Lionel Ferris wheel motor? Noisy! Replacement?

Hi usually but not always that problem is due to brush wear and bushings need to be cleaned and polished! you have to take the face plate off with the brush holder and disassemble the side plate to have access to the commutator as the commutator gets scratched thru time and if you get some very fine emery paper you can polish the face of the commutator and will look like a Mirror, also brush springs lose their tension and then don't put enough pressure on the brush which can cause brush noise like you described! best to do it purchase new brushes and springs and polish commutator as was described and probably run like new! other issues can be gearing noise for lack of quality grease lubrication! red thick and tackey is a great automotive grease you can purchase anywhere. if you don't was a large container like for automotive you can purchase smaller 4 pack from Harbor Freight! p.s. Lionel post war whistle tender in steam locomotives had same issue and can be repaired same as above!

if you need parts check out below

Welcome to The Train Tender - Internet Reference (ttender.com)

Alan

Thanks Alan. Do you know where I could buy the brushes and springs for this motor?

NO this accessory has a sealed can motor that is generally not serviceable other than lubing the bushings.

I'm all for DIY repairs and on postwar serviceable motors- OK, replace the brushes. That entire line of thought has NO PLACE in this specific topic.

First, I would lubricate and inspect the motor and gearing. I would use a light oil and needle oiler to oil the output shaft side of the motor bushing, and inspect the gears for splitting or cracks on the shaft. Either of those could make the sound (dry bushing or cracked gear).

Since Lionel no longer carries parts for this item, replacing damaged motors or gears might require detailed descriptions and pictures of the parts (example gear diameter, tooth count, shaft bore size, motor size, and so forth. We would have to then substitute and use 3rd party common "toy" parts such as motors and molded gears to fit and replace the offending broken parts.

The product support page. https://www.lionelsupport.com/Ferris-Wheel

Since no pictures of the motor and gearbox are provided, I can only go off what I know about other similar accessories.

Again, what I do know is this is a "can" DC permanent magnet motor and no you will not be replacing brushes and springs in it.

The voltage regulator board shows us again, this is a DC can motor- I can know that just from this picture alone.

From this previous topic and should apply here as well.

@Vernon Barry posted:

I think you are talking about this accessory https://www.lionelsupport.com/Lionel-Aquarium

While I do not own one, I'm fairly familiar with the typical problems of many Lionel accessories and failing gears.

I would say a huge portion of the time, the failure is too tight of a press fit of the gear onto the motor or other shafting, coupled with splines or knurling of the shaft that cuts into the gear, and last- failure in the design to adhere to minimum number of tooth count for a given shaft bore size.

I tried looking up the gearbox, the motor, any picture I could find and really didn't get anywhere as to the gearbox that has failed in this aquarium.

If you can post a picture of the motor and or failed gear, we might be able to be more specific and find an exact gear.

That said, I use 2 things to fix many accessories: (Can be found on the "A" site)

#1 a tiny metric drill bit set with incremental sizes to bore out the gear ever so slightly to reduce the chances of splitting a new gear when pressed onto the shaft. "Unxuey 150Pcs Set Micro Drill Bit Set Power Tools Unxuey Mini Precision Hss Power Drill Small Precision Twist Drilling Kit with Plastic Box 0.4mm-3.2mm for PCB Crafts Jewelry Drilling Tool" Cost is $13 and money well spent.

#2 Then typically, I can find a gear with the proper teeth and modulus in an assortment set of plastic gears like this "58pcs Plastic Gears Module 0.5 for DC Motor DIY Model Toys" Cost is $7

Or this one is also a good set to have "AUKUYEE Plastic Gear Set, 75Pcs Single Double Reduction Gear Worm Gear for DIY Car Robot QY12" Cost is $13

And last another assortment: "GREEN FABWOOD 75 Type Plastic Crown Gear Single Double Reduction Gear Worm Gear (Original Version)" Cost $7

Example typical "can" style motor and the bushing one would oil.

Thank you Vernon for the thorough help!!!  Here are some pictures.

Again, step 1, I would remove the old grease from the worm gear on the motor for inspection of cracks of that gear. I would then also lube that motor output bushing with a drop of light oil on the shaft. If no cracks were found in any of the gears- well that's as good as it gets, relube with light grease and then if possible test the motor and see how loud it is now that you lubed it.

Also if you had calipers, I would measure all diameters (shaft, OD and Length, motor thickness and diameter) as well as get shots of any labels on thebackside or edge of the motor.

FWIW, some other Lionel accessories like the playground accessories used similar "pancake" motors.I am not saying this motor fits or cross references.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...SSY-PLAYGROUND-SWING

On the "A" popular website, searching for DC pancake motor results in quite a few results of very similar motors. That said, I would be sure of shaft and overall motor size in mm to be sure you get one that fits.

Somehow I missed the sticker off the motor, found one MABUCHI RF-300CA-09550 D/V 5.9 Round Mini 24mm Audio Device CD DVD Spindle Motor

Again, somehow I just overlooked this in your photo.

Thank you for your help. I will try this on the current motor. I found some on eBay and ordered a few.  Thank you so much!!!

BTW, that is a standard 2mm shaft, so the gears and stuff linked- might also be the source of the noise.

I will clean up the gears and lube with some thin oil and report back.  Thank you!  

Took it apart cleaned everything and lubed everything ran it for a test for about 10 minutes and no noise so far.  Thank you again!!!!!