IHC SD24 is being a pain!

[jettrainfan]

Now before you say"its cheap, what do you expect..." I know, i know it's cheap but i like to give things a try. Anyway, Its been a pain due to electric pick-up. It has great quality and is a good puller. I tried a test and found out that 2 pairs of wheels (the front pair and back pair). I was kind of hurt by that because it has 6 pairs of wheels! I do like this model but the pick-up is making my personal rating drop on this model. Is their anything that i can do to upgrade it?

[ABC]

I know, i know it's cheap.... It has great quality and is a good puller.

Do you realize that you just contradicted yourself with those 2 statements?
To answer your question...here's what you can do...Put the IHC shell on a better chassis, sell the IHC loco and buy a better quality loco, wire the middle axles for power pick-up.

[jettrainfan]

I meant by price. Sorry about that. thanks for the info.

[CAB_IV]

I'm not quite sure what you're saying,  what was the problem with those two pairs of wheels?  did they lack electrical pickup?

The real question is,  does it run terribly?  for example, I have a Brass E44A electric locomotive, and it is essentially the same deal. only two pairs per truck actually pick up track power.   However, the unit still runs fine, and doesn't have hickups on bad track. 

If i could see it (I never owned one of these units, but i had wanted one way back in the day),  i might be able to figure something.

However,   there really is no fix for poor quality.   By the time you modified everything to work better,  you probably would have been better off with an Atlas SD24 instead.  The inital price might be high, but you're paying for something guaranteed to work.

[jettrainfan]

Its kind of hiccuping, It lacks power at times and will jump a bit. Like its lacking power... like the track is dirty. But its clean and the other engines run fine. hope this helps and thanks for the info

[CAB_IV]

I'd double check and make sure your track is actually clean, and that it is solidly put together.  then i'd make sure your wheels are actually clean.

even if only 8 of the 12 wheels are picking up power, it shouldn't make a difference (otherwise, you GPs and such would be stalling).  You've probably got dirty wheels.     

[jettrainfan]

Alright, I'll take it over to my grandpa's and see what he can do for lubing (i sent my 0-4-0 with the same problem. and it worked.) Thanks for the info.

[CAB_IV]

Alright, I'll take it over to my grandpa's and see what he can do for lubing (i sent my 0-4-0 with the same problem. and it worked.) Thanks for the info.

have you tried lubing or cleaning before?  This may be a good oppertunity for you to learn for yourself, so you can become self reliant in the hobby.  such small skills lead into the more impressive things you see master modelers go to.   

I'm assuming the IHC SD24 follows the "athearn formula" of a center mounted motor with a drive train to the trucks.  Such tune up work would not be difficult, and the supplies would be inexpensive and long lasting.

[jettrainfan]

no,i would like to try. I just don't have the right tools right now. I'm planing on stopping at my local hobby shop to get the supplies.

[jward]

jet,
yesterday i bought my son a trainline gp9 at a train show. when we test ran it on the layout, it was acting the same way. it would slow down, or even stop on some curves, and had to be goosed into action.

our problem wasn't with the track, but the locomotive itself. there are bronze contact strips that rub the backs of each wheel, and these weren't always making contact. i took the locomotive apart, removed the wheelsets and bent the contact strips outward. i then replaced the wheelsets carefully, using a small screwdriver to depress the contacts behind the wheels. the locomotive runs perfectly now. maybe your locomotive has a similar problem.

[CAB_IV]

our problem wasn't with the track, but the locomotive itself. there are bronze contact strips that rub the backs of each wheel, and these weren't always making contact.

thats actually a frequent problem on trains of that variety.  On older equipment, these get rubbed out of existence, or may be covered in dirt.  sometimes,  as in Jward's case, they aren't even touching the wheels in any meaningful way. 

that would be another good spot to check.

[jettrainfan]

OK, reminds me of when i bought this old snow plow, i forgot to asked if it ran and had a good time figuring out that it got the pick-up from the tender. Thanks for the info.