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I have 4 Athearn Diesels that don't pull as well as my Trainline engines & I was wondering if I could add weights to them. Would the motors still run or would it drag them down? I'm only running DC & the only place I could add any weights would be inside the top of the shell. There's room in front & back. I'm afraid to glue them in, in case I have to remove them. I was thinking about double faced tape.
Larry
I run athearn blue box locos in dcc, and have added weight in the top of the shell, in the sides of the cab on the c44-9w or ac4400, and sometimes along the frame in the areas where it wont interfere with the driveline. As for it dragging down the motor, it will definitely require an increase in voltage in dc to get it moving now, but it will pull better as it has more traction now. With dcc, we can increase the starting voltage so it takes off sooner to make it more compatable to other locos such as the proto's.
Thanks Eric. All of mine are the C44-9w except the one AC4400. There's a lot of room inside the top of the shell. My transformer has a start boost on it, so, I shouldn't have any problems. After the train show tomorrow I'll cut down some weights to fit. I know that will fix the problem. My Proto 2000 engine is almost twice the weight of the Athearns.
Thanks Eric. All of mine are the C44-9w except the one AC4400. There's a lot of room inside the top of the shell. My transformer has a start boost on it, so, I shouldn't have any problems. After the train show tomorrow I'll cut down some weights to fit. I know that will fix the problem. My Proto 2000 engine is almost twice the weight of the Athearns.
Just remember, added weight means added starting voltage and amp draw and decreased motor brush life. Athearns are aleady power hogs to start with, plus added wight at the top of the shell could make it top heavy.
There is no such thing as a free lunch, nor free power. Everything is a trade off.
Karl, I figured even a little weight would help. Some is better than none I guess.
I'm going to start out glueing them in w/double face tape. If it's to heavy, then they will be fairly easy to get them out.
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