Hi,
I have been given an Airfix Black Prairie tank engine. The model has good slow and fast control, but it makes a lot of noise when it runs.
Were these Airfix Prairie engines always this noisy??? My Airfix 4F is very quiet.
Is it a sign of age?
Is there anything I can do about it? Although I been involved with model railways for a while I have no experience of servicing or repairing engines.
Regards.
"Nozza" wrote
Typical characteristic of these I'm afraid and apart from some sparing lubrication of motor bearing there's little that you can do to stop the noise.
The more recent Hornby variation of this ex-Airfix model is much quieter due to an improved gear chain.
John.
Hi,
"You could replace the motor with something quieter".
What would be the easiest way of doing this? Is there anything from Hornby I could use as a replacement?
In the meantime, I'll try a bit of soundproofing!!!
Regards
Foam rubber. That would be much quieter. ;-)
But seriously, unless there is a replacement motor kit by a UK firm like "Branchlines" or a spare motor lying on a back shelf of a shop somewhere, changing the motor is a model engineering job.
The motor looks rather like the X04 but I'm sure that would be a difficult change because the dimensions and mountings would be different.
change because the
It was bigger than the X04. I always assumed it was a Pittman. Certainly I've seen very similar motors in US models from that era.
But it's been too long since I had mine.
As you say, any conversion would be a major engineering job. I tried and failed to put an RG4 in by grinding out chunks of the chassis casting. Can't remember which chassis kit I ended up using, it was over 20 years ago.
"Gregory Procter" wrote#
I'm sure it's not the motor which is the problem, but the gear train plus the loco body acting as a sound box.
John.
The gear train is only a (plastic) worm on the motor and a worm wheel on the center driving axle. That can hardly make much noise, except when the motor bearings are badly worn. (oil the motor bearings and see if that changes the noise level) Fill the body with foam rubber trimmed to shape and size. From memory, the end trucks have a screw riding in a curved slot in the chassis. You will have to trim the foam around the movement of the arc. If that gives the impression that it is helping solve the problem, but not enough, the next move would be to replace the foam rubber with lead sheet.
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