LC 0-8-0 needing lots of repairs. Help please!

@Sams Trains posted:

Hey folks! Got a LC 0-8-0 that's under repair (from a set with the SKU: 1923040). Here are the issues I am running into (Pictures provided):

1: The tender tether has broken loose from its wires. I got a new one, but I do not know which wire goes where. From what I gather, two go to the speaker and one connected to the underside of the truck to ground it.

2: The bluetooth board will not come out. It appears maybe hot glue was used to keep it in place? I don't want to break it, maybe someone will have a suggestion or solution to get it out

3: The motor has a wire that is torn. I have a replacement, but it appears the rotating piece at the top needs to come off. Does it just pop off? Again, I do not want to break anything.

Thanks again! Tagging @gunrunnerjohn as he probably has suggestions

Sam- pretty rough. I hope you got it for a good price.

Can you trace the wires on the loco drawbar? This should give you direction on which is which.

Use a heat gun to soften the hot glue. Works like a charm.

That's the flywheel on top of the motor. It is pressed on the motor shaft. You will need a wheel puller to remove it. Never done one so I'll defer to the experts for methods.

Good luck.

The only thing in the tender is the speaker, so it should be easy to get two wires from the speaker connection through the drawbar and to the speaker connector on the PCB.  I suspect the 3rd wire is a chassis ground, but just follow it to see where it goes.

As far as fixing the wire that is torn on your motor, from what I see, there’s no need to remove the spinny thingy ( flywheel ) ……..take a razor knife and carefully slice away the heat shrink on the solder lug, and peel it off, ….that should expose the solder lug, and or the hunk of wire that may be remaining. Solder a new wire to the lug, or to the existing remnant of wire that may be still there,…..slide a new piece of heat shrink over your repair, shrink it, and that part of the repair is done …..I’m guessing the break is the area I’ve circled?

Pat

@RSJB18 posted:

Sam- pretty rough. I hope you got it for a good price.

Can you trace the wires on the loco drawbar? This should give you direction on which is which.

Use a heat gun to soften the hot glue. Works like a charm.

That's the flywheel on top of the motor. It is pressed on the motor shaft. You will need a wheel puller to remove it. Never done one so I'll defer to the experts for methods.

Good luck.

I might be able to trace the wires on the loco. I'll give it a shot

Heat gun. Got it!

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The only thing in the tender is the speaker, so it should be easy to get two wires from the speaker connection through the drawbar and to the speaker connector on the PCB.  I suspect the 3rd wire is a chassis ground, but just follow it to see where it goes.

Yes the 3rd wire is a ground, I am just more sure which wires go to the speaker and which one is for the ground

@harmonyards posted:

As far as fixing the wire that is torn on your motor, from what I see, there’s no need to remove the spinny thingy ( flywheel ) ……..take a razor knife and carefully slice away the heat shrink on the solder lug, and peel it off, ….that should expose the solder lug, and or the hunk of wire that may be remaining. Solder a new wire to the lug, or to the existing remnant of wire that may be still there,…..slide a new piece of heat shrink over your repair, shrink it, and that part of the repair is done …..I’m guessing the break is the area I’ve circled?

Pat

The solder lug looks to be under the flywheel, but I can try that

Figured out issue 1 and 2, still struggling on 3. I heard some flywheels are stuck on there

@Sams Trains posted:

Figured out issue 1 and 2, still struggling on 3. I heard some flywheels are stuck on there

They’re pressed on the motors with same force that turns coal into diamonds….without the proper tools, it’s easily wrecked …..it doesn’t just pop off….

Pat

@harmonyards posted:

They’re pressed on the motors with same force that turns coal into diamonds….without the proper tools, it’s easily wrecked …..it doesn’t just pop off….

Pat

Got it. Do you know what tools I need?

@Sams Trains posted:

Got it. Do you know what tools I need?

This is what I use, it's great for pulling flywheels and wheels.  It's not so good for worm gears, those suckers are the ones that are really on with the force that makes coal into diamonds!

A word of caution.  If you actually pull the flywheel and then want to put it back on again, you MUST support the other end of the shaft, if you apply force to the shaft and you're just holding the motor body, you'll most likely ruin the motor!  The commutator slides on the shaft and kills the motor if you put any lateral force on it.

I run my LionChief for hours on end... those tiny factory wires are going to fatigue again & again.

I replaced the factory drawbar connection with this more durable harness. It doesn't have to be this big, but it's what I grabbed out of the tray.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

This is what I use, it's great for pulling flywheels and wheels.  It's not so good for worm gears, those suckers are the ones that are really on with the force that makes coal into diamonds!

A word of caution.  If you actually pull the flywheel and then want to put it back on again, you MUST support the other end of the shaft, if you apply force to the shaft and you're just holding the motor body, you'll most likely ruin the motor!  The commutator slides on the shaft and kills the motor if you put any lateral force on it.

Do you think I could solder those connections without pulling the flywheel?

I’ve seen quite a few of these come across the bench where someone removed the shell for whatever reason, and snagged that very same wire,…..I’ve never had to pull the flywheel to make a repair….make a slice into the heat shrink, and pull it off with tweezers, or tiny needle nose,……solder a new leader to whatever is existing if you can’t reach the brush solder lug….

Pat

@Sams Trains posted:

Do you think I could solder those connections without pulling the flywheel?

I solder those all the time without pulling the flywheel.  AAMOF, I don't recall ever pulling the flywheel to solder a motor power connections.