Coors Silver Bullet Engine parts

The Silver Bullet was made in 2007.

Ok, I guess it was 10 years old.

Did you call and talk to Midge?  They may have it.  G

The gear doesn't really have much load, so I suppose it's possible that one could be made.  OTOH, I like George's suggestion, maybe you can get an appropriate gear and just replace it.

I hope mine doesn't crack!

Talked to Midge today. No gears are shown in parts list. The only gear listed is the main drive gear assembly.

Mike

Isn't that gear just to turn the big wheels? If so, then like John said there really is no load on it and it should be able to be made with a 3D printer.

Yep, the plastic gear just spins the plastic wheels, they shouldn't have a load unless you crash.

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  The clicking noise is quite loud and annoying. Worst case scenario would be to take the gear off. No spinning wheel but no clicking noise either.

I wonder if you could find the proper gear from some standard collection?  Of course, the 3D printed one is a possibility, but I don't know if the plastic used would last that long.

Kenjr is bringing the assembly to me. Once I get the gear off I’m going to visit some local RC car shops! Might get lucky!

Please let us know if you find something.  Since I have one of these, I'd like to get a replacement gear as well, I suspect if his went, more will follow.

Is the gear attached to a metal shaft? If so, the hole in the plastic is slightly undersized, which is why it cracked. 

To fix: Note how the gear fits on the shaft (pictures are good!) then pull the gear off the shaft. Apply epoxy to the crack and clamp it shut. (Don't get any epoxy on the teeth! Allow plenty of time to harden. Then file off the excess. Determine the diameter of the shaft. A micrometer or drill index comes handy here. Enlarge the hole to the determined size. I would use the appropriate size drill bit for this, as opposed to filing it bigger. Slip the gear back on the shaft and epoxy it in place. Again, allow sufficient time to harden and then file off only what is necessary to allow proper operation. Put the shell back on and you are done.

BTW John, I agree with your assessment: More will follow. This is a design and assembly issue, not a one-off.

Chris

LVHR

I think the same thing happened to the Mi-Jack gear, they pressed it onto a shaft that was too large, it's why they've been splitting.  I picked up a brass gear at the last York from Jeff at The Train Tender for the Mi-Jack, maybe we can get one made for the Silver Bullet train.

How about 3D printing in metal?

Who has a 3D metal printer?  They're expensive.

Re Mi-Jack: John, you are correct. The main gear split on mine as well. A buddy of mine who is a machinist, fixed it using the technique I described above. The Mi-Jack now works perfectly, and will continue to do so, since he removed the root cause of the problem.

Chris

LVHR

Forgive my ignorance. What’s a Mi-Jack?

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Who has a 3D metal printer?  They're expensive.

True enough, but a small manufacturer that has one might be persuaded to do a production run, assuming the likelihood of these gears failing is that high.

Winger posted:

Forgive my ignorance. What’s a Mi-Jack?

I thought I would provide an update: Winger was able to find a brass gear at Hobby Town made by Vetta (VTAS01038). It is a MO.6 Pinion Gear 17T. Had to bore out the shaft to fit on axle. Installed the gear and the engine runs as smooth as new. Thanks to Winger for tracking this down at the store near him; my store did not have that gear in stock.

Hope none of you with Coors engines has this problem, but if you do there is an acceptable fix.

I thank him too.   Since I have that locomotive, I'll put that gear in my parts box for when the plastic one bites the dust.

You are all welcome.  The gear is $2.99 ea and the center bore needs to be 3/16 inch. The set screw came from Lowes.

It's M4 x .70.  $1.57 for 4ea.

Regards,

Mike