New to this hobby I have purchased my first engine, a Kato NW2 switcher. I was curious if there was anything special I needed to do to break it in? I don't have a layout (yet) but I do have a Kato M1 set (DC power). Thanks, Bill
Welcome to Trainboard! We are happy to have you! Excellent engine choice. For breaking in, you will notice that the gears on each truck are visible from the bottom of the engine. Apply a little light oil (3-in1 works fine) and run the engine in each direction for about 15 minutes at moderate to low speed. You're done!
Thanks delljohnb, I would have thought the gears in the trucks would have been lubed with grease instead of oil? Which brings me to another question, in general which parts of the loco get grease and which parts get oil when you perform maintenance on diesel locos? As far as the engine choice being an excellent one, that was all luck! I had and still have no idea what I am doing or what direction I'm headed in. My logic was that diesels are supposedly less prone to issues for newbies such as myself, Kato seems to be a well respected name in diesels, and since I have no idea how big a layout I will be able to build due to my small space, I figured that no matter how small of radius I ended up going with, a switcher could easily navigate it.
Grease....funny you mention that. I actually use a grease impregnated with molybdenum disulfide (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molybdenum_disulfide) but for most people that is a little extreme. The trouble with grease, if you don't do regular maintenance, is that it will attract dust and grime. Since the gears are exposed, these items transfer to the grease, and after a while the grease becomes very thick and can actually hinder gear movement. Since the hours of engine usage is fairly small over the life of the engine, gear wear is not the primary conscern. We are looking to decrease to torque load placed upon the gear housing. Light machine oil is best if you aren't going to maintain the gears on a regular basis. Since most of the gears are self-lubricating, only the drive gears need a light lubrication. And yes, you picked an engine, while a new design, has an excellent reputation in the model train community. Excellent choice.
Ack! Not 3-in-1 oil. It is not plastic compatible. It will turn the gears and other plastic parts to mush over time. Actually Kato doesn't recommend adding lubrication to new locomotives. You can lubricate after some running. Get some plastic compatible oil from your hobby dealer and apply a fraction of a drop to one gear in each truck. Too much oil is worse than too little. The gears are made of a very tough and slippery plastic. The oil will be carried throughout the gear train as the locomotive is run.
I generally do not lubricate new engines, especially the Atlas and Kato ones. I run them at a constant half throttle for at least ten minutes in each direction on a loop without trying to tug anything behind them. Most of these have plastic gears, so keep that in mind when selecting lubricants. Adam
Just gotta agree with Mike Kmetz. NO 3 In 1 Oil EVER. I use Labelle 106 grease and 108 oil. On a new locomotive there should be almost no need to lube the mechanism unless it is dry. The gears being exposed will make them subject to attracting dirt and adding anything that will make dirt stick to the gears will lead to maintenence and operation problems.
Thanks for your help to everyone who replied! I will leave the lubing alone for now and invest in some plastic safe lubricants. Once I got the engine this afternoon it did indeed say not to further lube it for now. I never had a train of any size before, and I have to say this thing is teeny tiny!! I can't get over the detail! I hope to "fire it up" tonight or tomorrow. Bill H.
I'm sitting here breaking this NW2 in. It's not exactly whisper quiet. It's quite a bit more noisey than I anticipated. Though I guess I don't have anything to compare it to since it's the first and only engine I've ever heard run. How loud shoud it be? It sounds like the gears might be dry or something but how could that be if it's new and a new model that couldn't have been on the shelf long?? I bought it from M.B. woo woo woo. Bill H
Hey Bill Welcome to RR modeling. I'm only a few months ahead of you here. And so far, it shas stayed fun. As to the noise, I think that might be Unitrak related. I'm building my first layout and anything with metal wheels (loco or a few cars I have) that goes over my 1 Kato switch is very loud. These same pieces are quiet when running on Atlas track on a bed of cork. To test my theory, a suggestion was made that you stuff cotton balls or some other noise baffling in the hollows of the track. The hollows may be acting as resonance chambers. See if that deadens some sound. Also consider the surface you are putting the track on, can you get a sheet of insulating foam? (pink or blue available at Home Depot is good, not the white or yellow, they are flamable and act more like a drum head). This will also help deaden the noise. When I started we were running atlas track on plywood. It was noisey, but like your question. Noisey compared to what? I was amazed at the sound difference over cork and foam. In your case hopefully cotton and foam will do the same.
