WHAT’S ON THE WORKBENCH AT THE MOMENT

@Berkshire President posted:

Very impressive, Norton...as always!

Is that a factory smoke unit or a Super Chuffer?

Thank you Pres. its the original semi smart smoke unit with the 8 ohm resistor replaced by a 22 ohm, on board circuitry bypassed, and the resistor wired directly to the R2LC.

The 4 lobe cam actuates the micro switch wired to a DPDT reed relay which drives the fan motor and chuff in on the R2LC.

Pete

Looks really, really good Pete.  Thanks for sharing!

Don't you hate it when something other than trains are on the work bench? Several projects have been occupying space since mid November. We had our house re-sided so the number signs had to be repainted (they were light blue). A real PITA keeping the lettering clean. I won't get into the other projects related to the siding job. My garage looked like a war zone.

Then I was asked to fix my mother-in-law's vacuum......

Hiding under the white towel in the back is what I was getting to...

I upgraded these ATSF F3s with ERR boards and LED lighting last year. Several lingering issues need to be addressed which will be my next project.

Bob

My Rail King PS1 Challenger never smoked very well. It easily ran at 11 volts which wasn’t enough to stoke the smoke unit.

So today I wired the 2 motors in series. The result is it runs at 16 volts.

Update 1/18/23

I was getting too much smoke at 16 volts so I added a buck converter to knock it down to 13 volts DC. This is the same buck converter Junior used in his track cleaning car.

@RSJB18 posted:

Don't you hate it when something other than trains are on the work bench? Several projects have been occupying space since mid November. We had our house re-sided so the number signs had to be repainted (they were light blue). A real PITA keeping the lettering clean. I won't get into the other projects related to the siding job. My garage looked like a war zone.

Then I was asked to fix my mother-in-law's vacuum......

Hiding under the white towel in the back is what I was getting to...

I upgraded these ATSF F3s with ERR boards and LED lighting last year. Several lingering issues need to be addressed which will be my next project.

Bob

Glad to see your energy level is still way up there Bob.

Not to worry about the lettering Bob.........at 75 feet from the road it should look perfect and most importantly READABLE.

(  didn't realize Oreck vacuums needed fixing  )

What are the lingering issues on the F3s ?

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Glad to see your energy level is still way up there Bob.

Not to worry about the lettering Bob.........at 75 feet from the road it should look perfect and most importantly READABLE.

(  didn't realize Oreck vacuums needed fixing  )

What are the lingering issues on the F3s ?

Thanks Dallas.

The F3s have a few bugs. The dummy lighting needs a better common connection, and the powered unit stops unexpectedly....

As for the Oreck.... the handle broke and so far the parts are very hard to find. The company went bankrupt several years ago the parts are harder to find than PS3 boards. 🤣🤣🤣

Doing a little work on the Lionel Polar Road K4.. Working on Pat's fix for the loose intermediate gear shaft.

@RSJB18 posted:

Don't you hate it when something other than trains are on the work bench? Several projects have been occupying space since mid November. We had our house re-sided so the number signs had to be repainted (they were light blue). A real PITA keeping the lettering clean. I won't get into the other projects related to the siding job. My garage looked like a war zone.

Then I was asked to fix my mother-in-law's vacuum......

Hiding under the white towel in the back is what I was getting to...

I upgraded these ATSF F3s with ERR boards and LED lighting last year. Several lingering issues need to be addressed which will be my next project.

Bob

That’s what you get for being so talented Bob.

@Dallas Joseph posted:

Glad to see your energy level is still way up there Bob.

Not to worry about the lettering Bob.........at 75 feet from the road it should look perfect and most importantly READABLE.

(  didn't realize Oreck vacuums needed fixing  )

What are the lingering issues on the F3s ?

Absolutely on readability!

I didn’t realize Oreck’s needed fixing either!!  😆

I spent the weekend working on a Lionel Legacy Lionmaster Challenger I bought second hand. The encoder ring was deformed and the engine had some performance issues. With some help from people on this forum I figured out how to fix it and the locomotive runs great now!

@Norton posted:

This JLC UP H7 arrived a bit worse for wear. Apparently it was in a flood and then suffered from poor packing when shipped. A number of cosmetic parts were replaced including the steam chest and headlight plus a few flexible pipes. Also the AC regulator was binned, smoke unit rewired and the 2 lobe cam replaced by a 4 lobe.

Pete

Nicely done Pete.  From the looks of how it runs , I'd say you sure know how to revive a zuffering locomotive.   Nice.

Added "real coal" to my Lionel TMCC B&O EM-1 and C&O 2-6-6-2

@Obsidian posted:

Added "real coal" to my Lionel TMCC B&O EM-1 and C&O 2-6-6-2

Really nice.

What did you use?

John

@Obsidian posted:

Added "real coal" to my Lionel TMCC B&O EM-1 and C&O 2-6-6-2

I miss my TMCC NKP 2-6-6-2......lack of chuffs and all. 

@Craftech posted:

Really nice.

What did you use?

John

Black aquarium sand.   Same technique as when I did my coal hoppers.

                   More for the next layout  ...........

My new (used, but new to me) UP Legacy Lionmaster Challenger was back on the bench this weekend. The locomotive started slipping on the curves and I realized the front truck wasn't spinning. Turns out to be a loose pinion gear on the front motor. Added some loctite and good as new.

Locomotive still makes some odd sounds so I'll keep an eye on it, it is missing one of the screws that hold the rear motor to the truck so I think that is the cause. Ordered a few screws from lionel to see if that helps.

I have a couple of Menards lighted vehicles that I want to put on the layout. Now that the sign and vacuum are off my bench, I can get back to important stuff.
I started by testing the lights on both on the bench. The REA truck was fine but the '48 Ford was a different story. I didn't know Menards put smoke units in their cars.......

When I opened it up I found that the mfr didn't insulate any of the wiring. I'm sure the supply wire splices were touching, causing the short. So now I'm replacing the LED's and rewiring the truck.

To be continued....

Bob

If the Ford was new then that is really poor quality control. However, with your electrical prowess you will make “short”work of this.

Jay

@Tranquil Hollow RR posted:

If the Ford was new then that is really poor quality control. However, with your electrical prowess you will make “short”work of this.

Jay

I was a freebie with a recent freight car purchase otherwise I'd ask for a refund from Menards. It's an easy fix and I'm going to add a few details since it's a plain black truck.

Thanks