Hornby 'black can' motor advice on brush terminals

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

So, I have now acquired a decent H-D 8F body shell for a long planned project, transplanting a current Hornby 8F mechanism into the H-D loco body shell. This will yield a properly weighty 8F able to pull side out of house etc.; and satisfy the ancient yearning from childhood for what was then the only eight coupled OO loco available, and for my money easily the best OO steam model out of Binns Road. (It may even provoke Hornby into renewing their 8F and gracing it with a metal body for superior traction.)

 

It's not going to take much to fit the mechanism into the H-D body, except that the black can motor has the brush terminals in a plastic cuboid on the left side of the motor. Has anyone ever tried cutting this down to reduce the width? (I don't want to have to cut too deep a channel into the Mazak body interior to clear it.) Will I fatally weaken the brush terminal mounting points if I take too much off?

[GWR-fan]

Not an answer to your problem but what about this replacement motor - 

 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Micro-OT-FK-130PH-Carbon-Brush-Motor-DC-6V-12V-24V-12000RPM-Dual-Shaft-DIY-Toy/282368496235?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

 

 

[jimwal]

The terminals are the brush arms, they turn through a right angle to be parallel with each other, either side of the commutator. So if you remove the 'block' moulding too much the brushes may slide out.

If you pare it down too much and can see the terminal strips where they enter the motor then it may be a good idea to bind round the end of the motor with insulating tape. This will hold the brushes in place and avoid shorting with the H-D body.  

 

The  moulding between the tags is separate and retained in place by a spigot within the motor outline. The motor is shared by a number of other Hornby locos introduced about the time of the 8F. The can is the same as the silver motor in many of the 'Railroad' locos though the armature and magnets differ.

 

Jim

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Thanks, got the picture of the motor's internal geography, very carefully it is then! I want to do the job in situ if possible, reason follows.

 

14 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

Not an answer to your problem but what about this replacement motor ...

I have a suitable alternative motor so this idea is on the cards. But, and it's a big but, I have fiddled with three of these mechanisms in the past (in order to install them in three whitemetal kit bodies, at a time when the choice of RTR OO loco drive eight coupleds was the WD and 8F) and what I learned then was to avoid if possible disturbing Hornby's motor clamping arrangements, because threads strip in the Mazak, and then its all tapping and hoping you can get it sufficiently secure again.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Forgot to report my outcome. No modification required to the motor at all, happily. The wall thickness of the Dublo 8F casting proved more than sufficient to cut a clearance channel for the motor brush terminals. There were several more areas that needed cutting to allow the current Hornby mechanism in, but since both models conform closely to scale, once there was clearance the two elements fitted together very neatly.

 

It also runs beautifully, and the traction is 'very adequate' at the present 480g, which was the basic reason for undertaking this. I might even slim it down a little in the interests of reduced mechanism wear; easy enough as it is ballasted with the lead block from the Dublo interior.

 

I am at present cutting the various pieces for a cab floor, backhead and new securing points, once they are in place detailing can go ahead.

[DCB]

Big win on appearance is to close couple the tender.  My H/D 8F has the tender scale distance around 3mm from the loco and is fine around 3rd Radius curves.   Stanier's almost always ran with cab doors closed,  so cab doors are also a good move.   Means you cant see your detailed cab (or my Ring Field Motor)

I have  a Hornby 28XX body on a H/D chassis. Motor from a Computer, huge amount of torque but it keeps distorting its motor mount and coming out of mesh.  Strange how some folk bin the chassis and others bin the body. Thank Allah/God etc for eBay.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

Oh, I am not detailing the cab interior, it's just adding a floor including a fall plate and a backhead to eliminate the gaping 'holes' in the Dublo casting, and adding glazing. The detailing is external, new handrails, buffers, lamp irons, smokebox dart, hooter, reverser lever, that kind of thing.  The tender is from an old Mainline Jube with a  long ago worn out mechanism, way lighter and free rolling compared to the H-D piece. It will have a custom drawbar to space it at scale distance so the fall plate rests on the tender step.

 

Good thought about the cab doors, I'll hinge a couple of plastic tabs on some cotton fabric.

 

The very potent if somewhat crude H-D 8F mechanism may ride again. I have been given a GBL A2, and I think I could make a Berkshire out of the two pieces. But that's for the future