Brushes - a clean sweep

I've heard this about the motors on the Hornby Terriers also.....seems like a pretty nice scam for Hornby to me. Cheers Gene

"gene" wrote in news:ee6cg.13476$ snipped-for-privacy@wagner.videotron.net:

What with mass production being as it is nowadays I wouldn't be to surprised that it would be simply to expensive in relation to the potential return for the motor to be fitted with replacement bruhes. For instance, just how many TV repair shops are there nowadays, even white goods ... nine times out of ten it's les expensive to buy new, which leads me on to ...

... am I being particulary dumb (not owning a Terrior or a J94) but why can't you simply replace the motor rather than the whole thing? I've managed it with L&Y Pug and I am far from being a miniature engineering genious.

Periander wrote in news:Xns97CBC6032478ulmbritwarcouk@80.5.182.99:

Sorry that was me, "Periander" is a moniker I use elsewhere.

Ken,

This was something I raised with Simon Kohler of Hornby about a year ago. Apparently, the text in the instruction sheets is more of a 'butt protection' statement than anything else. He said that he had had these motors running for many hundreds of hours non-stop without a problem.

Personally, I would guess that the hours quoted is the time you might get out of them if you thrash them. If you are gentle with them with normal operation, like anything mechanical, you should get many years of reliable use.

In any event, these motors are probably so cheap that it is cheaper to replace the motor than replace the brushes....not to mentioned that these are sealed can motors anyway and not easy to open up to actually replace brushes.

Graham Plowman

Ken Parkes said the following on 21/05/2006 23:35:

I wouldn't lose sleep over this. 150 hours of running is actually quite a long time, and unless you are thrashing it around in circles flat out, I think you will actually get many hundreds of hours out of it. Anyway, the motors are so cheap, you just throw it away and buy a new one.

Also, there is no need to scratchbuild below the footplate - there are so many chassis kits out there these days that you will be better off with one of those. If that's your chosen route, then you can buy finished body shells, when available, from the likes of East Kent Models or Modelspares.

And finally, just out of curiousity, does anyone know the typical quoted life of a Mashima motor?

In message , Ken Parkes writes

In real terms, the 150 hours seems to be a little on the low side - even for Hornby. We currently have well over 1000 OO-Gauge locos in stock that we use on our layout. These are mainly the products of the various UK manufacturers. We always assume 300 miles as the figure where Hornby [in particular] are concerned. This equates to 12 weeks running life from a new acquisition. However it's safe to say that for every hour that we are running the layout we have at least one skilled engineer maintaining the loco stock. We have to carry a huge amount of spares. I have developed an intense hatred of everything 'Thomas' as a consequence of this situation as the damn things are always failing or falling to pieces. :o(

I don't run RTR Hornby/Bachmann etc on the home layout for these reasons [among others]. Building locos can be great fun and very rewarding.

Cheers.

Perhaps I'm showing my ignorance here, but are there any suitable motors, which could be used for scratch-building, which have replaceable brushes? The Mashima can motors favoured by most, are sealed units aren't they?

As long as the motor is easily replaceable, I don't see a problem.

Adrian

"Ken Parkes" wrote

Fairly standard in motor manufacturing these days and is borne out of the fact that motors can be produced for just a few pennies. Clearly, under those circumstances, it's a pretty pointless exercise in producing them with replaceable brushes.

On the other hand in 45 years of railway modelling I've never yet had to renew the brushes on any locomotive which I purchased from new.

John.

Adrian B said the following on 22/05/2006 10:15:

Some of the Mashimas are sealed, but others can have the brushes replaced. Quite frankly though, I don't know of anyone who has had to replace the brushes! There is also the matter that Mashimas are infinitely better quality than the motors Hornby use in the models the OP was referring to.

I wouldn't get hung up about whether or not the brushes are replaceable. - just choose the motor that suits the model. Unless you're modelling Pendon with stock running for hours on end, I don't think you will have a problem.

I've found that the first thing to 'go' on old locos is the silvery plating on the wheels - after which they pick up dirt from the track much more easily than they do electricity.....

Had to rush off for a few days, so I've only just been able to look at your responses. Thank you all. I suppose I unreasonably expect my hobbies to stay true while the world around re-invents itself. What is a hobby if not an escape. But your wisdom persuades me, and I am particularly comforted by Graham P's information. Would much rather be building the next phase of the 16mm layout than fiddling with 10BA nuts from a 4mm mech.

Ken.