Progress on my tramway.

[PhilP]

Now... Time to show my ignorance!!

From 'a very small age' I was under the impression that a 'ball race' had to have a full set of err.. balls.
Probably from the fact the was one kicking around in my Fathers 'bits box' which was obviously short of said item, because you could take it apart to get at the ball bearings to play with!

I see that bearing doesn't have a 'full set' (for want of a better term).

Am I to presume that my thoughts are wrong?
Do they tend to even out around the circumference?
Does it depend whether the bearing will be vertical, or horizontal?

 

[stockers]

You need to leave room for the balls to move. (Stop sniggering at the back). So. no. the race is not full.

 

[No72]

Here are the trolley wheels. The shaft is 1mm OD brass rod that I had to tin to swell it up a tad so that it was an interference fit into the bearings. The OD of the bearings is a 2.98mm but a 2.8mm drill provides a snug fit for the outer shell. Four down now to make the Harps.... Yes I regret selling my watchmakers lathe.....

 

[No72]

You need to leave room for the balls to move. (Stop sniggering at the back). So. no. the race is not full.

Under normal standards the balls are put into the race and spaced by a frame which spaces the balls evenly, that's how the balls get in there.. I still dont see how they got the balls in there. As the bearing rotates they spread out because the shaft with inner race tends to wobble eccentrically thus spreading out the balls... If that makes sense...

 

[No72]

I have the wheels on the wire. Under test things are looking good, no observable brownouts.... Nor sure how long the bit of graphite in the collar that collects the current is going to last.

 

[No72]

I was asked today by the conductress "what are you going to do when you finish that?" I said I doubt that it will ever be finished..... I have discovered that all the speed controls for reasons unknown have died and no longer work I do have some spares but I have some no name ones without the capacitors that seem to dry out and cause the malfunction..... Anyway to cut a long story short ( pardon the electrical pun) I had to completely rewire car No1, my toast-rack. It now runs but the overhead has yet to be cleaned fully so its a tad erratic.... Sorry I cant upload the video....

 

[No72]

What an exercise, time for a cuppa, date scone and a nap.....
After days of stuffing around trying to get trams to run smoothly, after nearly getting drunk on Isopropyl alcohol fumes from cleaning the wire and track it turned out that it was the transmitter to be at fault. Its really embarrassing to admit that there were cold soldered joints and very dodgy potentiometers involved.... So I went thru and desoldered each component and resoldered is in accordance with IPC J-STD-001. Then I discovered the potentiometers were not functioning as per requirements . Pulled one to bits in frustration and the carbon track inside has peeled off the substrate, jeezzzz... Fortunately I had 5 similar and put them in along with an order for 5 x B5K wire wound ones.... I have replaced the 6th channel that was proportional with a switch which can be used on all the trams to turn on lights and on the steam tram the 2 channel one I'll use to control headlights and smoke.... Now that's going to be fun, clouds of coal smelling smoke filling the house, I can envisage some acrimony with this.....

 

[No72]

Even worse than I thought... still having problems with the Tx.... As you may recall this is a "RECASE" of a 6 channel RC system that allows the user to "bind" the Tx with up to 99 Rx's and use them all at the same time where as most RC systems will only allow binding with 1 Rx at a time. Thats why I chose that setup because it lets me use each channel to drive one tram forward and reverse without having to select each receiver one at a time....................... So I have 3 solutions; 1 buy a new Tx and put the circuit board in my case, 2 run the existing board over my scanner and work up PCB artwork and make a decent board on fibreglass board rather than the elcheapo phenolic stuff they use. Then buy myself the components and solder it all up... There are only a few complex components on the board and I suspect one of those chips to be faulty - but it could be anything and my skills are not so good at fault diagnosis especially when I dont have a schematic.... 3, There are circuits I can download to make one from scratch, including the artwork. The 2 latter two options require I fire up my etching tank I guess....
What does intrigue me is that all this damage has been done by the thing sitting there unused...

 

[No72]

I have done some work on the combination car. Its now fitted with all LED lighting, including new interior lighting and that is controlled by an electronic switch on Channel 6, they are cheap as chips and handle LEDs well. It was No 5 in the fleet but due to a rationalisation of car numbers it will become 4. The Steam tram will become 1A , its trailer 1B as per prototype practise... You will have to not see the wires coming out from underneath as I hooked it up pro tem as the lights wont turn on with out the command and the transmitter is Romeo Sierra... Work is underway on replacing the transmitter but my thumb is still giving me heaps so holding a soldering iron is tricky.
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1pc-RC-Receiver-Single-Channel-Controlled-Switch-Car-Lights-Remote-For-RC-Car/152703108778?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

 

[No72]

So the question is: Do I replace the Black Box Tram controller with a similar style redolent of the golden age replete with black bakelite knobs and toggle switches or do I go "modern" with chrome illuminated push buttons and brushed knobs.... There was to be a third option in the Poll; I have no idea about Industrial Design so I'm not answering....
If consensus can't be achieved then I will implement a phone plebiscite. So what is it, picture 1 or picture 2...

