I've recently been given an Egger-Bahn electric loco (thanks Jeremy) which I'll be modifying at some point with new bodywork on the old frames. A quick test revealed it to be a non-runner, so the first job was to strip the chassis and clean it up. Using cotton buds and isopropyl alcohol I removed a fair amount of oil from the motor and chassis, and a lot of black gunk from the brushes and commutator. Now the motor runs quite nicely, but in the process a moulded gear axle snapped away from the plastic chassis block, it should sit halfway between the other two moulded axles (click for a bigger pic.);
I can only assume that either oil contamination or age made the plastic brittle.
I drilled a .6mm hole in the remaining stub, using a jewellers loupe to help line the drill up by eye, then followed with a 1.5mm drill;
A quick turn with a larger drill de-burred the hole. Then I cut a short length of 1.5mm steel rod and pushed it in the drilled hole, not bothering to glue it as the sideframe will keep it in place;
And here is the chassis back in one piece;
The metal block between the wheels is a magnet. Someone must have thought that a good idea...
Paul.
Egger track had steel rails and they fitted magnets to their chassis to help adhesion.It dididn't help much!
ReplyDeleteYou'd think that adding a bit lump of weight would have been cheaper and more effective!
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