Repair Complications
It doesn't matter what I attempt to fix... the house, the car, my bicycle... I always end up with complications requiring more time, more effort and more parts. Working on my small collection of model railroad trains is no different.
I acquired a broken Lionel GP-7 diesel from a friend. This engine just would not kick into gear. It turns out that there were no gears attached to either of the motors to engage those gears!
I did a little research and found that Lionel had come up with a really poor design for some of these engines which used a plastic gear affixed to a smooth metal shaft... the gear inevitably would quickly work itself free from the smooth shaft leaving no way for the motor(s) to engage the gears. The motors would just spin and spin while the locomotive remained motionless.
So, I figured, "I'll just replace those motors with new motors that have metal gears on their shafts." As is the case with most projects, I thought it would be a relatively quick and easy job.
The new motors arrived in the mail within days and I decided to tackle this seemingly small project yesterday. Needless to say, when I started to disassemble the locomotive, a part broke off in my hand. I broke one of the plastic shafts which holds the central cluster gear. This plastic shaft is supposed to be permanently affixed to a larger plastic frame. "No problem... I guess I'll just have to order a new frame with that shaft affixed to it..."
I go to my computer... open up the exploded parts diagram... reference the part number to a parts list... this part is no longer available. "Uggg."
The next best thing is to order the entire truck assembly which includes an electronic sensor and a new motor. I don't need another motor nor that sensor but it is the only way I can get the part I need. Ordering this part is on my list of things to do today.
In the meantime, I did replace the second broken motor in that second truck assembly. This repair worked out fine. There was a little bit of soldering to do but even that worked out fine.
As of this writing, there is only one working motor in this dual motor Lionel engine but the locomotive now runs!
I did a little research and found that Lionel had come up with a really poor design for some of these engines which used a plastic gear affixed to a smooth metal shaft... the gear inevitably would quickly work itself free from the smooth shaft leaving no way for the motor(s) to engage the gears. The motors would just spin and spin while the locomotive remained motionless.
So, I figured, "I'll just replace those motors with new motors that have metal gears on their shafts." As is the case with most projects, I thought it would be a relatively quick and easy job.
The new motors arrived in the mail within days and I decided to tackle this seemingly small project yesterday. Needless to say, when I started to disassemble the locomotive, a part broke off in my hand. I broke one of the plastic shafts which holds the central cluster gear. This plastic shaft is supposed to be permanently affixed to a larger plastic frame. "No problem... I guess I'll just have to order a new frame with that shaft affixed to it..."
I go to my computer... open up the exploded parts diagram... reference the part number to a parts list... this part is no longer available. "Uggg."
The next best thing is to order the entire truck assembly which includes an electronic sensor and a new motor. I don't need another motor nor that sensor but it is the only way I can get the part I need. Ordering this part is on my list of things to do today.
In the meantime, I did replace the second broken motor in that second truck assembly. This repair worked out fine. There was a little bit of soldering to do but even that worked out fine.
As of this writing, there is only one working motor in this dual motor Lionel engine but the locomotive now runs!
The new parts are ordered...
ReplyDelete