 

[No72]

Now... Time to show my ignorance!!

From 'a very small age' I was under the impression that a 'ball race' had to have a full set of err.. balls.
Probably from the fact the was one kicking around in my Fathers 'bits box' which was obviously short of said item, because you could take it apart to get at the ball bearings to play with!

I see that bearing doesn't have a 'full set' (for want of a better term).

Am I to presume that my thoughts are wrong?
Do they tend to even out around the circumference?
Does it depend whether the bearing will be vertical, or horizontal?

They are quote "deep groove bearings" Presumably they will spread out around the working surfaces. Since getting them I have actually put a drop of oil into one to see what happens and all it did was increase the friction and they dont spin readily.... In my application the load is minuscule but interestingly a lot less friction than a brass wheel revolving on a shaft determined by practical rather than theoretical testing.....

 

[No72]

Today's challenge should you choose to accept it is to pair up the new destination boxes. I made these to replace the originals which have become worn and let the light out at the wrong places. So for a grand prize of 2 Brass Razoos pair up the destinations.... There are one side box and one front box for each plus the other end of the route is on another pair....

 

[PhilP]

Right:
If as displayed, top row 1-4, bottom row stays as is..
Top row should be:
2, 4, 3, 1.

I claim my 'Brass Razoos'.. - I hope to cross-breed them with some of Fr. Fred's 'round tuits'..
I hope to get a brassy round tuit!

 

[No72]

Right:
If as displayed, top row 1-4, bottom row stays as is..
Top row should be:
2, 4, 3, 1.

I claim my 'Brass Razoos'.. - I hope to cross-breed them with some of Fr. Fred's 'round tuits'..
I hope to get a brassy round tuit!

I'm speachless.... You worked that out yet all the aficionados on TDU were more interested in why Bondi's symbol is the Japanese flag.... Here is a nice brassy round tuit to save you having to cross breed...

 

[No72]

My new transmitter ( HK-T6A V2 6 channel - AU$27 -how can they make it for that?) arrived and I thought I'd fire things up before I put it in its new box. Zilch, dead, nothing; but channel 6 works and the cars fitted with the electronic switch can have their headlights controlled... That led me to the speed controllers. I had some still in unopened packets so I tried those out, also dead and they cost big money.... As a last resort I tested an elcheapo AU$ 5.50 one I had laying around. Its only suitable for 10amps @ 10VDC but I'm running it on 13.8VDC and it works superbly, doesn't even get hot I guess because its only having 3 amp total dragged through it... It will however need something stuck over the onboard led as it lights up the underneath of the car...
I have a suspicion that on the expensive ones the capacitors may have dried out but it would cost too much to bother diagnosing / repairing them when a replacement is going to cost $5.50 inc post..... So Mr Turnigy and Mr Eagle you can keep your expensive ESC's and I'll run with the Chinese elcheapos....

 

[PhilP]

I'm speachless.... You worked that out yet all the aficionados on TDU were more interested in why Bondi's symbol is the Japanese flag.... Here is a nice brassy round tuit to save you having to cross breed...

Excellent! I will cherish that..

 

[No72]

My California Combination car is ready to go, even got black paint over the led on the ESC so it does not light up under the car. I may give the bumpers another coat of red though... I had to increase the spring pressure on the trolley pole though as the wheel kept coming off even on straight sections of wire. Its been renumbered No4 in alignment with the new numbering policy.

 

[No72]

I've been experimenting with lighting.... The saloon car is to have Federation style glazing in the clerestory which needs to be shown off. Conventional LEDs are for some reason designed to only be seen from the front so I thought maybe machining an inverted cone into the end may reflect the light to the side.... Guess what it does....

 

[No72]

Very satisfied with the federation colour clerestory glazing. I wondered how to do it accurately. I have done some of this previously in cobalt blue which along with red, bottle green, amber and purple were the "on trend" colours of the day. I solved the problem in a devious manner, I bought via eBay a stained glass repair kit which came with 10 inter-mixable colours and clear resin. So as can be seen from the illustrations I made up a batch of red and green and poured those into alternate frames, allow to gel then back-fill with clear resin to hold the individual panes together... Quite a pleasing result but will wait to see if anyone gasps when they see the effect in real life... Will fit all the Bachmann 4 wheel trams if anyone needs any....

 

[mike]

Can i vote with no.1. Stay old school