A struggling newbie

A 'chippied' loco can be set to run on DC, and most are by default..

Try cleaning the back-face of the wheels, where the 'black' circle mark on the wheel-backs shows the brushes rub..
Nothing too vicious.. Cotton bud or cloth with a bit of meths. / lighter fluid or the like (not too much!). You do not need to clean back to bright metal, just get rid of contamination.
 
boogie said:
I thought that if it was chipped it would not work on DC power.
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No, a chipped loco will still run fine on DC, UNLESS someone has deliberately turned off the analogue DC option within the decoder (which is unlikely).
As folks have already said, the condition of the wheels, skates etc is pretty good - certainly not enough wear to indicate hard use - and there does not look to be TOO much old grease around the gears.
If you can read the six digits printed on the round gold stocker, then the first and last digits indicate the year of manufacture of your particular loco (eg: 9xxxx8 would a '98 model, 0xxxx2 a 2002 and so on). The presence of the "direct decoder" sticker shows that it is later than the introduction of the MTS system, which puts it as around a '99 or later I think.

Jon.
 
dunnyrail said:
I wonder if it has a Chip inside that is drawing a lot of juice? That could be an issue...
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The actual electronics of a decoder only requires a few milliAmps, it's negligible in normal operation and would have to be seriously faulty/smoking to cause a problem and draw a lot of current :-) Unlikely the loco would run at all in such a failure condition.

Is the Stainz loco like some other LGBs which can suffer motor failure if someone over-fills the smoke unit and the stuff leaks down inside into the motor?

As as been mentioned above, the block looks to be in good condition overall, so this is starting to look like time to extract the motor if the loco has been measured on the workbench as drawing significant current.
 
The loco is a sound one from a starter set. I have an exact same model here. My 'OK' sticker has the number 001113.
Below is a snippet from 'stockers' post here on GSC therefore my one must have been made around November 2003. Sounds about right.
The OP's loco also starts with a zero so it was made early this century in the 'naughties' like mine.

"The little gold 'OK' sticker on the bottom of your LGB stock has a batch code on it. From this the approx date of manufacture can be seen.
The first and last numbers are the year of manufacture
The second and third number is supposed t be the day of the month of manufacture but all codes seem to be for the first of the month - 01
The fourth and fifth numbers are the month of manufacture."

If you are going to re-lube the locomotive, make sure you use plastic compatible grease. I recently bought some 'Labelle 106' PTFE grease 16.5 gram tube from a hobby shop. Expensive but should do a good number of locos.
 
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Check any screws you remove for length.. On some their are two differing lengths of screw.

Set them out so you know where they have come from.

A digital camera (or phone) allows lot's of 'aide-memoire' pictures to be taken..

Watch the quartering when you put things back together.
 
boogie said:
Thanks for all your help and advice. I'm going to strip her down tonight. Wish me luck.
Thanks Chris
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After that, will you have some time to look at your loco...? :rofl::rofl::rofl:

(Sorry, just couldn't resist - though I probably should have!)

On a more serious note..... a Stainz isn't the easiest of LGB locos to get apart, though it's not too bad if you take it step-by-step. I think there are a few vids up on youtube, and possibly some pictorial guides elsewhere online if you google around a bit. Remember to unscrew the two little black pieces attached to the footplate just ahead of the cab coal bunkers, which are in turn connected to the motion rods - until you've disconnected them from the footplate you won't be able to drop the gearbox unit out of the frame. On that point, even after all the necessary screws are removed, the gearbox can be a little bit tight between the frame sides, and may need a little bit of firm wiggling to actually get it out.

Does anyone else here have a good link to any article on dismantling a late-model Stainz? I had one, but have just checked it and the link seems to have died.

Jon.
 
PhilP said:
Check any screws you remove for length.. On some their are two differing lengths of screw.

Set them out so you know where they have come from.

A digital camera (or phone) allows lot's of 'aide-memoire' pictures to be taken..

Watch the quartering when you put things back together.
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Will have to do more research because I'm unsure of what quartering is, I assuming it something to do with the wheels?
 
boogie said:
Will have to do more research because I'm unsure of what quartering is, I assuming it something to do with the wheels?
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"Quartering", in this context, means ensuring that the wheels are correctly aligned in relation to each other to ensure that the connecting rods don't bind. When you reinstall the motor it is important to ensure that this is correct, otherwise the loco will run very roughly (if at all) - basically you need to carefully line up the front and rear wheels by eye as you drop the motor worms into mesh with the drive gears - if one axle is even a single tooth out of place then it won't run right. Thankfully if you do get it slightly off first time it is easy to just lift one end of the motor and move the gear round by one tooth, then check it again.

Jon.
 
boogie said:
Will have to do more research because I'm unsure of what quartering is, I assuming it something to do with the wheels?
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So described because, contrary to popular belief, the connecting rods on either side of the loco are set at 90 degrees to each other, not 180 degrees. (if they were at 180 degrees a 1:1 loco could stall.)
 
I really wish people would not explain what quartering is. If everyone knew I wouldn't be able to pick up the "bad runner" bargains anymore. ;)

Paul
 
Rhinochugger said:
So described because, contrary to popular belief, the connecting rods on either side of the loco are set at 90 degrees to each other, not 180 degrees. (if they were at 180 degrees a 1:1 loco could stall.)
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Am I right in saying that if the rods that connects to the wheel are at 3 o'clock on the left side the right hand side should both be at 6 o'clock?
 
Might be 6 might be 12. In fact on a model loco they may not actually be precisely at 90 degrees (depends how it was assembled), the important thing is to align all the wheels on one side so that the coupling rods lie parallel to the ground. The wheels on the other side should then naturally fall into place unless someone has somehow managed to twist a wheel on its axle (that can happen if the wheel and axle are not "keyed").
 
a98087 said:
What position is the 4 position slider switch in the cab firebox in? It could,have the smoke switched on and that could be drawing all the amps?
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It only have 3 position off/on no sound and on with sound. I did buy some smoke oil but it never worked and I think that's because it's not getting enough voltage?
 
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