 20 years now. I can't say the same for my Heljan class 26/27s. I've had to strip them down for a thorough clean to get them back to initial performance. 

 

Is this common to other members? 

 

 

Are yours earlier releases with the brass wheels that collect dirt and tarnish while you look at them (rather like Lima's old wheels did)? Later releases all have shinier silver wheels (possibly plated, or nickel silver, but I don't know for sure) which don't require constant cleaning and actually work very well. 

If yours are those earlier ones, the real solution is to replace the wheels. Somewhere in the forums there is a guide to using Hornby coach wheels to replace the Heljan ones. There used to be ready to drop in sets but those have long been out of stock.

 

 

Edited March 19 by SRman

[Tim123]

9 hours ago, SRman said:

There used to be ready to drop in sets but those have long been out of stock.

 

 

Quick Google found some

[SRman]

11 minutes ago, Tim123 said:

Quick Google found some

Great, if you are in the UK. Peter's Spares postal charges for those of us overseas tend to suggest he doesn't want the business from us. Hopefully Railpassion, who had the problem, is in the United Kingdom somewhere.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

On 19/03/2024 at 23:35, SRman said:

Later releases all have shinier silver wheels (possibly plated, or nickel silver, but I don't know for sure)

Nickel silver wheelsets , and very good too on the 15, 16, 23 and 26/0 I operate, all of which came out by the time these were fitted as standard. No difference in reliability of pick up to the assorted Bachmann, Dapol, Hornby, centre motor bogie drives on the layout, all good.

[LNERGE]

I’ve replaced the pickups on several of my Heljan locos with 0.33 nickel silver wire. This has made a massive improvement. The biggest improvement was with a 26 with the old style wheels. I still need to clean the wheels now n then. 
 

It’s all quite realistic having watched a twelve inch to a foot class 47 disappear on a track circuit the other day. Three months of no traffic and there was enough rust to stop the track circuit being shorted out. Second pass was ok as was all subsequent passes. 

[DY444]

On 19/03/2024 at 22:35, Railpassion said:

Lots of wonderful models from Heljan, but does anyone else find that after a few months performance becomes erratic due to dirt, dust etc? 

I have Bachmann class 20s and 24s and they have always been smooth tunners for almost 20 years now. I can't say the same for my Heljan class 26/27s. I've had to strip them down for a thorough clean to get them back to initial performance. 

 

Is this common to other members? 

 

 

Quite the reverse.  I have Heljan 47s from the dawn of time "tubby duff" period which just run and run and run with minimal attention.  My Bachmann diesels from the same period are about due their 3rd major stripdown.  Hornby I've lost count. 

[D.Platt]

One of my most reliable shunting locos is the 05 , I bought it when it first came out and it’s as smooth and quiet as per the first days running.

[Railpassion]

My Heljan wheels are the silver type, the poor running is mostly on corners where it simply stops.

Maybe it's the pickups? I had a copper wheeled 27 once and it was useless so i put it straight on ebay. I'm chipping locos with stay alive at the moment but not got round to the Heljan. 

 

[Halvarras]

On 20/03/2024 at 08:56, Tim123 said:

Quick Google found some

 

£22 for two wheelsets? I've recently rewheeled two 26s, a 33 and a Hymek with sets which cost £10.50 for four wheelsets. Admittedly they were from Howes several years back - it's just taken me this long to get my act together..... If I need any more I'll look at replacing the old brass wheels on the now spare sets with Hornby coach wheels as suggested above. Although they don't cost £3.50 for 10 any more either......🥴!

 

1 hour ago, Railpassion said:

My Heljan wheels are the silver type, the poor running is mostly on corners where it simply stops.

Maybe it's the pickups? I had a copper wheeled 27 once and it was useless so i put it straight on ebay. I'm chipping locos with stay alive at the moment but not got round to the Heljan. 

 

 

This is almost certainly due to the pick-ups and wheels parting company on curves when the wheelsets move laterally. Any brass pickup strips which look too straight when viewing the underside are probably misbehaving. During my above rewheelings while I had the wheels out I took the opportunity to bend all pick-ups outwards a little to ensure contact is maintained. It should be possible to tweak them without having to take the keeper plates off (not the easiest of tasks) and removing the wheels, but pulling off the bogie sideframes would assist - try to ease them off and press them back on as straight as possible to avoid stressing the attachment points. Push the wheelsets from side to side and check what happens with the pick-ups - keep the tweezers handy!

