G`day Folks, Welcome to this weeks edition of Gormo`s Shed. The sub-title pretty much tells the story. The loco was bought second hand many years ago and was running. The running gradually got worse and worse to the point where it wouldn`t run at all. Now that I`ve opened it up, I`m surprised it ran at all. What ever was used as a lubricant by the former owner has made an unholy mess of the inside of the motor and surrounds. It has congealed into a black sticky substance which has gone hard in some places. The wiring is unreliable and the loco needs traction tyres, so the video below shows some of the process involved in " Putting It Right !!!!" Let`s Put It Right http://www.clickGormo
Great video Gormo showing the inner workings of a older model Just shows a good clean and a little tidying up a few repairs and it's ready for service again.
Thanks Chris... Yes mate.....repairs are the order of the day. I think eventually the plastic section holding the pick ups will shatter. A piece broke off when I was handling it. But I reckon a circuit board home made job could replace it and bolt in easy enough. If I have to do that I will also put in an extra set of pick ups on the center wheels in the bogie. http://www.clickGormo
Nicely done! Most wiring of that day in Hornby was diabolical, it may have been badly soldered in the factory like that, I have seen plenty of that. Their preference for light duty wire does not help. Also the connections for the light globes are usually optimistic to say the least. At least yours didn't seem to have the spade terminals wedged into the pick-up bogie, first thing that goes wrong here is that pops out, but this motor looks a very early ring field type. The grease could have been worse, Hornby could have gone to the Garrard Turntable factory and used their grease, it turned to glue! making repairs very difficult, especially when the mechanism was riveted together and not bolted ...but I digress! Cheers Tony
Excellent 'How To' Gormo. Plenty of info to even get the novice to service there own Ringfield motor. Cheers, Gary.
Thanks Tony & Gary, Today I`ve had it running most of the day, making adjustments here and there and fiddling with it. Generally it`s running quite well but it`s not 100% over groups of points or slips so I think in the end I will completely replace the pick up system with circuit board and phosphor bronze wire. At least by doing that the loco will have a fighting change of nice smooth running. I will add extra pick ups to the centre set of wheels in the pick up bogie and then see if there`s anything I can do with the motor bogie. I could probably even try some Tomar Shoes under the motor bogie. The under carriage sits quite low and you probably wouldn`t even notice them when they`re painted black. Anyway food for thought.....at least it runs now....any improvements are a bonus. Below is a video of it running today. Let`s Put It Right Part 2 http://www.clickGormo
Very enjoyable viewing Gormo. great to see a loco come back from the dead. It did look in a pretty bad way with all that grease and crap on it. shining like a new pin now its had the Gormo treatment cheers and thanks for sharing it with us. cheers toto
Great "how to" Gormo , its a brilliant feeling bringing something back to life that otherwise would just gather dust sitting in a siding or the back of a drawer. Cheer's, Pete.
Thanks Ed & Pete, Well it`s running but I`m still not 100% happy with it. Three issues to be dealt with.....one....build a new pick up system which includes the middle wheel set on the pick up bogie. ........two.......work out some sort of independent suspension system for the pick up bogie. This will keep the wheels in permanent contact with the rail.......and three......the wheels are too thick....they are shorting on some of my insulfrogs so maybe pull them off and grind them down...????? I am going to park this loco for a while and muster up the enthusiasm to attack it again. At least it is running now and any further work done will only improve it. I have also changed the lights in the head codes over to white LED`s.....looks good... http://www.clickGormo
