Why Sparks?

Jaymark,

Am I right in assuming that you're talking about the lead truck? If so, the spring tension may need to be adjusted. Does the engined perform well on wider radius? If you can try another section of track, please do so. 031 is a tight turn for most, but, not all of the standard production. Just an idea, try buying what's called the "baby" engines. Some are called, Baby J's, Baby Hudsons, Baby Berks. These are made to run on the tighter radius track. An example would be the Baby Berk that comes with the Polar Express sets.

With all due respect to Pappy, I wouldn't recommend O31 for the PE Berk.  It looks rough enough going around the O36 that it comes with.  No, I haven't tried it myself so I would keep an open mind.

Yep.  It's the lead truck.  Can you give me an idea of how to adjust "the spring tension"?

I'm not familiar with the Williams J, but usually the truck is mounted on a post with a spring around it. Stacking a couple washers between the top of the truck and bottom of the spring should increase tension some.

 

That said, the only reason I can see something like this sparking is because it's shorting on the center rail, but if you're not having jerky operation or tripping the E-unit, I guess that's unlikely. 

 

It could also be that a good deal of return current is flowing through the pilot wheels and the wheels are dirty, but that also seems somewhat unlikely to me.

My PE Berk ran on my Christmas layout for about two weeks straight on a small 0-31 loop with old Mainliner rubber ties. Had to soften them up in warm water so not to break them putting them on. Ran on coated furniture grade particle board. Never ran smoother or quieter. Even at full throttle with six cars. Could even hear the whistle, which never happens on Fastrack. And never derailed, which I can not say about the Fastrack loop it came with.

It's definitely coming off the wheels.  In fact, you could almost see small "pit marks" when the "flange" meets "the hub".  Very strange.

"With all due respect" I ditched the incredibly noisy FasTrack right off the bat and I've been running the P.E. Berkshire on O-31 for the last four years no problem.  Runs good, looks good.  So does my 646 Hudson, which is a bit larger.

 

Pete

Make sure the wheels are clean, then if they still spark, put a little dab of Wahl's razor oil on the track!

what type of track?  make sure the power is to the center rail.

No offense intended.  Some are more sensitive to the noise than others.  My comment was about how it looked on tight curves.  On O36, in my opinion, there is a lot of overhang.  With O31, I'd imagine there is more.  I'm glad those that have run it on the O31 had satisfactory results but how it looks on O31 is just as much a matter of personal taste as the sounds it makes.  Whatever makes you happy.

"It could also be that a good deal of return current is flowing through the pilot wheels and the wheels are dirty . . . "

 

I agree you should check for a short circuit - contact with someting that shouldn't make contact on the pilot, but it.  But it really does sound like dirty wheels.   You specifically said the wheels are sparking.  The wheels are supposed to make contact, but not spark.  Sparks occur whenever current wants to flow but is having a bit of difficultly making that happen.  So, what could be causing that?  dirty wheels are far the most likely colprit, particularly dirt on the other wheels (other than the pilot) that provide alternate pathes for the current. 

 

Every case of sparking I have had in the last several years, except one caused by a bad decoupler button on a truck than would momentarily contact the center rail, has been due to dirty wheels . . .

Clean the wheeels with a wire wheel on a dremel tool. Make sure the track is clean as well.

 

Since you bought it used I would clean all the wheels, oil them and grease the motor gears.

After looking at some "lead trucks" on other locomotives, I think that the problem is with the spring tension on the lead truck as was suggested by some other forum members.  I took the truck off and there is a long stem rivet that goes through a cone shaped space and there is a  cone shaped spring as well.  Maybe if I put some type of spacer at the bottom of the cone the spring will be shorter and therefore have more tension?

As the saying goes, "Something is Rotten in Denmark"

 

The pilot truck has no center rail pickup duties, so it only contacts the running rails--which are electrically identical. There shouldn't be any significant amount of current running through them in any direction (much less enough to generate sparks), unless one of the running rails is isolated from its companion and provided with its own ground path. Or the drivers are somehow presenting an inadequate (or even nonexistent) return path to the running rails.

 

I just find it substantially weird in any case that the pilot truck is sparking, dirty wheels or not.

 

---PCJ

I totally agree with RailRide above.  There should be no sparking on lead truck.  Check if some part of the truck is contacting the center rail.

 

Earl

Why would there only be sparks when proceeding forward through a curve but not backing up through the same curve?

Dirty wheels and tracks!

But why just on the curves when the engine is going forward?

The wheels and truck ride different on the rails when pushed vs pulled.  You can run your train forward at very high speeds whereas if you run your train in reverse at a very high speed, the train is much more likely to derail. 

 

You still need to look for some surface on your front truck that is contacting the center rail.  Is the front truck de-railed when you see the sparks?

 

Earl

It's the darnedest thing.  The front truck does not de-rail. Three's visible sparks from the wheels on both sides of the truck.  Also, the long stemmed screw that's on the rear of the truck sparks as well.  I checked and it's fully tightened so it can't be hanging down too low.  I can't find an exploded diagram of the engine so I don't know if there's supposed to be some kind of insulated washer there.  Also if the engine is run forward at low speeds it will stop and short out.

If you had a short in the engine, it would short through the main drive wheels too and the engine probably not run at all so I don't think the problem is in the engine. 

 

If you have a voltmeter, check the resistance from the front truck to a center roller.  The circuit should be open.  If the circuit is not open, you have a problem internal to the engine.

 

If the above check is OK put the engine in neutral with power applied to the rails and push the engine slowly through the curve until you see the sparks.  Then look at the front truck to see if any part is touching the center rail.  If that is OK, look at the rollers and make sure none of the rollers are touching an outside rail.

 

Let us know what you find.

 

Good Luck...

Earl

Use rubbing alcohol to clean everything, then put a drop of lubricant on the axles.

 

Andrew

 

I ran it very slow through the curve and it stopped. but I could see a "spark" where the rear of the bracket on the front truck seemed to get too close to the front "power roller".  I was thinking of trying to put a very small piece of electrical tape on the bracket??

The tape may just mask your problem.  The truck should be at the same electrical potential as the chassis and no spark should occur there.  There are probably millions of locos running with no electrical tape required.  Your's would be a first.

 

Getting close to the roller is OK, but actually touching the bracket chill cause sparks.  The bracket may be mis-installed or bent.

 

The fact that the sparking only occurs on the curves suggests that something is contacting the front truck when it rotates.  Take a good look around the truck to see if there is a loose wire anywhere in the area which could be from the smoke unit or headlight.

 

Try the electrical check I mentioned in the above post And let us know your results.  

 

Earl