Just took delivery of a pretty Weaver UP Alco FA/FB set. From what I've been reading, these are the first generation units with the horizontal motor and chain drive. Both locos have jammed drives. Before I start dismantling the little indefinites, is there any particular guidance anyone can offer about specific areas to look for trouble? Or should I simply give up and start looking for replacement drives?
Thanks!
Mitch
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Mitch,
I've read that the early Weaver chain drives suffered from cracked gears. I have a RS3 but it didn't have any cracked gears when I opened it up for inspection.
P&D Hobbies sells replacement parts if that's what it turns out to be.
Mitch , most times it is the gears under the chain have split , if one splits it will cause the chain to bind . I have in the past removed split gear and honed out the inside to slip over the shaft but still fit , just takes a little filing ,you then see the gear on the shaft and can not hardly see the split. Then I have drilled thru the flange on the gear next to the teeth and the soft steel shaft with a .032 drill and put a brass rod thru the hole to hold it . It worked perfectly , I did this while I was waiting for a replacement gear from P&D Hobby in Mich. All the chain gears will eventually split ,they were defective from the get go. The gears were not aged or something to that effect and the press fit caused them to crack or split . The P&D Hobby replacement gears won't split on you .
The axle gears sometimes split also. Generally this does not bind the mechanism, but makes it run jerky.
P&D hobbies does have replacement parts for these drives.
A word of caution, when taking the trucks apart, use a small screwdriver to pry up and slide loose the center pin mounting the side frame to the bolster. If you just try to pull the sideframe off from the sides, you might break off the mounting pin.
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