T3 build, motor shorting

Includes workshop practice, painting and weathering, model photography etc.
Thornbush
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Thornbush » Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:34 pm

Good grief, thank goodness spell check chose the right kind of pawn shop!

FCA
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby FCA » Tue Jun 09, 2020 4:28 pm

Invest in a pack of Rizla fag papers and use them to insulate the inside of the splashers where the flanges short. Fix in place using a thin coat of varnish or superglue. You won't find anything that's much thinner.

Richard

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Julian Roberts
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Julian Roberts » Wed Jun 10, 2020 3:47 pm

I had exactly the same problem on my Compound, intermittent shorts on curves. I did the fag paper and Araldite business but before I understood that :-

A loco can go perfectly well if the whole body is live to one rail - you won't know it is live. But as soon as anything touches from the other rail it stops running.

If the body is properly insulated then momentary touching on a curve, so that the body then becomes live to that rail, won't make any problem. Only if simultaneously the other side touched would there be a problem.

As soon as I insulated the motor from the body these intermittent shorts ceased.

A test was to gently run the loco with spinning wheels against a stop and place some brass wire on the loco and against one rail and then the other rail, and do the same with the tender. It should be possible to do this and not cause the wheels to stop.

However on your photo the motor connection points looked as though they're the small kind and unlikely to be a problem as mine were. But if the above test shows the body is live to one rail somewhere something must be touching.

I'm not making out I am an expert: many here really are experts. Just that was my experience, and I must say it did cause me to shelve the loco for some time as I thought maybe I'd made it too complicated, while now I'm pleased to have the extra pick up from the tender (I actually have two wheels pick up on tender, two on bogie, and all 4 driving wheels. The bogie frame is live so its connection to the loco relies on the strength of Araldite!)

Edited out some ambiguity of 1st sentence last paragraph

Thornbush
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Thornbush » Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:11 pm

The Rizla paper trick seems to have worked and now it is running ok; no faltering, no arcing, no dead spots.

For those interested, a couple of photos are attached before taking off all the bright brass and NS parts and dismantling for painting. Perhaps I should move this to another topic area but I don't know how, so apologies for going off-subject.
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David Thorpe

Re: Motor Shorting

Postby David Thorpe » Fri Jun 12, 2020 12:53 pm

There are times when it seems a real shame to have to paint a loco because it looks so good as it is. This is one of them.

DT

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Paul Willis
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Paul Willis » Fri Jun 12, 2020 8:38 pm

Thornbush wrote:For those interested, a couple of photos are attached before taking off all the bright brass and NS parts and dismantling for painting. Perhaps I should move this to another topic area but I don't know how, so apologies for going off-subject.


Where and how would you like the topic moved?

The Moderators of the Forum can do such things. Or you could just start a new topic and repost the material you want to commence with.

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Paul Willis
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Thornbush
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Thornbush » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:05 pm

Well, for those of you who assisted me with advice I am pleased to say that the T3 is now complete. Having started it at the beginning of April last year I built it in lockdown 1, then put it to one side pending lining and finishing. I took up the baton again during lockdown 3 and have now completed it. Bow pens and I do not happy bedfellows make so I eventually lined it using a combination of Pressfix LNER lining transfers and very fine handheld brush. Painting, lining and finishing took me longer than building but I got there in the end.
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Philip Hall
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Philip Hall » Sat Apr 03, 2021 1:44 pm

That is a beautiful engine...

Philip

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Winander
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Re: Motor Shorting

Postby Winander » Sat Apr 03, 2021 2:14 pm

I'll second that, well worth the effort.
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Paul Willis
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Re: T3 build, motor shorting

Postby Paul Willis » Sat Apr 03, 2021 3:55 pm

That really is rather lovely. The finish and lining may have taken time, but it's definitely, definitely worth it.

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Paul
Beware of Trains - occasional modelling in progress!
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TonyMont
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Re: T3 build, motor shorting

Postby TonyMont » Sun Apr 04, 2021 10:48 am

That is a beautiful elegant loco, I hope at some time we get to see it in motion. Well done.

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Andy W
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Re: T3 build, motor shorting

Postby Andy W » Sun Apr 04, 2021 11:01 am

Terrific work
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