I've been tasked with repairing the old Rivarossi Challenger for the WMRHS collection.
At some point in its long career, the front engine locked up, and she sat buzzing away unattended for an extended period of time, causing the motor to overheat. The armature itself seems okay, but the plastic bit that houses the brushes was devoured. There was a feeble attempt to repair it, (actually, two feeble attempts, the second being mine last night). Anyway, the motor runs and seems fine, but it heats up to an unacceptable level, which I'm assuming is evidence of residual damage from the original overheat.
So now the challenge is to find a new motor for this beastie. I looked at some Atlas motors to see if there was a possibility, but the frame is too long for the available space. The closest I could get was a motor from an A/K RS-3, but even that was long by about 1/8".
The original motor is an open frame 3-pole affair, with the worm screws mounted right to the shaft. (The A/K motor shaft is a tad small for that task, too...)
Here's the motor in question:
The second shows my repair, I built a little styrene shim and reamed out a spot for the brush housing. It works, and the motor runs, but it still runs really hot. I could re-assemble as is, but I suspect it would be a very temporary fix. I'm looking for something a little more permanent.
What to do, what to do?
Lee
