Command Rotary Snow Plow

From looking at Lionel's website, although they do not list a 6-81441 manual they do list a 6-81442 and 6-81443, one is for the Pennsy the other is for the Rio Grande and all three were in the 2016 Catalog.  The  Owner's manuals are the exact same for the Rio and Pennsy also and they they say it has a powerful maintenance free motor.  I imagine it is the same for the Christmas one also. The parts diagram for the Command Control Christmas Snowplow, the Rio and Pennsy show a DC can motor, where the parts diagram for the earlier Christmas Snowplow produced in 02 and earlier show an open frame AC motor. Based on what I researched this does not have an open frame AC Pullmor motor, it does have a DC can motor.

Thank you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCZPOGAxNg

Looks like a DC motor to me.

This could be the year I pull the trigger on the Christmas version now that it doesn’t have the loud “coffee grinder” motor in it anymore!  😖

I have a couple of these newer models.

As mentioned,  they have the DC drive motor. In addition,  as seen in the parts diagram that John posted, they have a small DC motor that drives the rotating fan blades. The issue I have on more than one, is that the fan system is noisy.  I have added a small amount of oil to the rotating parts.  I also adjusted the fan position and clearances of the rotating parts, all with some improvement. But there remains more noise than I expected. I probably need to work on it a bit more.

Grandkids love watching and operating this.  One thing I like, is it cannot go too fast for a 2.5 year old to have fun with.  I know that might be a little young, but what the heck.

By the way, working on the small rotary fan DC motor can be a bit touchy. There are rather fragile motor leads that break with no real way to repair other than replacing the motor.

Hi guys, after reading the title I was wondering if anyone has an O scale that really works in the snow?

@DaveGG posted:

...

The issue I have on more than one, is that the fan system is noisy.  I have added a small amount of oil to the rotating parts.  I also adjusted the fan position and clearances of the rotating parts, all with some improvement. But there remains more noise than I expected. I probably need to work on it a bit more.

https://youtu.be/LtxC6djzJQA?t=747

Video is meant to start in middle at about 12:30.  What a racket (relative to engine noise) at what I'd think would be prototypical track speed when plowing  And is the prototypical blade RPM really that fast?

I think you can only go so far with that style of open-frame DC "can" motor.  And $12 to replace!  I'll bet that white gear is just press fit and could slide off...probably uses the common 2.0mm shaft.  An interesting project would be to replace the motor/mount with a quieter system.

Nothing is so easy as the job you imagine someone else doing!

My ultimate question is... I have the old CP Snow Plow which fits perfect with the "decor" of my layout. Can I replace the Christmas rotary shell with the CP shell and lose the noisy "pullmore" motor?  I would just remove the motor for the rotary blade as I want the snow plow on the CP.  Your thoughts are most welcome.

I missed the picture

Great news - the shells are definitely interchangeable! Same contours, and 2 screws in same positions.  I have both units. See photos (pardon the elves along for the ride). The ones with the shells off also show the different motors.

Purchased the command unit b/c I got tired of the loud grinding noise of the CP unit. Lubrication did nothing for it.  Yes, the command unit goes a bit slower, and the fan makes some noise, but not a problem for me.

You will have to do some cobbling to get rid of the fan, but if that's your goal, it will work.  Go for it!

Michael

That sure answers my question specifically.  Thank you Thank you. This may give others the answer to the "pullmore" motor, but somewhat expensive.

I just ordered the Lionel 6-81442 Pennsylvania Command Control rotary Snowplow from Train World. Lionel list $279.99. Trainworld price $169.99 ! I will post results when I have converted the CP snowplow.

@DaveGG posted:

The issue I have on more than one, is that the fan system is noisy.  I have added a small amount of oil to the rotating parts.  I also adjusted the fan position and clearances of the rotating parts, all with some improvement. But there remains more noise than I expected. I probably need to work on it a bit more.

I have the newest Rio Grande version. It is pretty noisy, as Dave notes. I was a little surprised by that. I guess it is the fan. Have to try the adjustments Dave mentions. I have the older TMCC Pullmor powered Rio Grande plow (not the rotary) as well. Overall, I'm not sure there's a whole lot of difference in overall noise. Maybe a little, but then the Pullmor Vulcans, going back to the Postwar days, always were notable growlers. No need for RailSounds!

As I get into this project I run into more issues. I would like to completely disable the TMCC feature. I want to run TMCC on my parallel layout, but when the snow plow "reads" that input it does not run well without a command base on this circuit.  Any ideas on disabling the command feature? Can I remove the antennae and accomplish this? I am way out of my element with the electronics.