enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I'm having some trouble with a Dash 9 running well. I believe the problem is poor electrical contact at the wheels. It's in good condition and the wheels and axles are clean and lubed. After a single lap outside, the power became poor and the engine stutters. Looking at the wheels, they picked up a lot of the ballast. As I'm trying to clean the wheel surface on the bench, I notice that it's stuttering pretty bad. So I would like to add the plungers like MTH has rubbing on the backs of the wheels. I believe they would be best. It would take some heavy mods to get them in there. So maybe just phosphor bronze wipers would be easier? I believe track sliders would be even tougher to add and I believe the wheel pickups work better. Has anyone done this? Should I just keep cleaning and leave it alone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Here is the stupid question : did you clean the track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Nope! The cleaning car was behind the loco. The grandkids couldn't wait for me to clean the track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Seems I saw on one of the forums lately about someone adding sliders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 It sounds like it was ok till it was run around the track so it sounds like your main issue is needing to properly clean the wheels and the rail itself. That said on the aristocraft motor blocks there are number of things that can lead to them having power pickup issues. Missing power pickup ball against the axle, inside power pickup metal tabs that go down each side of each gear box etc. Could be seeing an issue too where there is something not right with the power pickups on one or more axles. My guess is they are probably ok and just need to be cleaned but it's a possibility so might want to do continuity testing of each axle. As far as supplemental power pickup, there is nothing better than a slider but I can see how they would be tricky to install aftermarket on a motorblock. But before deciding on adding wheel power pickups it needs to first accurately be determined where the real issue it. If the engine ran fine around the loop once then started having problems it would indicate wheel to rail power pickup issues which is something an aftermarket wheel power pickup brush will not help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Well, I can't say how well it ran. It ran OK last year. I was having issues I blamed on my system. So many engines acted up, I believe it was a number of things all colliding at once. I was spoiled running in the basement for ten years! This engine was one of the ones that acted up at the end of the year. It wasn't run since. So the battery wasn't charged to help the situation out. As I was trying to clean the engine under power, it was stumbling on the bench. I decided that adding wipers would be the quickest thing to try. I attached some to the sides of the blocks and the engine ran well on the bench. They are not perfect yet. They are rubbing on the edge of the now clean wheels. I would prefer them more centered on the backs. I'll have to adjust them and see how they work out in the real world now. The Aristo axles pivot and it's hard to have wipers that don't. I also would have preferred to use carbon spring loaded plunger brushes. I used what I had. All this makes me appreciate my MTH Dash 8s all the more. I put them on the track and they run. I believe they have redundant power pickup points to help with the loads. I would like to modify the Aristo trucks to have this electrical redundancy. I'll add pictures if the wipers work good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 She runs good in the basement! I'll try the wipers for awhile and see how she holds up. I think the plunger style has better contact with the wheels and would stay better outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 Well they way I see it that's more of a band-aid to fix an underlying problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 Yeap! It's not up to your standards and I didn't even want to post it as a fix. It did make a big improvement. With the engine upside down on the bench, it wouldn't even run steady before this fix. It runs good right now. It had run good in the basement for a long time. I think the axle power points are slipping away. Maybe the dust got in there??? I think that MTH Dash 8s using a combination of sliders, carbon plunger brushes, and the axles for power pick-up is ideal. I have a steamer of theirs with the sliders off and it still ran great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 12, 2015 Author Share Posted May 12, 2015 http://www.ebay.com/itm/LGB-63193-ELECTRICAL-CONTACT-SET-OF-8-PIECES-BRAND-NEW-IN-BAG-/301618983017?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4639e47069 http://www.ebay.com/itm/LGB-63120-Electrical-Pickup-Brushes-Pack-of-8-G-Gauge-/331095507012?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d16d48044 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 13, 2015 Author Share Posted May 13, 2015 I ordered the LGB brushes to try and see how they work and hold up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Well let's see..your opening post stated After a single lap outside, the power became poor and the engine stutters. Then 3-1/2 hours later you post This engine was one of the ones that acted up at the end of the year. It wasn't run since. Just another example of folks wanting help but not getting the whole story in the original post. Folks respond by offering what they know about these drives and how to repair the power pickup problems but you just ignore them...So why even start a topic in the first place? Maybe you should fill us all into why fabricating/ installing HO Scale bronze style wheel wipers is superior the Aristo style ball bearing/ spring power pickups that are installed on all 12 wheels which with proper maintenance are virtually headache free? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted May 16, 2015 Author Share Posted May 16, 2015 The timing of the posts, make it sound like I didn't listen to Ray? I did check the blocks for condition and electrical power pickup. Rather than do nothing, I moved forward towards a solution. Thanks to everyone for guiding me towards solving this. I post back when I have positive results and I'll share my mistakes as well. Maybe it will help anyone make better decisions. I have the LGB plungers in front of me here and they are for G scale use. It would be difficult to add sliders to these blocks. If they need it, I will do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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