Old 2-8-0 Motor Performance Issue (Earlier I-10sa)

[Ratchet]

Hi everyone.  I have an old (white box vintage) Bachmann 2-8-0 with the motor that is built into the cast frame of the locomotive.  I believe that this is pre- Plus Series, if I understand my research right.  It has the round wheel stubs that fit into the plastic axles, rather than the square ones.  It's been a decent runner up until recently, following an axle repair and light gear lubrication.  It doesn't seem to want to run at slow speed anymore.

A couple months ago, one of the plastic axles cracked as is typical for these models.  I took it apart and fixed it, and decided to clean and re-oil the gears while I had everything apart (it hadn't been re-lubed in years).  The axle journals were overly wet, so I cleaned and dried the frame and re-lubricated the journals with a more conservative amount of oil (Labelle 108).  When I reassembled the locomotive, it all of a sudden seemed to have lost its ability to pick up low voltage or something.  It still runs good at cruising speed, but won't crawl at slower speeds anymore like it used to.  It's the same whether starting up or slowing down.  When slowing down, it slows to a point and then shuts completely off (motor and headlight).

I have another 2-8-0 of the same vintage that runs fine at slow speeds.

Does this sound like an electrical pick-up issue, or is there something else that I should check?  Should I have used something else to lubricate the gears between the frame halves?

I know it's an old model, but it's been the favorite in my collection since I started getting into the hobby around 2002.     I just run on oval with DC using a Railpower 1370. 

[ebtnut]

I guess the first question to ask is, did you clean all the wheel treads, especially those that pick up current?  Dirt and oxidation occur over time which will effect slow speed performance. 

[Ratchet]

My apologies, I forgot to mention that. Yes, I wiped down the wheel treads with MAF cleaner. The wheel treads are clean and shiny.

[jonathan]

First, congrats on keeping your vintage loco running for so many years.

After a certain age any number of things can act up. A wild guess is current is not moving well thru the commutator... The part that conveys current to the motor. Don't know what the motor looks like in that model. You could have build-up that needs to be cleaned up. I've done it to old open frame motors. Again, I don't know what your motor looks like... So just throwing it out there as something to check.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Ratchet]

Thanks! I managed to get a couple of parts locomotives years back when they were still plentiful on eBay for cheap.

The motor is built into the frame on this one. There's a plastic cover that houses the motor shaft bearing, brushes, and brush springs. I guess I didn't consider the motor itself because I didn't touch it during the lube service, but I'll pull the cover and take a look in there. Hopefully a light cleaning will do the trick.

**Update: I opened up the motor and found it full of soot. After disassembling and cleaning all of the components, it's back to running normally again. Thanks for the tip, Jonathan!