[pete]

Our lgb forney is looseing traction and after looking at it it looks like i need a new set of the little rubber strips on the wheels. Being new to gscale and i purchased the engine on ebay could somebody tell me where i can get a set of these rubber strips. They look like rubber bands but i don,t think that is what they are. Thanks for any help/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/hehe.gif

 

[Treeman]

I have them in stock. You can reach me by email. [email protected]

 

[bobgrosh]

First try cleaning and checking the sliders.
Lay a ruler across the two driver treads, there MUST be a gap between the slider and the ruler when the slider is pressed into the loco.
What usually happens is, dirt gets in the slider spring area. That holds the loco ever slightly off the rails, (not really enough for you to even see it, but all the weight of the loco ends up being held up by the slider instead of the wheels. The Forney usually has plenty of pulling power, even if the rubber tires are missing. If the tires are still there, replacing them won't help much. It might help a little, but not so much that you would notice, and any traction you gain by replacing traction tires that have not broken will quickly disappear as soon as they get a little dirty.

Clean the sliders out. You can sometimes just force a little track cleaning fluid into them and blow them out with compressed air. If they don't easily and freely compress when you press on them lightly, take off the bottom plate, remove the sliders and clean the area with a small paint brush, smoke fluid and compressed air. If the sliders are bent, straighten them or replace them.

 

[pete]

Bob i checked the sliders and yes they were sticking. I removed the plate and removed the sliders cleaned them and put a small dab of grease on them. they move up and down with ease. hope to try the forney out in a couple of days to see if the problem is fixed we are getting a lot of rain at the presant time. THANKS FOR THE HELP.Will let you know how it turns out.

 

[bobgrosh]

Thanks for letting us know what you are doing to solve the problem.

Keep us posted.

BTW. You will probably need to clean them again some day. I think every loco I have needed the sliders removed and cleaned about once a year.

The next time you clean them, DO NOT add the grease. I found that the grease actually traps dirt and causes the sliders to need more frequent cleaning. I put mine back in DRY.

Depending on the conditions on your railroad, the grease may or may not be the way to go. Light conductive oil from Bachmann, LGB track joiner grease, or NOTHING AT ALL are the three most popular choices, but you may have to experiment to find out which choice is best for you. Indoor railroads seem to like the light oil. Dusty outdoor railroads seem to like the dry method.

 

[pete]

Bob thanks again. I work at a bicycle shop and we carry some different types of lube one is a dry lube i will try that the next time i clean the sliders also a couple of months back i weathered the forney so i would say that some of the weathering powder got down in the sliders. I may get a chance to run the forney tonight if so i will let you know what happens.

 

[pete]

Ok we ran the forney this evening it ran GREAT pulled four hartland passenger cars up the grade that we have and never missed a beat. I don't know if we will run into one another or not bob but if we do the first round is on me make that the second round also. Thanks again for the advise you hit it on the head. Now we have enougth traction tires to last a while oh well.