Hey folks, I seem to be running into all kinds of mechanical issues with our locomotives lately. A couple nights back I was test running our new HLW Lilly Belle 4-4-0 which we purchased quite some time back from Gold Coast Station. I was told the locomotive was new & had never been out of the box. Warranty covered a bad gear assembly which I replaced myself. The locomotive was missing the coupler pin for the tender so I custom built one. I then track tested the locomotive which seemed to run jerky. I then oiled and greased all parts and gears. This seemed to help but it still didn’t run right so I thought it needed break in time. I didn’t get the chance till recently to try breaking in this locomotive but I thought I should get it done so it could be used for Christmas this year. It seemed to run fairly smooth at first with occasional hesitation but as it rounded the curve on the third trip around it suddenly made a left turn and went through my station taking out two rail cars, a cow and my water tower before coming to rest on its left side with the tender climbing half way up the cab and both riding coaches upside down in the parking lot, not to mention Disney characters and passengers all over the place. I checked the track, tender and switches and found nothing wrong. However, when I picked up the locomotive, I found the front drive wheel metal tire had seperated from the plastic wheel. I tried Super glue gel but after sitting all night and running it the next day, it happened again but this time on a straight of way and it wasn’t moving very fast, so there was no accident, just a minor derailment. After removing the wheels, I found not only did the wheel I fixed fall apart again but all 4 had failed. I tested the locomotive by connecting leads to the pickups directly (after removing the wheels) and it ran smooth and without hesitation. I was just wondering if anyone else has had similar issues with HLW 4-4-0’s and if so what was done to repair this problem. I have high quality epoxy and various other adhesives but I don’t want mess up the wheels permanently, if this a bad idea. I have heard many people used epoxy (since there really doesn’t seem to be another solution) with no more problems but I thought I would ask before I did something I would regret. Hate to purchase new wheels, especially when these still have quite a tight fit and are in new shape. You guys have been great in helping with the Dash 9 motor issue so I figured I might ask about this problem. This locomotive was not exactly cheap so I would like to do the right thing. Appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks guys, again! Ken
Ken… You might try contacting Phil Jensen at Hartland Parts and Service at 402 571-2933.
He’s there on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8-12 Central time.
Yep, I had all 4 come off the Jupiter. I used a gel super glue 8 years ago and they’ve behaved since then.
John
Perhaps you did not clean the wheel and tire well enough for the glue to work.
Sitting overnight is not necessary, if it’s not strong enough in a few minutes, overnight won’t do it.
Greg
Thanks for Phil’s phone number Stan, I will ask him also.
John, Greg, I did clean them well but 3 of them held slightly and the third still came apart with sone minor stress.
Maybe I’ll try epoxy but I think I’ll talk to Phil fitst.
Thanks everyone.
Ken
Phil is a good fellow and worth talking to. Every one of the several people at HLW who I’ve had communication with are good folks.
Or maybe too much oil dripped down to the rims affecting your repair.
I use the spray accelerators also as well as overkill … I added regular SG where ever it would get drawn in.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
I used denatured alcohol as a cleaner, because I keep it on hand, but be careful, it’s a poison.
John
Forrest Scott, Have to agree with you there but I wonder if anyone has ever tried epoxy on these wheels??
Super Glue just wouldn’t hold with the curves and switches and all.
I’ll also get ahold of Phil this week.
John, I did clean it with denatured alcohol and the wheels looked clean and free of oil but the glue didn’t hold long.
Thanks, Ken
Hey,
Still waiting to hear from Hartland but,
Just wanted you guys to know that I tried an all purpose, plastic compatible, 15 minute epoxy on the steel tires and it seems to have worked like a charm. I couldn’t even intentionally seperate the wheel from the tire with some fair amount of force.
The only 2 problems are, when you apply it you have to be very careful not to get it on the inside of the wheel because it will cause problems with the pickups. So I made sure to not over apply the epoxy so it would squeeze out all over the place on application. (not to mention it’s not exactly easy to clean off)
The second problem is removing/replacing the rod post screws. Boy was that a bear, had to use pliers because the heads are too small.
So far its running perfect with no more issues. Let’s hope that it continues to do so permanently.
Just thought I’d update everyone. Will let you know what Phil says, hope I didn’t make a mistake. Oh well, we’ll find out!
Ken
You can heat the tire to soften the glue should you want to remove it, but why?
Congratulations.
Put tape or vaseline where you don’t want the glue to stick on any other rims needing to be glued…
Thanks for the report.
John
I would be cautious with using heat. The wheels are plastic.
Well of course you use caution, but it can be done if you keep the heat on the metal rim.
Thanks Dave.
John
PS; use an alcohol lamp, very easy to control.
Hey guys,
Didn’t need to use any heat but Phil called and he said Epoxy is fine, but if for some remote reason it failed that a set of new drive wheels would be needed for the 4-4-0 & would be about $30.00 and $12.00 for shipping.
It’s working flaulessly now and I don’t forsee any further issues.
The wheels seem REAL firm now!
Thanks for the help!
Ken
Three cheers for Phil! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)
At some point I need to call him and order a Mack/Sparky motor and a pantograph.
What happened with the motor and pantograph?
Hartland equipment is usually pretty robust.