Should Have Left Well Enough Alone.....

Hang in there Hal. Sometimes you wish these engines had a quick release hardware on them.

My father worked as a quality inspector on the Ford mustang plant. He always warned me when I took things apart as a kid.

"The more you take things apart, the better the odds your going to damage something."

But then I always replied, " Then how are you going to figure out how something works?"

 

Oh you're not alone... I and my six thumbs at one time thought I might take a peek inside a nearly-new Lionel diesel and reseat a sound board (or so I thought).

You'd be amazed how much damage a spark from uninformed probing about in these locos can do!!

$200.00 dollars later after several trips to qualified repairmen the sounds work great!

So to paraphrase the old saying..."Curiosity killed the cat" I now say

"Curiosity killed Lenny the Lion"

 

Mark

Sometimes you gotta know your limits. 

It happens...that's the nature of the beast.

I am surprised someone hasn't chimed in with this:

 

"If it aint broke..............."

Harry Callahan: A man's GOT to know his limitations.

I think you should change your name to Bad Luck Hal.   LOL

 

I better not laugh too hard...this could happen to me and usually does.

 

I just received a rail diesel car in G scale.  One of the windows had fallen inside the cab.  So, I took it apart.  Wouldn't you know the other window would fall out too.  Then when I glued the first window in some glue smeared on it when I was holding it in till it dried a bit.  Not a big deal just a big hassle.

 

Rick

Ok.

 

If it ain't broke, you're not trying....

If it aint broke take it upart and find out why it's working ok!

Hal...

 

Welcome to the Olde Phartze club! And ya gotta love the little woman (mine, too) who will patiently help us through our infirmities!  Bless 'em!

 

Got a suggestion for getting the screws started.  Kadee has one, called the gripper, item #239...

 

KadeeLink

 

I have a couple....very handy, especially when your own digits grasping the screw head won't fit in the nearly-non-existent space where the hole lies!  They're quite inexpensive, too...$6.43.  Other manufacturers make the same or similar item. 

 

Re shaking hands?.....a glass of Merlot, soft music, a back rub from the same loving assistant as above, a Golden Retriever who puts her head on your knee in the midst of your turmoil and looks up at you with big brown eyes that say 'Can I help?' (More probably 'Hey, take a time-out and let's share some warm fuzzies together!').....all found to be therapeutic for 'the shakes'.

 

Re your comment about the Chinese factory feller?....I hear ya!   Every time I try to horse an engine, car, or complicated accessory back into its original package...including all the foam and cardboard bits that came from God-knows-where!...I mutter to myself, "If I were Chinese I'd have this done by now!!!" 

 

Hang in there, pal!

 

KD

   

 

 

 

 

HEY KD...that's sorta like a pin vise, is it not?

 

Bad Order Harold

Well, sort of...

 

If you haven't seen one up close it actually has five thin flexible 'fingers' which extend as you push down on the top plunger.  The fingers are hooked on the end so to grab the head of a screw as you allow the fingers to spring-retract.  Once you have the screw held, you can usually run it into the hole a couple threads deep before releasing the tool, then switching to the screwdriver to run it 'home'.

 

Hey, for $6.43 you'll kick yourself for not having it sooner.....trust me!!

 

KD

KD;

I've been using those for a long time. They came in my Computer repair tool kits.

I have 2 or 3 of them now and they are indispensable !

Who said: "Careful!"

Ralph

Wisdom comes from knowledge.

Knowledge comes from experience.

Experience comes from doing things, sometimes incorrectly.

 

Na, go for it Hal!

 

Larry

I had my Weaver Geep on the rolling road a few days ago, it's just sitting there nicely at about half speed - all of a sudden it just stops dead - no response in either direction!! Panic!! I take the body off and poke about - no loose wires, no evidence of short circuits, the motor isn't hot - I'm baffled.... & worried as I need this loco for a local Model Railway Exhibition in two weeks.

