I find that the skates can be a bit more problematic if you bend them up, sometimes the up and down motion is hampered by applying the force of the rails unequally, and the skate can jam.
So I suggest some lubrication, and I would use powdered graphite to make sure the skates move up and down very freely.
Greg
Greg, that is why I said slightly. Also when you bend them, the bend must be where they are already bent at 90 degrees. If a curve, or bend, is put in the vertical part of the shoe, it will hamper its up and down movement and cause it to bind or stick.
Ideally, you just want to increase the 90 degree bend just enough, so the shoe doesn’t contact the other rail in the frog. Too much bend will case issues. On my USA F3, I bent mine just a bit. Then when the one shorted out on something like the 10th lap, I bent it up just a smidge more. It was a trial and error thing, until the issue went away. More is not always better. Just enough is the goal on this one.
Not at all implying the bend in the vertical part… when you bend the bottom up, the intent is to move the contact patch a bit (to avoid shorts), and it was clear to me it was the contact area, and at the 90 degree bend that already exists.
Doing that does indeed change forces a bit (slightly!!), you are shifting the skate from being “flat” on the railhead to slightly biased towards the inner side of the rail…
but the important point is:
I have experienced some jamming, whether it is dirt, grit, unbalanced forces, or aliens, does not matter, my recommendation was to lube them up to ensure they slide up and down freely.
Greg
Use 3 jaw pliers and bend the inner part of the bottom plate up.
Greg Elmassian said:
I find that the skates can be a bit more problematic if you bend them up, sometimes the up and down motion is hampered by applying the force of the rails unequally, and the skate can jam.
So I suggest some lubrication, and I would use powdered graphite to make sure the skates move up and down very freely.
Greg
Greg, what is a good brand of powdered graphite? Only the best for my engines. I want to try that before the bend…
Thanks
Steve said:
Greg Elmassian said:
I find that the skates can be a bit more problematic if you bend them up, sometimes the up and down motion is hampered by applying the force of the rails unequally, and the skate can jam.
So I suggest some lubrication, and I would use powdered graphite to make sure the skates move up and down very freely.
Greg
Greg, what is a good brand of powdered graphite? Only the best for my engines. I want to try that before the bend…
Thanks
Blackhorn or Goex don’t modify the skates if you decide to lubricate with them. They lubricate well though and will clearly tell you if you have a short!
Oh crap …wrong forum …sorry !
The Hob-E-Lube line is good, get the powdered graphite/moly… do not get the powdered teflon, it does not “work into” the metal or plastic.
Aero-lube makes good stuff too, a bit more expensive. Virtually any powdered graphite should do.
Greg
David Maynard said:
Fred Mills. said:
……NOT a fault of the track…probably a short caused by a poor understanding of electricity, and how it applies to two rail, track powered model trains…DC, or DCC…
You need to learn more about ELECTRICITY, and “How to wire a model railroad”.
Show a track plan, and the wiring plan you are using…it might help those that may have answers to your problems.
Fred, that’s a pretty harsh response. You could have said the same thing a bit less abrasively. An incorrect wiring of the layout would not be my first guess, because the trains do run.
Well in my opinion the reply was, I found, close to being offensive and disrespectful which is not in the spirit of the forum, a tactful reply or none at all may have been a better option rather than a rant at the poster. Think before posting folks.
Didn’t we just have a discussion on similar behaviour and possible closing of the site last week?
This post was brought to you bought by “biting my tongue on what I really think”.
Now back to the subject in hand.