Athearn RTR Loco Stalling

[Schraddel]

After I posted I got some more time to work on the loco. I was able to get the rear truck off and open the gear box. Everything was soaked in lubricant. It had even migrated to the worm gear. There several puddles of oil. To my suprise the gears and wheel axles were clean. As a cat owner I fully expected to find hair everywhere. I found only a very little bit on the axles.

Any suggestions on how to remove the excess oil and dry the parts would be a help.

Of course I cannot find my tube of grease that I know I bought with the lubricating oil that I have

Hello Tom,

the worm gear is the place where lubricant always should be. Also the gear axles should have a light coat of grease. But it is often so, that the worker in the factory throw a splotch of grease or other lubricants somewhere into the gear box and did'nt care any more. I have found new locos soaked with grease all over, but with completely dry worms and spur gears.

And for Athearn Blue Box and RTR axle bearings, they are made out of sintered brass and contains enough lubricant in their little cavities. So there is no need to lubricate them. Lubricating the axle bearings will detoriate their ability for conducting electric current. And overlubricating them; for the effects see your loco.
And the bad news are, this will not cure. You can clean them thoroughly, they will work as intended. But after a couple of days or weeks the electric pick up is as bad as before.






Once a day i was tiered to clean the axle bearing aigain and again.
To eliminate the recurring hassle i made additional wipers out of thin (0.3mm) bronze wire soldered onto the inner sheet metal frame.
Problem solved.
No more killjoys because erratic moving and stalling caused by unreliable current pick up.
And of course wheels and rails should be kept clean.


Lutz