Question Rokuhan Z Shorty?

Raytl Dec 3, 2016

  1. tjdreams

    tjdreams TrainBoard Member

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    The can motor powering the Shorty is a 7 mm can approximately 17mm long (Can) and approximately 24mm overall End of gear to end of Can
    Here is a picture of one that i took apart.
    20180223_183803 (Medium).jpg


    Their is a ton of potential for models that a modified shorty chassis could power.
    20180223_184517 (Medium).jpg
    I'm going to have to fabricate my own mounts but the motor and drive truck fit with room to spare.
    20180223_184405 (Medium).jpg
    20180223_184340 (Medium).jpg
     

    Attached Files:

  2. rray

    rray Staff Member

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    They are cheap enough to splice 2 drive halves for dual motor drive in a switcher, then use the power pickup trucks and make a lighted caboose or something.
     
  3. JerryZ

    JerryZ New Member

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    Needed dimensions from old projects. Sky is limit with Shorty. Go for it.
    Note: First post, still learning way around. Jerry
     
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  4. southernnscale

    southernnscale TrainBoard Supporter

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    This one I did three years ago painted but put the walkways on it so the inside space isn't wide enough I would have to re design and take the walkways off to fit the Shortie GE-44 tonner
    DSCF2927.JPG IMG_7299.JPG IMG_7300.JPG
     
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  5. tjdreams

    tjdreams TrainBoard Member

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    Making the shorty a little smaller
    Their is still a fair amount of the original chassis that i plan to trim away but i want to add a few reinforcing strips at the new mounting location first to help maintain proper motor and gear alignment.

    20180224_223739 (Medium).jpg


    20180224_231738 (Medium).jpg
     
  6. ZFRANK

    ZFRANK TrainBoard Member

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    What about speed behaviour, are these slow enough for switching duty?
     
  7. Raytl

    Raytl TrainBoard Member

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    Finally received mine today! I noticed it runs best with the powered trucks leading the way. So excited to see all the projects develop - great offering from Rokuhan at a very affordable price!




    AECDEC2F-8041-431B-BD98-2C44C5A2C34A.jpeg F8B8BEFA-4D15-4F02-9653-6FC4DF9902E2.jpeg DACE5E6C-E37F-44AF-8A4A-9726649DC793.jpeg
     
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  8. tracktoo

    tracktoo TrainBoard Member

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    Still hoping for a wheel dimension. :cool: Somebody with one apart, please? :)
     
  9. shortpainter

    shortpainter TrainBoard Member

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    I just got mine in the mail. Does anyone know the max voltage for these little guys? It runs VERY fast with my 9 volt PWM throttle. All my other engines crawl with this same throttle.
     
  10. Raytl

    Raytl TrainBoard Member

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    +1 , I’m using an RC02 and barely have to move the throttle to make it go.
     
  11. mdvholland

    mdvholland TrainBoard Member

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    Haven't got one myself yet, but from a fellow boardmember here over in Belgium, I got a 3.5 mm diameter passed on. Can anyone confirm?

    Matt
     
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  12. ZFRANK

    ZFRANK TrainBoard Member

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    From the pictures with the sw1 trucks look a little tiny.
     
  13. Chris333

    Chris333 TrainBoard Supporter

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    Here is a video from Mark Fielder:

     
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  14. tracktoo

    tracktoo TrainBoard Member

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    That is excellent! (y) Thanks to Mark for the excellent review and Chris for the link!

    The wheels come in at about 24 1/2" Nn3 or 34" Z. That's pretty small. Too bad about the speed but it seems to throttle down tolerably.:cool:
     
  15. Garth-H

    Garth-H TrainBoard Supporter

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    Rokuhan has a decider ti fut this z shorty power unit it fits where the weight is located.
     
  16. Heay Equipment Designer

    Heay Equipment Designer TrainBoard Member

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    Got mine... Looks like it will fit the bill for a lot of smaller switchers. The truck wheelbase is right about the same for SW switchers and some Plymouth locomotives and some other odd ducks that would be interesting to power. Only problem I see using it on an SW series switcher or larger locomotives is the wheel diameter. 34" is quite a bit smaller than 40" Diameter on a SW switcher. Same goes for the Ingersoll Rand box cab locomotives that used 40" diameter wheels.

    For PCC trolleys, 34" wheels with power is probably the smallest diameter wheel you can power with gears and still get effective gear reduction to pull anything. Still a bit off from PCC's 26" Diameter wheels. Wheel base on the trucks is quite a bit off too by about 2 feet (PCC's 6 feet to Rokuhan's 8 feet). So it might look grossly out of scale. PCC's also do not have an outside side frame on the trucks, they ride on the inside of the axle. So the outside side frame might look out of place too.

    -Jon
     
  17. shortpainter

    shortpainter TrainBoard Member

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    Concerning the small wheels, I managed to replace the Rokuhan wheels with MTL SD40-2 40” wheels. I had to chop the gear axle just a bit, drill a bigger hole, and trim out some plastic from truck to fit. However, the gears meshed perfectly and the wheels rolled freely. I wish I had more MTL wheels laying around. I’m very hesitant to take apart one of my AZL trucks to test those wheels out.

    EDIT: I forgot to mention that the electrical pickup worked just fine with the MTL wheels.
     
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  18. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

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    Many of the later AZL locos came with a separate (alternate) 3 axle truck. Lots of sacrificial sources now.
     
  19. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

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    Furthermore spare trucks are separately available on AZL's website, if I'm right. ;)

    Dom
     
  20. southernnscale

    southernnscale TrainBoard Supporter

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    My Designed PCC with the Shortie and you can see the wheel base! it's a tight fit width wise I need to add a 1/32" to it and it would fit with a hair of play! right now pushing the shortie inside the side bulge out a bit! the wheel base needs to be wider to! but the powermax fit really good! Would need to connect the two unit together to space the wheels as they should!
    IMG_7297.JPG IMG_7274.JPG
     
    Last edited: Mar 2, 2018
    mdvholland likes this.

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