traction tyres

Smokeyone · 2007-12-02

Just a general query, I have a trix six wheel diesel I have been dusting off. Even tried adding a decoder. However it now hesitates or even stops at turnouts. Just one wheel has a traction tyre so am guessing this is the cause of the problem. Is it sacrilidge to remove the traction tyre and try and add a bit of weight inside. I have found another way around the problem, make certain the traction tyre is on the side of the track that has a continous rail through turnouts which means turning the loco around from time to time.

A

alastairq

· #2 · Dec 2, 2007

does it pick up lecky from just the driven bogie?

if not, check/clean/adjust the wheel pickups on the other bogie?

also, likewise on the power bogie....

[or fit a pantograph and get the juice from the overhead......[steeplecabs spring to mind again?]]....

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dwb

· #3 · Dec 2, 2007

We have a Trix Re460 (photos in the gallery) which is a BoBo in UK speak 4/4 in Euro speak (I think) so it has eight wheels. It has traction tyres on two wheels on opposite corners. The other six wheels are set to pick up power. It has been converted to DCC and is still running fine and can crawl through my pointwork where I have long dead spots as I have not yet wired up the frogs.

So check your wheels and pickups are clean is the only advice I can offer.

David

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Smokeyone

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 2, 2007

QUOTE (dwb @ 2 Dec 2007, 11:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>We have a Trix Re460 (photos in the gallery) which is a BoBo in UK speak 4/4 in Euro speak (I think) so it has eight wheels. It has traction tyres on two wheels on opposite corners. The other six wheels are set to pick up power. It has been converted to DCC and is still running fine and can crawl through my pointwork where I have long dead spots as I have not yet wired up the frogs.

So check your wheels and pickups are clean is the only advice I can offer.

David

It has pickups on one side, three wheels, including the traction tyred one. They seem to be very thin sprung wires,
is there some way to improve them !

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dwb

· #5 · Dec 2, 2007

QUOTE They seem to be very thin sprung wires, is there some way to improve them
Our engine is too new to need any fettling of that kind so I can't help on that score, though my experience is that if this type of pickup works from the beginning it tends to stay that way, and if it isn't it stays that way too.

I have managed to diagnose pickup problems using a rolling road. I arrange the road so that the pair of wheels under test are the only ones supplying power. Then I run the locomotive and wind the speed down until it stalls. I have "flying" leads attached to each rail. When the locomotive stalls I connect each flying lead in turn to the appropriate point on the motor side of the pickup and see which one restarts the motor. By passing the pickup in this way shows me which one is at fault.

I have used this method to greatly improve a Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T. I discovered that there was a quarter of one wheel where there was an invisible isolation layer on the back of the wheel face. Once I had cleaned this up, pickup was improved a lot. Richard had pointed out in a previous post that he had encountered a similar problem on such a model.

I realise that that's probably not much help to you, sorry.

David

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Smokeyone

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 2, 2007

QUOTE (dwb @ 2 Dec 2007, 12:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Our engine is too new to need any fettling of that kind so I can't help on that score, though my experience is that if this type of pickup works from the beginning it tends to stay that way, and if it isn't it stays that way too.

I have managed to diagnose pickup problems using a rolling road. I arrange the road so that the pair of wheels under test are the only ones supplying power. Then I run the locomotive and wind the speed down until it stalls. I have "flying" leads attached to each rail. When the locomotive stalls I connect each flying lead in turn to the appropriate point on the motor side of the pickup and see which one restarts the motor. By passing the pickup in this way shows me which one is at fault.

I have used this method to greatly improve a Hornby Fowler 2-6-4T. I discovered that there was a quarter of one wheel where there was an invisible isolation layer on the back of the wheel face. Once I had cleaned this up, pickup was improved a lot. Richard had pointed out in a previous post that he had encountered a similar problem on such a model.

I realise that that's probably not much help to you, sorry.

David

Thanks for the tips anyway. I'll double check the back of the tyres, maybe there is a tiny spot that could do with an extra clean.

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