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Wren loco grinds to a halt!


55F

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One I haven't met before.  Wren 2-6-4t sets of and runs fine then after about a minute or so, it slowly stops without any power adjustments.  Ten minutes later it will do exactly the same again!

 

Any idea what the matter could be gents?

 

Any help appreciated.

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Is it the loco or the controller?   They do guzzle a lot of amps.   Super Neo magnets reduce the current consumption. Mine run sluggishly when cold and speed up when warm but I had exactly the fault you describe with a faulty OnTrack controller and a Farish Pannier. I suppose an over tight armature end float adjustment might cause this problem.

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Possibly the magnet,these are old Hornby Dublo designs & the magnets do lose power over time.You can get them remagnetised or replace with a super neo magnet from ebay but check the brushes first & make sure they slide up & down the brush holders.

 

                Ray.

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Two distinct possibilities. 1. The motor windings have a fault in their insulation and as they expand as the motor heats up they short some of the armature turns and the loco slows to a halt. As the loco cools, it will be OK for a short while again. 2. You are using a controller that does not have a high enough power output and the controller overload trips as the controller becomes too hot. These are usually Hornby trainset controllers that exhibit this behaviour with locos that draw anything more than a modest current. They reset themselves when they cool down. I have seen both of these problems on several occasions.

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Thanks for the suggestion guys, I shall be exploring these later today.  I use Gaugemaster controllers so that possibility can probably be ruled out, particularly as several other Wren locos operate fine.

 

Again thanks for your time and help.

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I would have the body off, and try turning the armature by hand to make sure it is turning freely, and there is no excessive drag from the drive train.

 

If it is draggy, disengage motor and find out whether it is the motor or the chassis that is draggy - or a bit of both - and rectify that first before running.

 

If it is free running, then run with the body off, so you can feel whether the motor quickly warms up, getting uncomfortably hot to touch when it comes to a stand. If it does this, then a weak magnet - as others here suspect - is the likely cause.

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I would have the body off, and try turning the armature by hand to make sure it is turning freely, and there is no excessive drag from the drive train.

 

If it is draggy, disengage motor and find out whether it is the motor or the chassis that is draggy - or a bit of both - and rectify that first before running.

 

If it is free running, then run with the body off, so you can feel whether the motor quickly warms up, getting uncomfortably hot to touch when it comes to a stand. If it does this, then a weak magnet - as others here suspect - is the likely cause.

All good advice for 98% of models but the Wrenn 2-6-4T has a vertical armature and does not have a separate motor, the armature bearings, magnet, pole pieces and brush holders are part of the chassis.  You could loosen the drive gear by undoing the two grub screws and running the motor and checking for stiffness.  The gearwheel can bind on the chassis. I shim mine with a small washer when fitting Romford wheels. I shim both sides of the gear wheel to control end float and they run more freely. A gear wheel binding against the chassis might cause this problem,

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