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Repairing a NIB Lionel Legacy Centipede

BigBoy4014BigBoy4014OGR Forum Member

I just got some time to test my new single A unit Lionel Legacy PRR centipede....All was well, started and ran perfect under Legacy. I checked it on a 12 ft test track (no layout now, but soon) and I was happy with no problem found.

 

Next day I checked my other N DeM Lionel legacy Centipede and this time I fired up couplers and all was well. Then I decided to check the PRR Centipede couplers, the front one did not fire! I thought, Oh no I don't want to pay and wait for a return. I was already not happy that the Centipede single units were advertised as VL with 3 year warranty only to find out after buying TWO A units that they are one year warranty and one has to pay shipping for warranty repair for a "NON VL" Centipede

 

I though I'd give it a try to fix it. Took the body off, nice heavy Die cast, I checked the wiring and found out that that one of the wires going to the coupler had not been soldered on at Lionel. Took the coupler off and while I was gently checking out the other coupler wire, it came off. The coil wires are simply sticking out of the coupler coil with no support to attach the wires to it unlike MTH where they do have a support. I re soldered the wires and put the coupler back. While I was there, I thought I'd check out the smoke units. FYI; before I tested the loco, I saturated the smoke units with tons of smoke fluid. I added 20-25 drops, made some coffee and come back and add another 15-20 drops (This was for a brand new unit). The two smoke units looked great to me, the wadding was nice, clean and fully saturated as can be seen. I checked the wiring and added a few tie wraps to clean up the installation. I took out the roof fans and greased the gears to reduce their noise. I also greased/lubed the whole loco...This is my first look into a Legacy unit and I did like what I saw in this particular design.

 

The roof fan module was not easy to take off, but I wanted to check it out. Greased it and put it back on. Be careful with those plastic fans, they can easily catch on the body and break....

 

Put it all back and tested it....All is well and both couplers fire perfect and it smokes like, ahem...hell!!!!

 

I had to check my MTH 4-6-4 Hiawatha engine because it did not run but the sounds were working, any way it was a stalled motor, got it fixed but meanwhile I decided to check the inside of the MTH smoke unit, The wadding is very different and this smoke unit has two heating elements. You can see the there is some charring of the wadding so I repositioned every thing, filled it with smoke fluid and re installed everything. The MTH steamer ran perfect... (the last two photos are of the MTH smoke unit)

 

The single Centipede are great bargains now, for about $475 shipped you can get legacy control, two smoke units, Die cast body and hundreds of drivers ....it is a centipede after all...I hope you find this useful

 

 

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  • IMG_0005
  • IMG_0006: Great soeaker encluser..I think MTH is listeninng :)
  • IMG_0007: The switch mount was loose
  • IMG_0008: The roof fans module
  • IMG_0009
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Last edited by BigBoy4014
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BigBoy4014BigBoy4014OGR Forum Member
You know Allan, I tried that. I saturated one smoke unit completely but with no puddling of smoke fluid then I turned it upside down (unit open as seen in the pix) and no fluid dripped. I think the idea is that the packing material is designed to hold the fluid without dripping even upside down. Of course, one can fill it so much to cause flooding.....I am still learning and experimenting...
 
Originally Posted by repair technician:

One think i think you might want to remember is, don't lay the engines on there side as you over filled the smoke units and if you lay them or there side the fluid might run out inside the engines, keep up-write!

Alan

 

BigBoy4014BigBoy4014OGR Forum Member
Hello Mr. Muffin; The gearbox and the drive rods were stuck in a certain position preventing the motor from turning. What threw me off was that the current draw was very very small NOT indicating a stalled motor. Anyway, after inspection I loosened up the drive gear, lubed it, re arranged the smoke unit padding and now it runs perfect...Smokes a lot! 
 
 
Originally Posted by MrMuffin'sTrains:

What is a "stalled motor" and how is it corrected?

 

thanks. 

 

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  • IMG_3623: I like streamlined locos....
Last edited by BigBoy4014
H Hancock52OGR Forum Member

Good job. And I know that awful feeling when you think a new engine has to be sent back to Lionel. Recently I decided "H*ll No!" and performed the surgery myself. But then the problem was my fault (overfilling a brand new smoke unit by not waiting long enough for the first application to saturate).

 

In fact I opened up my VL centipedes within a couple of hours of first running the set because of the fan noise you mention. It's a nice feature but the gear mechanism is plastic, not metal, and rattles above the sound system volume. I note that you have only got a test track at the moment. So did I at the time and I tried all kinds of adjustments to get the mechanism to run quietly including getting a replacement unit from Lionel and tearing it down to see exactly how it was meant to work. I won't go into what else I did because no adjustment of the gears or the attached motor will substitute for some running time on a layout, or so I eventually found. 

 

Also, bear in mind that to get the most out of the smoke units in these models you need good track voltage and the EFX setting cranked up.

BigBoy4014BigBoy4014OGR Forum Member

Yeah, I think the plastic gears are "straight cut" which means easy/cheap to manufacture but very rattly and noisy. Not much can be done to reduce the cooling fans noise. The gearbox however seem to be metal geared and also a straight cut. Again, it's a cost reduction measure. They can a "heli" cut (the teeth are curved) and that cost more money but gives more efficient and quiet operation. But our trains are noisy with all the sounds so I see their point of view.

 

Next is my VL BB for maintenance of 3 smoke unis and some upgrades that I am thinking  about...

BigBoy4014BigBoy4014OGR Forum Member
Originally Posted by Charlienassau:

Great tips! We still have a few Seaboards and N de M left on sale!

I purchased Two Centipedes from you Charlie, I am thinking of a third one for a project.

 

The NdeM has very quiet running roof fans and its icons on the legacy remote are NOT the same as the Centipede PRR? not sure why.

 

(EDIT: I figured it out and re programmed the NdeM, it's ok now)

 

Do you have free shipping going on now?

Last edited by BigBoy4014

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