Shays Running Poorly

[Lou]

I posted a message on this topic previously but received no replies. I have exchanged two On30 shays because of poor running and just received the third. The third shay exhibits the same problem as the first two. All three shays bind at slow speeds and as the speed increases they begin to run but wobble badly and make a loud clunking noise. Has anyone had this problem? Do the shays require some adjustment of the drive mechanism before running?

[#94]

Did you return to Bachmann, or did you exchange it at the purchase location?

[Hamish K]

A couple of "how to teach your grandmother to suck eggs" points.

Have you tried light , stress light, lubrication? If the stock had been sitting around with the dealer for a while it could have dried out and this could cause binding.

Check your track, do other locos run well without any derailing?  I have found that if one pair of wheels is off the track my Shay will run, but poorly with clunking noises.  Could poor track be causing partial derailing?

My Shay ran well "out of the box" but did became noticeably smoother after running in.  It has had no adjustments.

Lou asked whether all your examples came from the same source. It is possible that the dealer received a bad batch, it can happen.

Hamish

[Lou]

It's not the track because all my other engines run fine. I did exchange the shays at the place of purchase. All were new in sealed boxes. I did try lubricating the drive mechanism. It might have helped a little bit but not much. As I said before, at low speed the engine will start to move and than bind up and stop. At this point one side of the shay will actually move upward. It appears to be the rear truck on the drive mechanism side.

[railtwister]

Check the gears carefully, especially the ones on the "jumping" rear truck, it sounds like the problems many LifeLike Proto2K locos and some Athearn's have when a gear is split. This changes the gear tooth spacing at the split, and causes a bind. When more power is applied, the motor overcomes the bind, and the drive gear jumps over the split, causing a noise and hopping of the truck. The only cure is to replace the offending axle/gear assembly.

Good luck,
Bill Nielsen
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades (at Yahoo Groups)

[seacoast]

I am having the same experience--Shay issues. Try and read ( free to join) yahoo groups On30 groups there are others to, I have found many answers there as well.