.... took me a while to realise the actual problem was one of the wires from controller to rolling road had come loose.... D'oh!!!
Felt a bit stupid, but also mightily releaved it wasn't the loco.
BUT - the point that's really relevant to this thread is that I'm convinced - although I can't quite put my finger on it - that the loco, upon re-assembly, isn't running quite as nicely as before....

Did you sacrifice a chicken while reassembling it?

HEY KD:

 

I see those all the time in an aisle bin at Lowe's. They also come with a magnet attachment.  They're larger than what you describe, however.

 

They're OK, but instead of those flexible fingers, I would rather put the screw head in the chuck of the pin vise, then insert it in the hole to start it, then thread it down with my 3/4" torque wrench to 140 ft-lbs.

 

BAD ORDER

 

 

 

HEY FLANGER:

 

Lt. Briggs:  "I've been on the force over 25 years, Callahan, and I've never had to take my gun from its holster!"

 

Inspector Callahan:   "Well, you're a good man, Briggs...but there's nothing wrong with shooting people, as long as the right ones get shot!"

 

BAD ORDER

 

 

 

 

Bad order, I don't mean to take advantage of this, but could you please post the pictures of the disassembly? I'd like to have them for a possible converision to ps3, and I would like to have a better idea of how much space I would have. If you have measurments that would be lovely. Hope your have your unit back on track soon. Thanks. 

When I had issues with a sw switcher, i was about ready to rip into it, when L tech advised against it.  Glad I left it alone now.  I have to  stick to the farmer type projects. 

       
       


Sorry, you've lost me with that...?? ...unless it's something to do with Miami, "Voodoo & Palmettos", & Mr Lance Mindheim's wonderful HO modelling??.... & it can't be that, as I model the Soo Line, far, far from Florida....

Hey, It's Red Green.

"keep your stick on the ice"

If it ain't broke, break it!

 

HEY SANTIA,

 

Here's the innards of my Atlas SW-9: 

 

Bad Order

Hal, good 4 you gettin your hands dirty. remember my son taking apart watches to see what made them tic. and never got them back the same. Talking settin screws, just replaced the slides under kitchen cabinets as wife put some 40lbs of flour on one. No exact replacement part so had to set new holes,  make a jig to keep rails proper distance so drawer rolls smoothly, and do it without a magnet phillips driver. An almost impossible job for a big guy in a 11" door opening trying to hold the part 2' in cabinet and drive the screws. Would luv to have it on a bench to work on as laying on floor and holding drill and screw firm way too hard.

Are there any professional people that work on ones engines without shorting out parts that cost $200 or breaking railings. Does Atlas do the work? Now one has to paint the railings.

Mike, if it was me, them pics of the board and motor would have Duc tape and rubber bands.

 

Phil   

 

HEY MIKE,

 

I never had a "slow-one-way-faster-the-other" problem!

 

Where did you get that information?

 

Bad Order

Bad order, I already save the pictures to my laptop. Thank you!!!

 

HEY KD,

 

Merlot, you say?   MERLOT?

 

That's one of those snooty wines, like Chardonnay and Zinfandel, isn't it?

 

The last time I drank wine (late 1950's), there were only 3 varieties:

 

Port, Sherry, and Muscatel, ALL with a hearty 20% alcoholic content, which is why we guys would take Port with us to beach parties, where we could get loaded quickly and cheaply, then play Beach Blanket Bingo with our chicks!

 

I look at the labels on today's sissy wines and they have 9 or 10% alcohol...how wimpy!

 

Since hearty wine has died out, I'll drink nothing but beer (BUT NOT LIGHT, for heaven's sake!), and hard booze, like Bourbon mixes or Rum & coke.

 

Yes, they reduce my shakes!

 

BAD ORDER

 

HERE'S TO YA, JACKSON!

 

 

 

 

 

Makes me think of a line an old teacher of mine used to say: "You look like the kind of guy who could break an anvil!"

 

My thought is: The thing isn't totally destroyed, so it's obvious your hammer was TOO small!

