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Can I improve the pickups on an LGB Mogul?

1847 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by  stevedenver
I have done a search on this without finding anything.
Does anyone know if I can improve the pickups that touch the inside of the wheel on a LGB Mogul? I believe the only effective pickup is the slider.

Thanks - Jim
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Jim,

Are you talking about the brush that rubs on the inside of the wheel? You could try and replace the brass brushes, but it might be difficult to get parts.

There are also pick ups in the tender, but they tend to act more like brakes. Some folks have replaced the tender wheels with LGB ball bearing wheels and used the leads on those wheels to improve power pick up.

Mark
Mark,

I was talking about the tender, it just seems like testing with an meter there is very poor contact and cleaning does not help. I will see if I can find a set of the ball bearing wheels.

Thanks- Jim
wow-in my experience the mogul doesnt need help-re pick up-

however here's some ideas to help you

some stuff to think about and check :

obviously is the cable connection to the engine-check for continuity-these cables can be worn and break internally , especially if the cable was used to pull out the plug from the engine--if so-the plug can be carefully prised and removed-the cable trimmed a tiny amount, and the cable reattached to 'bite' through the wire casing into the strands-try to remove the plug from the engine using something other than the cable in order to avoid this inevitable problem


the sliders should slide freely-sometimes they need a touch of oil -they can get dirty and hang up or down-

check each brush on the drive and tender wheels-these can wear out unevenly and rsult in one side touching and the other not-or sometimes can become 'hung up' on the inside lip of the cylinder which holds them-and tehy never reach the wheel surface

try checking the spring pressure for the brushes too-it should be soft but enough to keep the brush against the wheels-more pressure is NOT necessarily better-ie do NOT stretch the springs-this causes more friction and drag and can also push the wheels to one side of the truck frame when unequally pressured- and create uneven wear

get a fine quality metal cleaner and, by hand,polish the inside wheel surfaces if need-you can also use a track cleaning 'eraser'-go easy when polishing-nothing too abrasive-

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