Parts for LifeLike SW9/SW1200

[Bart1701]

I was installing a decoder into a Life Like SW9/SW1200 today. The instructions had you remove the brush caps from the motors to make soldering the wires to them easier. Inside the brush cap is a spring and a metal cylinder which you put to the side while doing this. All was going along nicely until I tried to get the springs and metal cylinders back into the brush caps. You guessed it - the springs (both of them) have popped out and likely landed on the carpet.    I've been down on my hands and knees searching for the springs, but I fear that this is a lost cause.

1) Does anyone know where I would be able to get two replacement springs?

2)Does anyone have any great tips on how to find them in the carpet? I've been down there with a bright flashlight looking for them, but who knows where they flew off to !

3) Assuming I can obtain or find the springs, any hints on re-assembling the brush cap, spring and metal cylinder? The photo I am looking at seems to suggest that the spring goes into the cap first and then the metal cylinder. But the text instructions said to put the cylinder in first, and then put the spring in the brush cap. I had followed the text instructions.

Thanks!
Bart

[GN Fan]

I was at Harbor Freight today and bought a powerful magnet.  For $1.99, it is about the size of a box of matches, and can lift 30 pounds.  It has a small handle.  I have attatched string to the handle and swung it back and forther over a rug that holds a very small screw from my wife's sewing machine.  I found it.

Tom Todd - GN Fan

[Bart1701]

An update...

I found one of the springs. I tried putting it in like the photo in the instructions showed - with the spring going into the brush cap first and followed by the metal cylinder. I don't know if that's the right order, but it went back into the motor smoothly. If it is correct, then a picture would be worth a thousand words - since the written instructions I was using don't match the photo in the instructions.

As a test, I did put the spring I found onto the carpet to see how visible it would be. It seemed pretty visible and easy to see, so I will continue to search the room.

Tom - thanks for the magnet idea - I'll run by Home Depot tomorrow to see what they have in the way of magnets.

Bart

[Burlington Bob]

The brushes (your "metal cylinder") will go in first to make contact with the commutator and the springs will go in last and covered by the brush caps to provide pressure on the brushes against the commutator. 

[trainforfun]

One of the best place to buy spring and brushes ( "metal cylinder" ) is Kato , there is a minimum charge for delivery that is on the heavy side I would say , but at least they fit , and they have it .

when I re-install brushes and spring in a motor I always put them in the copper cap and then slid everything in the motor . If you hold the copper cap with the opening upward everything will stay inside the cap and will not fell . If you do it that way then you put the spring at the bottom , then the brushes and then slid everything in the motor .

[u18b]

Ahhh.  The carpet gods have seized another victim for their evil plans.

[peteski]

Don't bother with a magnet to find those springs: unlike most steel springs, brush springs are almost always made from non-magnetic phosphor bronze. 

EDIT: If possible, like trainforfun,  I also load the spring and brush (on that order) into the hollow brass cap. If that is not possible (the brush wont' stay in the brass cap, I then install the brush in the opening in the motor then install the spring in the brass cap. Then while keeping both horizontal (so nothing falls out) I very gently insert the brass cap into the opening in the motor. If all goes well then as you are sliding the brass cap deeper, the brush will slide into the hole in the brass cap. But don't force it. If this doesn't happen, then as soon as you place the brass cap in the opening in the motor (while in horizontal position), turn the motor to vertical position before pushing the brass cap further down the hole. Being vertical might make it easier for the brush to find its way into the hole in the brass cap.

[Bart1701]

Thanks for all of the advice so far!

1) Thanks for the tip about the magnet not working for finding my spring.

2) Also, thanks for the clarification on what order everything goes together in the brush cap. Now that I understand the design of the motors a little better, it all makes sense now. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I am slowly getting there. I just wish I had only looked at the picture in the documentation (which was correct) as opposed to the text instructions (which were wrong). Being a guy, you'd think I would not have even bothered looking at any directions 

3) I stopped by Home Depot and they did have some tiny little springs. The salesperson pulled them out of a box of little parts in the key and lock area of the store.  I am assuming they are used to repair the cylinders in lock. The spring does fit into the brush cap. It is a bit tight, but it does go in without any effort. It would need to be trimmed to the proper length. The question now is that it is silver in color, so I am guessing this could be steel? If so, would using this have any negative impact?

4) Finally, Kato's Parts Department was suggested as a possible source for a spring. Any suggestions on where to find it it their parts section? Would all N gauge brush cap springs be the same size?


I have not given up on finding my lost spring, but the prospects are getting dimmer.

Thanks,
Bart

[peteski]

Bart,
the Kato N scale part you are looking for is 927010. Yes, all N scale Kato motors use the same brush/spring.



Go to http://katousa.com/parts-catalog/information.html and search for that number (or just for "brush" as I did).  I can't say for sure that the Kato brush and spring are the size as Walthers/Life-Like (but others say that they probably are).  I will also dig through my stash of motors to see if I might have a spare.  If I do, I could just mail a spring to you.

The lock cylinder spring you got is probably too stiff and it might wear the brush prematurely (or if it is not free to stretch inside the brass cap then it will not put a steady pressure on the brush.)

[u18b]

The spring pushes the brush onto the electrical contacts.  So if the new spring is too tight, there is no terrible effect.
1. The brush will wear out faster
2. making more crud faster
3. it MIGHT add more friction and slow the motor down a bit.

But none of these are the end of the world.

[Bart1701]

Thanks for everyone's help and advice. I ordered the brush spring set from Kato tonight. $ 9.00 total, including shipping- in all respects, not too bad a price to get my locomotive running! Wished I still lived in the Chicago suburbs near Schaumburg where Kato is located. I could have just driven over there and saved the $ 6.00 shipping charge.

Thanks again!
Bart