1. Home
  2. Model Railroad Forum
  3. Replacement belts for Athearn Hi F units

Replacement belts for Athearn Hi F units

I have two Athearn Hi F unit drives that I would like to bring back to life. Rather than go with the old rubber band replacement belts and have them detoriorate as they usually do, does anyone know if they have been succesful with using a neoprene replacement type belt instead? I figured with all of the black o ring type belts that can be found in hardware type stores, that I could come up with something to use.

If that doesn't work, what is the designation of the rubber band size that would work on those old units. I need to know if there is a size # and I could find a big bag of them at some sort of office supplies store.

Thanks, Ed

Reply to
Ed
Loading thread data ...

First, try some of the O-rings. Just make sure that you don't get them too small such that they will be too tight, AND be sure ~not~ to get the ones made by Teledyne. They are full of nasty surprises. If that doesn't work well, then try some rubber bands. As for size, well you'll just have to experiment and find out for yourself. Powering model locomotives with rubber bands is something of a lost art any more.

........F>

Reply to
Froggy

Athearn used a common sized rubber band on his locos. Sorry, I don't remember the size as I got rid of all my HiFi drives back in the '60s for Hobbytown drives and have never looked back. I'll also note that the Pittman conversion motor the - DC-706 - used o-rings for the drive as there was a lot more power available to drive the wheels.

-- Why isn't there an Ozone Hole at the NORTH Pole?

Reply to
Bob May

Reply to
Jim Hollis

I remember someone once saying something about rubber bands from braces, but for some reason or another I get the feeling that they may be too short. I will try to find what rubber bands for braces look like and try them plus match them up with some neoprene o ring stuff and see what happens.

Reply to
Ed

You can order these belts from Athearn here:

90101 DRIVE BELTS (RUBBER BAND) 24 $ 3.60

formatting link

--Marshall

Reply to
Marshall Dermer

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.