3 related questions for group : nw2 motorblock motor has failed burned up and is open circuit. Do folks recommend 60 dollars for new motorblock , 40 dollars for motor from Usatrans , or can motor be bought somewhere else ?
thanks in advance
Nick
New motor block …you get all new gears etc… Keep the burnt one for spare parts…
ditto…
I agree.
I do agree with others that it’s more cost effective to get a new USA Trains block than to just get the motor.
That said, for the first time, today I had the opportunity to work on a used NW2 motor block with bad gear and improvised a repair - shown below.
-Ted
Much less clearance around the gear casting, looks like the blue and red wires are almost touching.
Before I settled on the thinner tubing for repairs, I had some thicker brass collars from Tony Walsham, and they actually rubbed on some of the block casting.
The picture below shows a closer view of the axle clearances. The repair tubing used is thin enough to not cause a problem.
-Ted
Yep, you can see the difference in the tubing wall thickness between yours and mine. I can use the thicker tubing in the F3/GP blocks, but the thinner stuff is a must in NW2, S4, and smaller.
Greg
Greg Elmassian said:
Yep, you can see the difference in the tubing wall thickness between yours and mine. I can use the thicker tubing in the F3/GP blocks, but the thinner stuff is a must in NW2, S4, and smaller.
Greg
Amazing vigente and Ted already answered the OP so?
Ted Doskaris said:
I do agree with others that it’s more cost effective to get a new USA Trains block than to just get the motor.
Thanks to all that replied, I will be getting a new motor block. I do have a few split axles I might add. I have been replacing them as well, not sure I have the correct tools to repair.
Nick
Just a bit of tubing, a way to cut it, and when the axle is not in, it’s easy to put the tubing on. You can use a vise to press the wheels in.
Eric’s spacer blocks ensure proper gauge and spacing https://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/29170/fs-axle-reassembly-jig-for-usat-locomotives
Greg
Not really so easy to put the tubing on. If you simply try to press it on, it will dig into/gall the plastic gear.
After I cut the length, I put the small piece into my flaring tool to flare the end a bit making it easy to press on.
If you use the tubing on my site, and that Ted referenced, and have the axle out, it slips on relatively easily, there is other tubing that is a too tight fit. In fact I have had a couple cases where I worried that the tubing was too loose, but inserting the axle took up the slack.
I have chamfered the end of the plastic a couple of times, if the axle is so cracked that it has “grown” significantly. It was easier for me to do this than flare the tube, but YMMV.
Greg
Maybe the illustration below will be helpful:
-Ted
That is a lot easier that the old fishing string and CA method … (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
I have used this to cleanup the brass cut offs .
I’ve repaired one SD40-2 split axle. I’m starting to install decoders into the rest of my engines. Beginning to wonder if it would be best to put sleeves on the axles before they split. Any one put them on in advance before axles split?
Eric Warhol said:
I’ve repaired one SD40-2 split axle. I’m starting to install decoders into the rest of my engines. Beginning to wonder if it would be best to put sleeves on the axles before they split. Any one put them on in advance before axles split?
Yes
Absolutely! Any time I open a USAT loco, I sleeve all axles…
They will all eventually split… based on having them for 20 years…
Greg
Didn’t they change something to prevent them from splitting? Or do those also split too?