Help, problems with a Christmas Story Loco.

You may have striped the gears.

Scott Smith

It sounds like the worm drive gear on the motor is bad. The motor replacement is around $13.00 from lionel.

There are 6 screws that hold the bottom plate. once removed you will be able to see the motor gear. Check the motor mount bolts on the bottom first, making sure they have not loosened.

Michael.

Took the bottom off as suggested and the gear look ok. Took the boiler off the frame to expose the motor. Turned the flywheel on the motor and was able to get a clicking at one revolution.

Took the smoke unit off and there was a piece of tape, not really on the plunger that operates the puffing mechanism. Remove the tape and reassembled the smoke unit. Tried just the frame on the track and all seems to be good. Reassembled the loco and all is good. Do not know what the problem was, maybe the smoke unit plunger somehow got stuck?

Going to take the bottom plate off and re-grease the gears. Is Tacky Red grease good for this Loco as I use this grease on my pre war Train?

Are the gears all metal? I have (perhaps unfounded) concerns about the additives in Red'n'Tacky working on plastic or any plastic that it may come in contact with.

Just use it sparingly, like toothpick point dabs, and you should be ok. It's what you have on hand.

I found a food grade synthetic grease that is used for commercial baking machines, like Pizza Hut ovens and such.

Moonman posted:

Are the gears all metal? I have (perhaps unfounded) concerns about the additives in Red'n'Tacky working on plastic or any plastic that it may come in contact with.

Just use it sparingly, like toothpick point dabs, and you should be ok. It's what you have on hand.

I found a food grade synthetic grease that is used for commercial baking machines, like Pizza Hut ovens and such.

I sent a email to the folks that make Red and Tacky grease and asked if it is OK for plastics.
there is a metal worm gear on the engine (looks silver, may be steal) and the gear on the axle is brass.
The Loco may have two hours on it the most and when I had it apart I could see the gears show that they were in contact with each other. What I may do is order a spare motor with the worm gear and the rear axle with the brass gear as from what I here is these are week points on the design. Plus I do not know how long Lionel will stock parts?
If you have the name of the commercial baking machine grease is i will look into it as another source

RonH posted:

Moonman posted:

Are the gears all metal? I have (perhaps unfounded) concerns about the additives in Red'n'Tacky working on plastic or any plastic that it may come in contact with.

Just use it sparingly, like toothpick point dabs, and you should be ok. It's what you have on hand.

I found a food grade synthetic grease that is used for commercial baking machines, like Pizza Hut ovens and such.

I sent a email to the folks that make Red and Tacky grease and asked if it is OK for plastics.
there is a metal worm gear on the engine (looks silver, may be steal) and the gear on the axle is brass.
The Loco may have two hours on it the most and when I had it apart I could see the gears show that they were in contact with each other. What I may do is order a spare motor with the worm gear and the rear axle with the brass gear as from what I here is these are week points on the design. Plus I do not know how long Lionel will stock parts?
If you have the name of the commercial baking machine grease is i will look into it as another source

I didn't want to alarm you or anything like that. It was only my overthinking about maintaining the modern trains. I don't have any of the older brutes. I just didn't want any plastic damage to occur.

if you web search "food grade grease" you will find many vendors, places to get it, and sizes. I just figured if you can eat it, then it won't hurt anything on the trains. I use 10w sewing machine oil for my oil. It, too, is food grade by default, so that it doesn't stain or harm fabrics. The old Lionel oil was a 10w.

I don't believe the red grease in a contained gearbox will cause any harm. So, grease the gears. Spare parts for something that you intend on keeping is always a good practice.

Moonman posted:

RonH posted:

Moonman posted:

Are the gears all metal? I have (perhaps unfounded) concerns about the additives in Red'n'Tacky working on plastic or any plastic that it may come in contact with.

Just use it sparingly, like toothpick point dabs, and you should be ok. It's what you have on hand.

I found a food grade synthetic grease that is used for commercial baking machines, like Pizza Hut ovens and such.

I sent a email to the folks that make Red and Tacky grease and asked if it is OK for plastics.
there is a metal worm gear on the engine (looks silver, may be steal) and the gear on the axle is brass.
The Loco may have two hours on it the most and when I had it apart I could see the gears show that they were in contact with each other. What I may do is order a spare motor with the worm gear and the rear axle with the brass gear as from what I here is these are week points on the design. Plus I do not know how long Lionel will stock parts?
If you have the name of the commercial baking machine grease is i will look into it as another source

I didn't want to alarm you or anything like that. It was only my overthinking about maintaining the modern trains. I don't have any of the older brutes. I just didn't want any plastic damage to occur.

if you web search "food grade grease" you will find many vendors, places to get it, and sizes. I just figured if you can eat it, then it won't hurt anything on the trains. I use 10w sewing machine oil for my oil. It, too, is food grade by default, so that it doesn't stain or harm fabrics. The old Lionel oil was a 10w.

I don't believe the red grease in a contained gearbox will cause any harm. So, grease the gears. Spare parts for something that you intend on keeping is always a good practice.

No problem, always like new ideas/suggestions. Using Red and Tacky on my Prewar is not a problem as everything is metal. I did send that email to the folks at Red and Tacky yesterday withe the question of attacking plastics. Once I get a reply I will add it to this post. Thanks again.

  Food grade will always be safe on plastic, but placebothere could still be ingestion concerns especially with H2 grade which is for for sealed areas. It's often more like "safest" than "safe". Don't eat it by the spoonful "Incidental" food contact is H1, rust preventative is H3.

  I think the Germans have the strictest guidlines for them. You should call and ask the mfg. if concerned, most companies are happy to help and nearly all the big names make food grade lubes to US standards, CRC to Locktite.

Many are silicone (or even teflon) based; that if airborne can become a paint or glue nightmare. I always avoid getting sloppy with these, especially sprays;  throwing a rag over the tip, then throwing the rag away NOW.