Lionchief Plus GP38 asynchronous motors - UPDATED - all fixed!!

CoastsideKevinOGR Forum Member

All - a friend kindly gifted me a non-functional LC+ engine he bought new which never ran right from the factory.

The smoke unit is very loud and does not produce smoke, but more problematic is the two motors do not seem to run at the same speed.

In this video, you will see the forward motor spinning at what appears to be the correct speed, while the rear motor is spinning slowly and erratically. This causes the wheels on the front trucks to slip as they try to pull the rear truck along. In short, the engine does not run this way.

Has anyone seen this problem before and have suggestions for a fix? Alternatively, I will gut it and convert it to a dummy, which I also don’t really know how to do.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Kevin

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12/31/213:15 PM

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gunrunnerjohnOGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Did you turn the flywheels through a full rotation of the drive wheels to see if there's any binding? It could be something simple, loose motor mount, crap in the gears, etc. Look for the obvious stuff first.

12/31/213:21 PM

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CoastsideKevinOGR Forum Member

@gunrunnerjohn posted:
Did you turn the flywheels through a full rotation of the drive wheels to see if there's any binding? It could be something simple, loose motor mount, crap in the gears, etc. Look for the obvious stuff first.

Great advice. I tried to spin both flywheels just now and found the front to spin smoothly and effortlessly, and the rear to be very bound and difficult to turn.

As I turned the rear one, I tried pulling up on it at the same time, and suddenly it freed up. I could not see any obvious dirt in the gears but I can’t really see inside the motor. Put it back on the track and it works like a charm!

Thank you so much, John. Saved it from the junk bin! Any thoughts on where I might start with the smoke unit? The fan is spinning, very loud noise, air flowing out, but no smoke.

12/31/213:43 PM

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CoastsideKevinOGR Forum Member

Updated - all fixed! I remembered seeing an old post on lubricating the motor shaft in the smoke unit. That took care of the noise. Filling up the reservoir took care of the rest! ☺️

Thank you, John and this awesome forum!

Happy New Year!

Kevin

12/31/214:18 PM

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CoastsideKevinOGR Forum Member

Here it is in action. I think I’ll keep it!