 

One final notion: I find it rather disappointing that you didn't mention having surplus parts after reassembly!

 

Hang in there Hal!

 

Simon

 

HEY SIMON,

 

As a retired Aerospace test engineer, I always keep track of all the components that comprise the assembly.

 

I may be a fool, but I'm not stupid!

 

Bad Order Harry

 

 

Don't fix what ain't broke!

 

Words to live by.

HEY HAL!!!

 

UNCLE!!

 

OK, ya got me!  From now on it's my other self.....Captain Morgan and Red Bull....with this for background 'music'!!....

 

Bedroom Symphony

 

 

BTW....nice ivories.  I should get 'three amigos' to decorate my Baldwin...piano, that is.  Nice touch!

 

KD

 

 

HEY KD,

 

Ahhhh...TENOR BANJOS!  (Not the C&W 5-string where everyone plays in "G" and nothing else)  Robert E. Lee was well done!

 

All the banjos were playing the melodic line in tight unison, with modulations from F to C and back...great stuff!  (I noticed the girl playing Fender Bass, which I also play.)

 

I'm strictly a chord man on guitar and tenor banjo. (Also tenor uke) I play the backup chord progressions for other instrumentalists, whether Country, Folk, Jazz or even Rock.  (And also Bass of course, either Electric or Stand-Up.)

 

My piano is a KAWAI 6-foot Parlor Grand.  (Closely related to the Yamaha, but not in the same league as a Baldwin!)

 

(I used my 9-foot Steinway and Bosendorfer for firewood last winter...)

 

Nice to meet another Musician!  (That's me on Electric Bass with a Senior Citizens band)

 

BAD ORDER

 

 

Steinway/Bosendorfer...firewood.......Riiiiiiight!  Good one...

 

My Baldwin is 6', also.  My wife (church organist/pianist) and I enjoy it very much. The gentleman who tunes our piano periodically has a more reserved opinion, but he's rather vague as to whether it's re our specific instrument or the brand in general. 

 

Well, I don't know about a Kawai not being in the same league.  My sister in Colorado has a Yamaha grand.  I've played both products of Japan, and, not being as professionally accomplished as you, I would say they are also very fine products.  And, hey, Yamaha bought Bosendorfer in 2007, so for whom was this move advantageous??

 

A friend of mine...he passed away a couple years ago...was married to a piano teacher.  Her piano of choice was a Schimmel.  I played it once....whoa!...Now THAT was a piece of excellence, I mean to tell ya!!

 

When I watch orchestral, solo, trio, etc. functions on 'the tube' (dated vernacular, I know!)  I try to catch sight of the piano brand....just one of those quirks of mine!  There's more of a mix out there than 50 years ago, I'd say.

 

What a neat bunch of folks you have to improvise with!

 

Have a great summer, Hal!

 

KD

 

HEY KD,

 

"Professionally accomplished", you say?

 

Heck...I don't even read music, only chord diagrams and progressions, but I'm not too shabby at playing piano by ear!

 

I have several Victor Borge videos, and in one he tells his audience:

 

"The Steinway people have asked me to announce that this is a Baldwin piano."

 

Three of the people in that band picture are deceased:  The Drummer, the old Vocalist looking over the sheet music, and the Pianist, who died at 101.

 

[They were actually a pretty lousy band, and I don't play with them any more.]

 

Some early pianos I used to admire were Mason & Hamlin and Chickering.

 

That's all.....

Bad Order

 

 

KD, HEY YOU...

 

I took my 40-year-old Craftsman #41293 Philips #1 Screwdriver to Sears and complained that the point was wearing down and didn't engage screw heads perfectly anymore.

 

They gave me a new replacement for free.

 

Then I took it home and magnetized the shank by rubbing it on a powerful permanent magnet.  I now have a screwdriver that holds the screw in position before torquing it home!

 

Total cost: $0.00

 

That's all.....

REDRO DAB

 

 

 

Should have left well enough alone............  Yes.