Discuss No laughing, no part p jokes..please in the Commercial Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

Welcome to ElectriciansForums.net - The American Electrical Advice Forum
Head straight to the main forums to chat by click here:   American Electrical Advice Forum

W

wattsup

I had a call from a good and loyal customer he owns a medium size engineering workshop and I’ve done loads of stuff there over the years, so when he called and said I’ve got a small job for you….I presumed he would have a new lathe or something wanted wiring…

Anyhow nope, at his house, a model railway enthusiast. One loco will not reverse, ok going forward but will not reverse. He told me it’s an old and rare hornby thing. I presume it will be pretty valuable too..
So I’m going over tomorrow evening ( can’t wait to see it btw -;) but I ain’t got a clue really what I can do. Anyone have a clue, I don’t want to appear totally stupid…

How do they work? What is the procedure for a pretend model railway buff?
Not the transformer/reversing switch cos other engines work ok. Are there serviceable parts within the loco?
 
Hello,

from what i can remember they work by the voltage alternating from one to the other.

I.e 12v left track forwards, then to make reverse the 12v is put onto right track, so could be dirty bushes on motor or fault on the line. try other engines to see if they work.
 
I always presumed the rev switch/transformer reversed polarity on the track, it cannot work any other way can it?

This guy is old school and a real gentleman, perhaps 70 years old, I would guess. You honestly could eat your dinner of his workshop floor. He always wants to discuss 'how to do the job' he is nobodies fool he knows his stuff, he always gives me a coffee and a small dram of the hard stuff before I start work, 'lets discuss attitude' even if 9:00 in the morning. The PC/ hse brigade wouldn't like it. I think he is a great guy and runs a superb business..he just wants to know, he has core employees been with him 30 years plus. All old school types, and good at what they do. At one time he had 100 people working in the workshop, alas now there are only 40.

To be honest I'm flattered he seems to like my attidude, his business is faultless, some of the old guys take the **** in a good way at me, hey he's the blue eyed boy..the whisky will be out,,, leg pulling is their thing.. All in good humour. I want to fix his loco for nothing, no doubt the whisky will flow more. He will have tested the motor, bull****ting is out of the question. In actual fact he probably has more knowledge than me regards the workings of motors...Oh dear, I have a belly ache -;)
 
I always presumed the rev switch/transformer reversed polarity on the track, it cannot work any other way can it?

This guy is old school and a real gentleman, perhaps 70 years old, I would guess. You honestly could eat your dinner of his workshop floor. He always wants to discuss 'how to do the job' he is nobodies fool he knows his stuff, he always gives me a coffee and a small dram of the hard stuff before I start work, 'lets discuss attitude' even if 9:00 in the morning. The PC/ hse brigade wouldn't like it. I think he is a great guy and runs a superb business..he just wants to know, he has core employees been with him 30 years plus. All old school types, and good at what they do. At one time he had 100 people working in the workshop, alas now there are only 40.

To be honest I'm flattered he seems to like my attidude, his business is faultless, some of the old guys take the **** in a good way at me, hey he's the blue eyed boy..the whisky will be out,,, leg pulling is their thing.. All in good humour. I want to fix his loco for nothing, no doubt the whisky will flow more. He will have tested the motor, bull****ting is out of the question. In actual fact he probably has more knowledge than me regards the workings of motors...Oh dear, I have a belly ache -;)

I would have thought it would have to be controlled via a switch on the loco itself, otherwise all the locos would change direction at the same time. if it only one of them then I would have thought it would be an open circuit between the motor and the direction control switch on the loco, time to get the Multimeter out. Otherwise is might be a mechanical problem due to some bit of plastic falling into the gearing, when the motor is going one way the plastic sits on top of the gears when it goes the other way the plastic get drawn in between a couple of gears and jams up the works. If its a mechanical problem then you should hear a grinding noise when its operating in one direction. give the loco a shake and see if that sorts it out. Just a thought I couldn't afford a model railway when I was a kid, sniff
 

Reply to No laughing, no part p jokes..please in the Commercial Electrical Advice area at ElectriciansForums.net

OFFICIAL SPONSORS

Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Electrician Courses Green Electrical Goods PCB Way Electrical Goods - Electrical Tools - Brand Names Pushfit Wire Connectors Electric Underfloor Heating Electrician Courses
These Official Forum Sponsors May Provide Discounts to Regular Forum Members - If you would like to sponsor us then CLICK HERE and post a thread with who you are, and we'll send you some stats etc
This website was designed, optimised and is hosted by Untold Media. Operating under the name Untold Media since 2001.
Back
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock