Fix'n a steamer

[spr1955]

I know there are some very talented steam locomotive craftsmen here so I ask the question, How would you fix this?



David P.

[victor miranda]

ooof.
looks like you have a broken 4 driver axle.
the valve work is not hard, and practive helps.
If the chassis is bent you are looking at a lower price for the repair.

I hate to say it this way, but you have a parts donor
in terms of cost, you may want to find a used one.
call b-mann, they sell pieces.  You may find the parts for the loco are reasonable.

are you able to disassemble?

victor

[spr1955]

The drivers are fine it's the valve gear that has popped off.
How would you secure it back onto the "rivet"?
Or did I miss something else?

David P.

[mmagliaro]

Can you take a closer photo?  I want to withhold my suggestion until I can see it better.

[spr1955]

I see why the original mistake. The fisheye effect of my camera is causing the left and right extremes of the photo to show "out of kilter" they are actually straight. This was shot in macro mode.
I will work on a better shot. The focus is the valve gear popped off it's post and I don't know how to keep it on once it's re-positioned.

David P.

[spr1955]

A closer view.

[superturbine]

Its a loose ecentric rod..... press it back on to the pin. Take a. Soldering iron with a lite amount of solder on it and touch the end of the rivet/ pin.  You are not soldering the rod on you are only building up the end of the rivet head.

[spr1955]

Yes, a skill set that I have not a lot of experience with, pointers would be helpful. First try did not take to the rivet, the rivet and rod are basically the same level so it is hard to get to the rivet and not include the rod.


David P.

[superturbine]

All you need to do is build up the head of the eccentric crack pin, if you want you could try a small amount of super glue at the end of the pin, just enough to make the head of the pin larger to prevent the eccentric rod from coming off of the crank.  Another option is to take a small set of pliers and spread the eccentric crank pin-end so that the rod cannot come off. 

[sizemore]

Aren't the parts interchangeable between the Heavy and Light Mtn?

http://estore.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66_70_82&products_id=376

The S.

[spr1955]

Ok, tried soldering the rivet head. did that and filed it down a bit. Now I think I might have transmitted a little too much heat to the main pin to the driver.... as it seems to want to come out, or maybe I don't have the postion correct for the ecentric rod. How do I position the ecentric in the proper place, sorry I'm not a big steam guy but would like to be.  Also I would think I could put a teeny tiny bit of acc on the tip of the pin to secure once the ecentric was correct.

David P.

[superturbine]

The eccentric crack end will be centered on the driver Axel (center of the driver).

[pnolan48]

I've got the same problem on a Micro-Ace 0-6-6-0, except that engine is so tiny I'm afraid to breathe on it. Will try the ACC route. If I can find the +16 Optivisor.

[mmagliaro]

In reply to how to position the eccentric rod:
get the driver so the crankhole is at dead bottom.  Then, the crank should point straight up or slightly angled toward the front of the engine,
, the eccentric rod horizontal, and the expansion link kinda vertical.     Up, over, and up.

If you study the motion on this page, you can get a good idea of how it should look:  (a beautiful animation of Walschaerts valve gear
in motion!)
http://www.mekanizmalar.com/walschaerts_valve_gear.html

You can also look at almost any other steam loco you have lying around and set the arm the same way.  Crank hole at the bottom,
then up, over, and up.

*********************************************************************************************
EDIT:  DO NOT MAKE A FIRM SOLDER JOINT or use LOCTITE AS I SUGGEST BELOW.  I mistook which joint was broken in this problem,
and I posted more on it later.  I AM ADDING THIS EDIT TO KEEP PEOPLE FROM TRYING TO SOLDER THAT THING "FIRM",
which is a mistake.  My heartfelt apologies.
*********************************************************************************************

As for the the eccentric popping off, I have to say I would not have tried touching the tip of that pin wiht a hot iron while it was in the wheel.
I would have expected the plastic driver to melt, or at least the hole to soften and grow from the heat (and it sounds
like that's what has happened).  If you keep having problems with that crankpin not staying in, you may have to put a drop
of LocTite or JB Weld epoxy in there, push the pin in, and hope for the best.

Take the crankpin out first.  Then fine sandpaper the end, tin it with solder,
 put it back in THROUGH the eccentric crank, and then touch with a soldering iron
to firmly solder it to the crank.  The eccentric has to be firmly locked to that pin.  It can't flop around on it.
You can probably leave the longer eccentric rod attached to the engine while you solder.  Just be quick.

If all this delicate soldering scares you, you could try some epoxy or LocTite on there.  But I have a feeling that will work itself loose
without much running time.

Looking at the heavy mountain I have in a box, it looks like that split pin end is originally put through the crank arm and struck to flare it
and keep that crank tight on there.

[spr1955]

Great animation. That helps a whole lot. If that driver pin does not stay in I may have to replace the driver. When I get home I'll see how it does with everything lined up correctly.

David P.