Athearn BB Dash-9's

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C

Crawfy

Aussie kid
G'day :)

Just wanna say, great forum. Has provided me with sooooo many great tips and ideas for the layout that I'm beginning to construct, and a few benchmarks too.

Got a couple brand new (but looks like they've been sitting around for a number of years) HO Blue Box C44-9W's a couple months back. Only just put them on tracks last night, and powered them with a 9v battery.They seemed to run smooth, but very noisy. Is it likely after a good service that they'll run a lot quieter, or is it just how the old mechanisms are? Failing that, Is there any tips of the trade to shut these things up a bit?

I mainly ask because I picked them up on eBay for $39 each ($US was about the same at the time) and the guy is now selling a couple more, which I thought was a bargain, before I learnt that BB Athearn's weren't as great as I thought them to be. Figured I can grab another or two and maybe bash it/them into a AC4400 down the track, IF they can be made to run quieter. Note; they are all going to have decoders installed.

That, or I might buy just buy a nice DCC ready Inter mountain ES44 from the States. :)

Cheers.
 
2 tips...

1. They can be made to run quieter. The Athearn blue box drive is virtually indestructible. To make them run quieter, clean out the motor brushes and the gears then relube. It may also help to hardwire the engine (or install DCC).
2. Athearn makes an AC4400 in blue box AND Ready to Roll. Don't bother bashing them into AC4400s, just buy some!
 
diburning said:
2 tips...

1. They can be made to run quieter. The Athearn blue box drive is virtually indestructible. To make them run quieter, clean out the motor brushes and the gears then relube. It may also help to hardwire the engine (or install DCC).
2. Athearn makes an AC4400 in blue box AND Ready to Roll. Don't bother bashing them into AC4400s, just buy some!
Click to expand...



I did the same with some of my noisy units and it does help.
The drive units are virtually indestructible and easy to work on.
The blue box units I have work and run just fine and with some detail they look real nice.
 
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