Help smoke fan not working?

Hi Harleybaz I would like to help you, but will need more info.

What brand engine and what type of engine. Was the fan working initially and then you took it apart and now it's not working.

Alex

hi alex,  this all started yesterday thought i put to many drops in because i noticed the smoke not getting pushed out.before drops in everything was good.I was running the train for acouple of hours to see if it would clear up.Today took apart the cab and placed on track and noticed fan not spinning.I noticed two wires connected to the fan would like to check wires for power but not sure how.

Im running sd60m mth 2005     thanks harleybaz

Ok question are you using DCS or are you running conventional

Also how may drops did you put in

hi, im running conventional railking z 750 i believe.also yesterday i had some type of glitch couldnt get the train to start.(would just hum electric noise) but has been starting ok since.this train was shipped to me in march 2012 still under warrenty.thanks harleybaz

Remove the smoke unit cover and give the fan impeller a few turns with your finger, then close the unit back up and try it again. If it works, go back in there and gently remove the plastic impeller by pulling it off with a pair of needlenose pliers,then put a couple of drops of a light oil on the fan motor shaft bushing,reinstall the impeller. There have also been instances of the fan impeller slipping on the shaft on some MTH units, I would turn the sound off all the way and see if you can still hear the fan motor "zinging" even though the fan is not turning. If this is the case, you can remove the impeller and "emboss" the shaft by squeazing it with the pliers teeth,or put a drop of CA adhesive on the shaft and reinstall the impeller. If neither of these methods solves your problem you will likely need to replace the fan motor.

You said the wick was dry and a little burnt, did you open up the smoke unit, I ask this because if you did when you reassemble there is a chance you could squash the gasket into the fan and it won't spin. It doesn't take much too hold that fan back.

Thanks RickO I was trying to help, but I have much more experience with Lionel than MTH.

hi alex, thank you for your help and ideas.i did take apart and spin the fan with my finger it seemed to spin very freely maybe to lose on shaft as you mentioned i will check tommorow.

i made sure nothing was blocked when put back together.is there something i can use to test the wires connected to the fan. harleybaz

hi,thank you also ricko for help.harleybaz

It seems RickO is on too something, I would do what he said and see if that's the problem. Let us know tomorrow how it turns out.You can test the wires with a volt meter.

Alex

hi,ok alex will do. thank you harleybaz

Putting a drop of CA adhesive on the shaft scares me since it could run down into the bearing.  A better technique would be to put the adhesive on the impeller and install the impeller with the motor inverted so that the glue won't run toward the motor.

I don't think I'd glue the fan blade on, if you ever have to replace the motor, it's a PITA to get the blade off!

You can power the motor with 5V and see if the fan blade is slipping.  Truthfully, when you pull it off the shaft, you should be able to tell if there's enough friction for it to stay put.

Using glue is the method MTH uses.  It will not be hard to remove impeller later, but it provides enough friction to hold impeller to shaft.  You can place impeller half way on, place drop in the hole of impeller remaining and then press on the remainder.  This prevents glue from reaching bearing.

There are other reasons that could be an issue including a damaged electronic component on the board.

Since you had a least one electical hum at start up, I would consider sending this back under warranty.

First test is to remove smoke harness, then run fan motor with 3-5V battery.  If it rotates fine, measure resistance.  Should be around 12 ohms,  too low or too high is a problem.  After that, it could be harness or component on board.

Is this a PS-3 engine?   G

Unless the fan is sloppy loose, I can't see it slipping on the shaft.  I've never taken one apart and found the fan loose on the shaft.

I haven't either,but there have been a few posts on the forum over the years complainig of the problem.

for ggg this is a sd-60m mth ps2 harley davidison 2005

 All this started after a slight derail one wheel jumped track.The train never fell on floor or tipped on its side.

I've probably only had 30-40 apart for maintenance, but I've yet to run across one that was loose.  I guess if you do enough of these, you'll see almost everything.   I've had several bad motors, but not loose fans.