I am currently running Unitrack on a hollow core door. The test loop is just sitting on top unattached. My plan is to get the blue Dow foam. I'm not saying this noise couldn't be from the unitrack/door, but it's sounds like the engine has like a loud buzzing sound to it. Maybe it's not a buzz, it's just hard to explain. It sounds like it's coming from the engine itself. The sound is consistent not intermittent. It seems to run very smoothly. For all I know that much noise is normal? It's not deafening by any means, it's just not as silent as I was expecting. I'm running DC with the Kato powerpack. Also, how slow should this thing be able to run smoothly? Pulling three 40ft. cars right now, the slowest I can get it to run being absolutely buttery smooth without even a micro jerk/ hestitation is 22" of strait track in 36 seconds according to my stop watch. Does that sound normal? It has about 2.5 hours of runtime on it now.
kmcsjr, YOU WERE RIGHT! Just for laughs, I threw a microfiber blanket over the island in the kitchen and set up a circle of unitrack. I can't even believe it's the same engine! It's almost completely silent, especially compared to what it was. What a great running/looking little engine and what a big relief it is to find out nothings the matter with it. Can't thank you enough! So do you think the Dow foam glued to the door will be a big reduction in noise compared to the bare door? That door is like a 36x80 wooden amplifier LOL FWIW, now that I have another hour on the engine (almost 4 total), it will creep along pulling those 3 cars over 50 seconds to go 22" without even a hint of stutter. I don't know that that is anything special, but seems to be working fine to me.
Ahhhhhhh.......the spout is made of plastic....... :tb-err: This statement is in error. I have several engines which are over thirty years old that had 3in1 oil used on them and they still run fine. Labelle oil is a light machine oil that was the "in thing" several years ago. It was also thought to reduce grit and grime on tracks. I don't know what the current thoughts about that are, but it is still debated periodically. Another choice would be sewing machine oil. I have used that in the past, but I have found that the lighter machine oils tend to seep into other parts of the frame, so I prefer a thicker oil...or grease, just remember that heavier oils will require maintenance in the long run.
kmcsjr, YOU WERE RIGHT! I'm gonna send you my wifes and my bosses e-mail address. I'll need you to repeat that statement for them. Lotsa folks do door layouts, lotsa folks love Unitrak, so I'm guessing the foam will work. If not, your out $10 bucks (the lowest amout I've wasted on trains in 1 shot, to date). Even if the foam doesn't work, you can try the cotton stuffing, and the foam will make terrain creation easier. 1 other idea for a hollow door, I haven't tried it, but I wonder if after all the wiring was done, if you could fill the door with "Great Stuff" expanding foam? As to the speed, most of my engines will creep along very slowly (Kato, LL, Model Power and Atlas). Just something to enjoy. Apparently from following these posts, we are entering the hobby at a great time. Lots of good stuff. and lots of people willing to help.
"So do you think the Dow foam glued to the door will be a big reduction in noise compared to the bare door? That door is like a 36x80 wooden amplifier LOL " The foam is a great way to go. It's easy to work, cuts to size easily with a hack saw blade and, is a great sound deadener. Using a foam cutter, making lakes, rivers, ravines, etc. is easy. Just make sure that you use a foam compatible adhesive when attaching it to the hollow core door. They have an adhesive just for foam. Also, be careful when using any type of solvent as it will eat a hole in the foam. I have 2 layers of the 2" pink foam on my 4x8 layout and it's great. As far as break in, I usually run new engines at about half speed (vary the speed) for about an hour in each direction. As the engine breaks in, you'll notice better performance, especially at lower speeds. Welcome to a great hobby. Have a ball! Dave
Okay, normally we're not a real picky crowd when it comes to spelling and grammar, but I'm going to request a clarification. Did you mean "wife's" or "wives?" BIG difference... :tb-biggrin:
