2-8-0 Belt Lubrication

[Merrill]

Does anyone have any tips for lubricating the belt drive in a 2-8-0? Like what "grease" to use, disassembly ideas...etc. I need help! My guess is that it most likely laid on the warehouse shelf for quite awahile, and now the belt is making clicking noises...

[THB-DAVE]

Hi Merrill: never put any grease or lubicant on a drive belt. How do you know its the belt making the clicking sound? The clicking sound is coming from somewhere else and it might be on of the brass wheel pickups that rub the inside of the drive wheels on the engine. Check to see if one of them is bent. Turn the engine over and attach alligator clips to the tender pickups and watch the operation of the drivers. You might also have a bent drive rod thats catching.

Dave

[Yampa Bob]

Hi Merrill,
I have overhauled several Spectrum 2-8-0s, to solve clicking sounds as you describe.  In most cases, it was caused by dry bushings, especially on the number 2 and number 4 driver axles, or burrs on the bushings. 

If the loco is fairly new, I doubt that the driver cranks are misaligned, (not at the same rotational angle) but it does happen, which causes the plastic side rod to make a noise as it flexes. However it is more of a "slap, slap" noise. Model locomotives do not have to be precisely "quartered", which refers to drivers on one side leading the other side by 90 degrees, but all drivers on a side must have the same rotational angle to prevent stress and binding of the rod linkage. 

Observe the loco at a slow speed, does it "waddle" from side to side with the accompanying click?  I call it "Duck Syndrome", the sound almost resembles a "quack".  Also, the sound may be muffled in reverse.

Turn the loco almost upside down, carefully add one drop of Labelle 108 or other plastic compatible light oil directly on the axles, allowing the oil to run into the bushings.  This may temporarily quiet the noise, but the bushings might need to be greased for long term results, which will require disassembly.

Keep us posted on your progress. Whether or not you decide to disassemble the loco is your option, but someone can walk you through the procedure if needed. It is not difficult but does require some finesse.

I've been promising myself (and others) to do a write up on overhaul, but have been procrastinating, hoping someone else will volunteer.   

Regards

[pdlethbridge]

nope, we volunteered you, now get busy!

[Merrill]

The 2-8-0 cam from an "Explorer" set this Christmas. I had the same EXACT problem with another "Explorer" set four years ago... I had someone disassemble the then "New Engine" four years ago, lubricate it everywhere possible and re-assemble it, and it's been running fine until this day. Fast forward to last Christmas, and I got the same 2-8-0 engine in another Explorer set, with the SAME problem. It "c l i c k s" and slows, runs well, "clicks" and slows, runs well, etc... Curiously, it doesn't click while running in reverse, if a bit slowly. On the surface, this seems to agree with the "Oil the bushings" advice...I'll let you know....I have another item...My DCC on board J-Class runs down the track like it's doing a samba - wobbling. It's so bad, the guys at my club now call it "Charo" (because it wiggles, I guess)...what can be done about that?

[Yampa Bob]

Merrill,
On the J, oil all linkage shown in following diagram, especially the crosshead (26), which has a tendency to bind on the guides due to the large piston/crank angle.  If the binding is severe, it can cause the retaining clip on the crosshead to break. You may have to carefully spread the guides if they are too close together.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~trumpetb/loco/locoworks.html

Also confirm that all drive wheels on a side are at the same rotational angle as mentioned in my earlier post.  If the crank pins are at the top or bottom, the counterweights should be in a straight line.

So now you have a "Charo" and "Daisy Duck", cool combo.     I have one 2-8-0 I call "Ruptured Duck", had it apart 3 times and still waddles. Actually it's more like a "Walter Brennan" hitch in its gitalong.

[bobwrgt]

Click and run slow should be one of the wipers on the drivers is bent. Copper strip is rubbing on spokes in the wheel like a baseball card on a bike. In forward it will rub in reverse not. Check them out.

Bob

[Merrill]

The 2-8-0 problem at this point appears to be the wipers on the two middle sets of drivers-both sets of wipers appear to be "flopping"...(I HATE flopping wipers, don't you?)...I gave it to our club's "Engine Doctor"...if he can, he will re-install the wipers or if he can't, I'll have to send it back. The "J" problem fixes ("Charo" - like waddling or wiggling) just did not work... A club member says he has noticed for a few years now that certain larger Bachmann steamers (mostly 4-8-4's)  have an inherent "wobble", and he is not aware of a "fix" for this...possibly most people either don't notice or don't care. This didn't make me feel any better... At this point, I would even settle for a lessening of the waddle...some kind of spacers to force stability? HELP!

[Jim Banner]

Merrill, I suspect that some of that wobble is because the wheels have a lot of side play on 4-coupled models.  They need it to negotiate 18" or 22" radius curves.  If you had 3' minimum radius to run it on, you could use washers or spacers to reduce the side play and probably get rid of most of the wobble.

Two other causes of wobble are out-of-round and out-of-quarter wheels.  Out-of-round is relatively easy to take care of, if you have a lathe and the skills to use it.  Quartering is not much harder if you have a quartering jig.