I've got many locomotives that have been in storage since 2007. I'm in the process of getting them all in good working order. There are a few Life-Like Proto 2000 with cracked gears. I have replacements on the way. Then there are some like these that are squeaking. It's not the wheels slipping on the rail. I've greased the gears already. I think it's coming from the motor or drive train. Is anyone familiar with where this noise is coming from? Hopefully it's not the motor brushes.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease. But seriously, you need to lubricate every possible source where two surfaces rub or rotate against each other. One tip is to listen to the frequency of the squeak to narrow down whether it is from a faster rotating mechanism like the motor shafts and related parts or slower rotating mechanisms like the wheels and related parts. Doug
That sounds like the noises my Protos make when I run them in MU. Have you tried running them separately? I figure that it happens when one loco drags a little and is either pushed or pulled forward and the wheels slip against the rails. A thorough wheel cleaning solved most of that issue. An Athearn F7 did something similar (not quite the same sound but close) but I still have to track down the source. One possibility is that the drive shaft on one side of the motor slips, either in the flywheel or on the end of the u-joint.
I have never heard that. I heard it from the third one. The other two seemed to just be normal motor spinning sounds, but the last one is the issue. Mike just brought up a good point about speed matching and MU. I would try each by themselves. My first thought was a metal on metal sound, not gears. The motor spins much faster than the wheels, so if it was one squeak per motor rotation, the train would barely be moving. It sounds kind of irregular. I don't really know what to do.
A screech, especially from locos that have been in storage for many years, is an indication that the motor shaft bearings need lubrication. Some LaBelle 108 should fix this.
As mentioned above, likely the motor shaft bearings need some lubrication. Put a tiny drop of oil right where the motor shafts enter/exit the motor.
Got them all lubed up. Quiet as can be now. You were right, it was in the motor bearings. It's not easy to get access in some locos because the weight is in the way. Had to loosen the weight from the frame to gain enough access without disconnecting wires. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Lifelike or Proto used a type of lube/grease that dried out pretty quickly, on more than one occasion I had to take the shell off remove the trucks and clean all the hard dried lubricant off, taking care to clean the worm gears especially as they turn the same rpm as the motor, re-lubed entire power train including motor and have never had a squeak again. That dried up lube was very hard to get clean. Thank You