 

 

[michaelp]

My Heljan Class 14 is an absolute nightmare to run.

[SRman]

7 hours ago, Railpassion said:

My Heljan wheels are the silver type, the poor running is mostly on corners where it simply stops.

Maybe it's the pickups? I had a copper wheeled 27 once and it was useless so i put it straight on ebay. I'm chipping locos with stay alive at the moment but not got round to the Heljan. 

 

 

Ahh yes! That's the other Heljan bugbear, at least from out of the box. I usually find that the bogie diesels only pick up from four or five of the eight wheels with pickups, initially. It is very easy to adjust them, however, and then there are rarely any problems after that. Most of the diesels have side frames that simply pull off horizontally from the bogie chassis, which then gives easy access to the pickups to adjust them so that they all contact the wheel backs.

The exception I found was one of the diesel shunters, the 07. For that, there is so much side play on the leading axle that the pickups lose contact at the extremes of the travel, and no amount of bending keeps them in contact as they are a little soft. My solution was to solder a strip of phosphor-bronze to the outer end of the leading pickup on each side, with the new strip going back to the trailing edge of the wheel (see my photo below). No matter how far sideways the axle travels now, the wheels will now always stay in contact with the pickup strip.

 

The other possible solution with the 07, and also with the class 14s, which also have excessive side play, is to add plastic washers behind the leading and centre wheels and the chassis, to reduce that side play. If you cut a disc of black plastic sheet with a hole in the middle slightly larger then the axle diameter, then cut a slit from the centre hole to the outer edge, you should be able to persuade the disc to slip over the axle without having to remove the wheels from the axles.



 

[No Decorum]

I have a Heljan Western. It’s a nice model even if not a match for the newer Dapol version. I replaced the original brass wheels with nickel ones. The new ones lack the plastic inserts. I got a set of plastic inserts but discovered that, whilst the diameter is perfect, they protrude due to the new wheels being shallower. You’d think it would be a simple matter to sand off some plastic from the back of the inserts but I’ve found that it isn’t. I’ve no spares, so I need to be cautious and even after sanding for ages, I haven’t reduced even one enough. In the way of such things, other jobs which are easier to accomplish have taken over.

[ColinK]

My Heljan 05, two 07s and 14 are all shelf queens as none of them run properly.  The 05 and 07s are certainly pick up problems, the 14 a combination of pick ups and too much side play. The shunters are worse after sound fitting.  I’m really gutted over the 14 as its one of my favourite locos and I had it professionally painted rail blue.  Are the newer 14s just as bad?

I’m not good at adjusting pick ups, is there anyone who does that type of repair?

 

In contrast, one of my friends has a 05 which runs superbly. My Heljan 26, 27s and 33 run superbly and have done for years.

[stewartingram]

Is it possible to electroplate the old wheels?

[adb968008]

6 hours ago, stewartingram said:

Is it possible to electroplate the old wheels?

Sounds ambitious…

 

if prices were getting that high, just buy a second hand one, swap the wheels and put it back on ebay.

ive done the Hornby coach wheels, easy enough, just pop them off the pointed coach axle using a worm puller.

 

same too for the old Heljan wheels. swap and push them back on ( consider using a vice with tissue around the wheels so they dont get scratched and they go onto the axle easy enough, and a back to back gauge for accuracy.

heres before.. (about 0.7mm diameter difference, which based on mounting the axle (centre) is radius of 0.35mm lower sitting on the track…

Heljan wheel ( left), Hornby coach wheel. (Right), both sit on an axle of 1.96mm

 

before..

 

during

 

 

after..

 

 

fyi I did consider a Hornby railroad loco wheel, but these are on c2.5mm axles.

Edited March 27 by adb968008

[No Decorum]

19 hours ago, stewartingram said:

Is it possible to electroplate the old wheels?

I can’t say whether it would be possible or not but I’d hazard a guess that the electroplating would not be durable. I have some locomotives where the manufacturer has used electroplated wheels and the electroplating has worn off rather quickly.

[Albie the plumber]

I think my Teddy Bear has the old fashioned wheels but since fitting stay alive along with sound , it gives me  no trouble .

Same can't be said for the older Hymeks but they will be rewheeled in due course .

Edited March 28 by Albie the plumber
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