I'm sure this motor is in backwards !!!

[Smudge617]

I received a few Locomotive's some months ago (all runners) from the US, and all going cheaper than I can get in the UK, (despite USPS, and HMRC).
I finally got round to having a look-see, take stock of what's there/not there so I can order up or find anything that I might need.

Came across this Athearn SD45 (which I forgot I had) I knew the female armature couplings had stress fractures, (which I found weird, till I opened the bodyshell) and some rather inventive wiring (translate as dodgy) and something I found hard to fathom, I realised the fly wheels are missing, (their going to be a pain to get) but somehow the previous owner managed to do this, now I'm definitely not an expert, but isn't the motor in backwards??

The drive couplings have steel, not plastic balls in the u/j's and the wiring seems to be from their house.

 

[D&J RailRoad]

I don't know if the motor is in backward or wired backward, but that wire, you could prolly draw 20 amps with that.
As for no flywheels, that would make the motor rather quick response to throttle. I would be inclined to think the previous owner had a slot car perspective of running trains and wanted a quick throttle response when coming out of the curves.
Athearn sells the Genesis motors with flywheels online or you can find em in your local hobby shop.

 

[bnsf971]

That’s a replacement motor. The original was one of the old iron ring motors with steel flywheels (if flywheel equipped). Out of the box, those old motors had an amp draw that would dim the room lights when throttling up. The gold motor is a modern replacement, and is a massive upgrade, even without the flywheels.

 

[Smudge617]

I don't know if the motor is in backward or wired backward, but that wire, you could prolly draw 20 amps with that.
As for no flywheels, that would make the motor rather quick response to throttle. I would be inclined to think the previous owner had a slot car perspective of running trains and wanted a quick throttle response when coming out of the curves.
Athearn sells the Genesis motors with flywheels online or you can find em in your local hobby shop.

It's definitely in backwards, I've three other SD45's, (slightly later, looking at the couplings and spline drive of this one) and pulled the body off them to check if I was seeing it properly. and the open end where the brushes are should be facing the front of the chassis, it also explains both female couplings having stress fractures as the drive is not quite in line with the worm gear.
As for the wiring, definitely over the top amp wise.

 

[Smudge617]

That’s a replacement motor. The original was one of the old iron ring motors with steel flywheels (if flywheel equipped). Out of the box, those old motors had an amp draw that would dim the room lights when throttling up. The gold motor is a modern replacement, and is a massive upgrade, even without the flywheels.

Strangely I do have a Athearn high performance motor, that I got for a GP18 that had a supposedly dead motor, but I think all the newer motors have hex couplings, but I'll have to check, if so, I will need to change the whole drive too, which means another visit to a supplier in the US.