So does THIS harm your engine?

No harm to the engine, think of it as running at low speed with the transformer at low voltage.

Don't let it stall or stop. Stalling with the power on can harm it. As long as it keeps going, it's OK.

If you can't reach the area to clean it, make yourself a track cleaning car.  I can show you how.

.....

Dennis

Clean the track and add a feeder.What do you mean you can't reach it?Find a way.Fix it.

The real harm occurs out of sight.  After you add a feeder or two and clean the track, take a break you deserve it.

 

If you are lucky, very little damage has taken place. The only way to find out is to do a complete disassemble and service. You did not say what type of engine.

Are you sure the loco is properly lubed?  Poor lubrication will ruin an engine because it wears the bearings and the bearings are somewhat difficult to replace.  If you lube the engine, I recommend ordinary motor oil.  Don't use WD-40, 3 in 1 oil, light machine oil, Lionel Lube, lithium grease, etc.  These all get gummy or hard in a short time.  Motor oil lasts forever.

Hi Dennis, can you post something on that track cleaning car? I like to see one.

More than likely a feeder issue. 

Thanks all. I will lighten the load, clean the track, and oil the engine. (all of them in fact) I have three feeders on an 8' loop. I would have thought that would be sufficient.

What kind of track are you using?

 

I use tubular track, and to make the connections tight between sections, I do the following:

 

Hold a track section with the pins pointing away from you.  Then with a pair of pliers, bend the left outside rail where the pin is installed to the left and the center rail to the right.  Bend the rails so the end of the pin is displaced about half a pin diameter.  When you connect two sections together, there will be contact pressure on the pins.  This make a good electrical contact.

 

Recently, I put together a floor layout with 55 track sections in the outer loop.  I had a single feed from my ZW.  When I measured the voltage drop under load at the furthers distance from the transformer, it was 0.25 volts, which is very low.  You might try this as it works well.

For those wondering or undecided, The cleaning car Dennis designed works Very Well.

I run 2 of them with different material under them.

And you cannot beat the cost.

In that case Dennis we need to see the plans, please and thank you!

Stephen Puntar and Michael Hokkanen:

 

I prefer to send you the instructions, plans, and photos by email. Email your request.  My email address is in my profile.

 

I have sent these plans to 184 Forum Members.  I don't know how many actually built the car but Russell always speaks highly of it which I appreciate very much.

.....

Dennis