Ineed of urgent help for Locomotive.


liamneuser

New Member
I just spent $130, on a B&M Alco Rs3, and it ran great for about a few hours, until it started making a terrible grinding noise. I opened it up, and everything looks okay. Everything is oilled. Can someone give me some advice or answers? Thank's so much!
--Liam
 
I would check the trucks real close. I might have picked up something from the roadbed. Does it have sound? Check the speaker for stray stuff that may have been caught up by the speaker magnet.
 
It seems to me that a grinding noise is usually a broken gear. I'm not familiar with that particular locomotive, but if you open it up and very closely inspect the gears, there will be a small crack in one of them.

You can try to repair it with Dr. Mike's or some other sort of strong adhesive. I've found that you'll need to glue it and put pressure on it for 24 hours or so, despite the directions saying that it's an instant bond. This isn't a guaranteed fix, but it's worth a try. You may also be able to buy a new one direct from Bachmann. The new part will be cheaper than sending it in for repair.
 
I would suspect the gear as well.

Take it back for a refund or exchange. That is what I would do if it were me. I hope you got it from a hobby shop. If not contact the seller and ask how they will handle the exchange.

I am sorry to hear about your trouble, I know I would be upset if this had happened to me.

Louis
 
It's not doing it anymore. I put some old Lionel lube from the 1940s in it, and after a while of running it's not making the noise!
 
That is good news!

Do you think the noise could have been more of a squealing noise?

I would still be worried if it was a grinding sound, but a squealing sound is not uncommon when there is no lubrication.

If it was a grinding noise I would think that it was excessive lash or slack in the gears and the heavy lube filled the void. It could also have been a bit of a tooth chipped off a gear during break in.

Let us know how things go.

Louis
 



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