[Cozy]

Hi all,
I thought someone may have had this problem. I just expanded my outside layout and I am having bad electical problems. My total layout is around 100 feet of lgb track and my power is an aristocraft ultima 10 amp transformer. I cleaned every rail joiner and rail where the track went together and I used the lgb graphite paste. I also have 3 places where the power hooks into the track. The problems is my locos are jerking and the lights are flickering. It seems that the wheels of the locos are arching to the track. I thought maybe the graphite paste was getting on the wheels from the track joints. I have cleaned the wheels on the locos several times and cleaned the track with scotch brite pads. I am running aristocraft u25 b and a fa 1 diesel. I have done burn the motor up in the aristo 0-4-0 switcher loco I have because of this problem.
Please HELP!!! Thank you!!!
Cozy

 

[altterrain]

CRC 2-26 is what you want. Look for it in your electric aisle.

Spray a little on your track cleaning pad. Its also good for wheel cleaning and a quick cleaning and lube of electric pick ups, bushings, etc. Its fully plastic compatible too.

-Brian

 

[Dan Pierce]

I run linear power and i always add either an engine or trailing car with extra electrical power pickups and do not have this problem.
I also use the lGB conductive paste on my joints.
I do run all metal wheels, no plastic allowed!!

 

[adelmo]

Check your Aristo wheels, they have a tendency to pit and then arc for DC/DCC operation. This results in flickering lights and jerky movement as you described. In my experience Aristo units are better suited to battery operation. Another option would be to utilize higher quality wheels.
Good Luck, Alan

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Burning out the motor in an Aristo 0-4-0 is very common, don't blame it on your track. The 0-4-0 will pull more than the motor can stand, and you will burn out a winding.

Check the pickups on your locos, lay one on it's back, and then apply power to each wheel individually to see if there are no pickup problems. This is also a common problem.

Report your findings back.

Regards, Greg

 

[Cozy]

I could not find this exact product but I did go to radio shack and buy some Control/Contact Cleaner and Lubricant. I sprayed some on my cleaning pad and the wheels of my locos. The fa 1 is running smooth now!!! I will work on getting the u25 b running good this weekend. It has a sound unit and with the power current flow not right it triggers it randomly.
I wonder what the long term affect of using this product will be? Will it attract dirt?
Thanks Brian!!!!!!
Cozy

 

[Torby]

Your 0-4-0 is good for 2, maybe 3 cars. It will haul many more than that, but overheat the motor.

If your wheels look pitted, they're not, it's a deposit. I find it easiest to remove with a dremel and one of those spongy polishing wheels.

The motor is easy to replace and you can get it for less than $15 at places like wholesaletrains.com. If you're handy with a soldering iron and screwdriver, about 20 minutes work.

 

[ohioriverrailway]

GooGone and ShopSolve work well as rail/wheel interface cleaners.

 

[Art]

Posted By Dan Pierce on 04/24/2008 4:44 AM
I run linear power and i always add either an engine or trailing car with extra electrical power pickups and do not have this problem.
I also use the lGB conductive paste on my joints.
I do run all metal wheels, no plastic allowed!!





I learned this from Dan and now do the same on all of my consists, and have great results this way.

Art

 

[Cougar Rock Rail]

Cozy,

The wheels on the Aristo locos are so soft (other words come to mind), within hours of running they are pitted beyond repair and require a lot of cleaning and/or machining to get them back to the point where they are useable. There just is not enough weight/pickups available on those 0-4-0's for the amount of current, and you end up with the arching and resultant jerking that you mention. If you can add some weight or additional pickup points as the others have mentioned it will help. The older Aristo Pacifics had the same problem with soft wheels and arching. If you look at LGB drivers, you will notice a huge difference in the plating quality-they do this for a reason but of course you get what you pay for. Good luck with it!
Keith

 

[toddalin]

You may try some of our magic "elixer" that seems to work wonders in these situations. The "elixer is a combination of WD-40 and Simple Green applied to the track with a "scrubbie" pad. The Simple Green emulsifies the WD-40 so there is no oily reside. Also, ants hate Simple Green and will stay off the tracks until it is disipated.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Hmm... on the face of it, we have 2 vastly different opinions on the 0-4-0 drivers.

My take is that they are plated, but the plating is thin and sometimes defective. A lot of running will remove the plating, and the metal underneath is pretty soft.

Would you 2 guys agree with that statement?

I have stainless steel, so I never use anything other than water and a scotchbrite on a bridge-masters cleaning car.

Regards, Greg

 

[Torby]

They seem to hold up fine. Mine have sometimes looked copperish, like some plating has worn through, but then sometimes don't. I thought once they were getting badly pitted, but on looking closer, the "pitting" chipped off with an xacto blade revealing nice smooth wheel underneath. I used to use one of those track cleaning erasers to clean them, till I realized it's pretty easy to move the rear wheels a tooth forward or back, so I went to a lower force approach with the dremel. As far as wear goes, my Bachmann loco seemed to show more wheel wear running on stainless track than the 0-4-0's did.

Some time ago they changed the material and it didn't work very well, the newer ones are much better. It's been several years now since the second change. My '96 loco had the old-old wheels that worked nicely. Now it has the newest wheels. Hmm. It's as old as my car.

For $25, Aristo will make sure it has new wheels, motor, gears, steam generator or whatever is broken or missing and send it back to you nice and fresh.

These 0-4-0's tend to be gauged way too narrow and climb over switches rather clumbsily. It takes a bunch of force to adjust them, but they will adjust. See the thread on "back to back measurement."