2-8-0 wheels binding each revolution

[tootr47]

Have new 2-8-0 but wdriving wheels bind same place each revolution. Short of total dasmantle is there anybody who has this problem. Am in NZ and cant send these things back to maker as warrenty doesnt extend this far!

[jonathan]

Tootr47,

The way I see it, you have three choices:

1.  Do nothing, and hope the bind will go away during break in.

2.  Return it to Bachmann for a repair or replacement.  This seems too inconvenient for your location as you have stated.  Really?

3.  Try to affect the repair yourself.  I understand this prospect is not your first choice...  However, you will have to find the bind eventually.  You will get tired of looking at a locomotive you can't use.

In order to find a bind,  I believe you will have to get up close and personal with your drive wheels and rods.  Could be the motor, drive gears, drive wheels, side rods or valve gear.  That's a bunch of things to check.  If you've never taken a 2-8-0 apart before,  I made some instructions and pictures on this thread:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,13232.0.html

That was a lubricating thread, but the disassembly of the locomotive is the same.  My guess is you will have to separate the motor, so you can turn the mechanism by hand.  You will feel like you are working a Rubik's cube as you study the mechanism, trying to figure out your problem.  I have not had a Bachmann locomotive that had a mystery bind.  I have had other locos that had binds.   It was no picnic finding the problem, but they were always fixable.

That's a start.  I don't want to go further at this point.  If you decide to try to fix it on your own, there are members much smarter and more experienced than me, when it comes to working on mechanisms.

Regards,

Jonathan

[ebtnut]

The first thing I would look for is either a bent side or main rod that might be rubbing against a driver screw, or if one of those driver screws has come loose and has unscrewed itself enough to bind on the back of the main rod.  After that, disassembly as noted above may be your only solution.

[bobwrgt]

I have found in some cases the screws holding on the bottom cover of the engine are very tight distorting the cover. Easy fix back off the screws a few turns and see if the binding goes away.

Bob