Mantua 0-6-0 electrical help

C

ChadYelland

Member
Jan 26, 2006
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Tisdale Sk Canada
Hello all, I have been away from the trains for a while but now as the sumer season comes to a close i will be back at it. I was just doing some track cleaning and loco steaming.
I recently bought a new Mantua 0-6-0 Tank switcher CPR for use on my transfer table, no matter how clean my rails or wheels are i can not get it to work satisfactory. wall1 I know its no 2-8-0 Spectrum but i have to touch it 20x in 10ft of track! driving me crazy, I have cleaned the brass wiper contacts on the right hand side but I see no electrical connection on the other side, How do these work?? and is there a way to improve the operation of short wheel base engines??
mnt393004.jpg
 
Hi...If there are no wipers on the fireman's side, then the frame is "hot" and being used to transfer track power to the motor. One of the brushes on the motor is grounded to the frame. The only place I can think of that could be causing erratic transfer of current would be the axle/frame being gunked up (apart from dirty wheels, which you state are clean...). Check those journals for dirt/excessive grease, etc. They should be clean with only a slight film of oil.
 
Is there a plate on the bottom of the frame holding the drivers in? If you unscrew this you can clean the slots that the axles turn in. This should improve contact if there's decades of old oil, grease and dust in there.
Lube with a light oil, preferably a conducting one or LaBelle grease.

Sorry, did you say NEW? Mantua? ignore this post. :oops:
 
Chad, i bought one of those little cuties and it ran fine straight from the box.
But it would derail in reverse. Turned out the frame was warped and the rear drivers were barely touching the rail:cry:. Took it back and never got around to buying another one. I still think it is a nice loco and would like to get another one.
Try holdind the loco with your hand and running it in place to distribute the grease. If it was on the shelf for a while the grease might be dried out and blocking the current. Might need to be warmed up first.

Loren
 
Ah, i wondered if it was the frame, I did some dissassembly seems that 3 wheels on one side have good connection to the frame but the power pickup brush assembly on the other side only contacts 2 wheels and one was intermitant,,, why don't they use a wire brush type contact to touch the wheel and preferably the inside of the flange rather then the tread that picks up the crud.... like a frayed cable such as used on wipers on the track of a sawmill carriage to keep sawdust off?? Well, I hope i can get this back together...
 
Chad,
That sure is a cute loco, too bad about the pick-up problem. From the photo it appears that the two center drivers are blind and might not even contact the rail? Still, I notice a wiper on the center driver (!?!) So, in all likelihood, it probably has contact on four wheels most of the time and only on three the rest of the time.

So, a thought occurred to me: what if you could add a pilot and trailing axle to help pickup current? I live on Vancouver Island and frequently pass by this little cutey:

macblo1044.jpg
 
Thanks guys I have it working a fair bit better,, it seems to pick up on 3 wheels on one side via there axels and 2 wheels on the other side via the wipers..... I might attempt to make it 3 for 3 someday.... heres another quick question it is DCC ready but very limited space has anyone put in the decoder that is supposedly optional?? Without installing it in a box car and towing it around LOL wall1
 
What I did was add extra wipers between the drivers on my Athearn Hustler. I would do the same thing on that one, though it would require a closer look as to just how.

hustler.jpg


Eventually, I built a dummy slug unit that stretched out the contact points beyond the switch frogs so that it would operate smoothly through the club's extensive yard ladders.

hustler4.jpg
 
Chad,

That unit has the 9-pin edge connector, rather than the NMRA 8 pin socket. You might be able to fit a Digitrax DH123 in there. If not, a Digitrax DZ125 will definitely work, but you'll need an adapter plug to get to the 9 pin socket in the loco.
 
Chad,

I'm just going by what the product specs are. That connector you show is what is likely on or in your loco. The DH123D has that socket for that connector on the edge of its circuit board. You just plug it right in.
 
Chad,

I just had occasion to work on a Mantua 0-6-0. It ran, and then stopped running. I disassembled it, and found that the motor was fine, but it wasn't getting contact from the wheels that contact the frame. Removing the plate that holds the wheels down, I found that the bearings the axles ride in were full of grease. I cleaned the axles and bearings with Goo Gone, and reassembled it. Now it runs like a top. It also goes through Atlas turnouts, when before it would stall on the frog.

Not sure if you've done this already, but if you haven't it'd definitely be worth the effort.
 
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