Glad to see you're making progress with this issue after our previous correspondence and for highlighting it with this video for others to witness. As I said, there is just enough room to slide back the black plastic brushes housing along the shaft to effect cleaning repairs without removing the flywheels. The flywheels are balanced in the positions they're in, like they do with car tyres, hence the alignment white marks, so don't disturb/move them if possible! Regards Julian.
Thanks for continuing to document this issue. I watched Peter’s videos a few weeks ago after both my class 37 started behaving oddly within 30 minutes of each other. I have no intention of returning them to Accurascale, as if Peter is proven correct again with your upcoming video then I can’t imagine there’s anything they can really do. Instead I’ll have to disassemble my own motors. I just really hope the same issue doesn’t plague Accurascale’s upcoming class 66 as I have one on pre-order… Look forward to part 4 👍
Had similar problems with two Heljan class 47s and a Hattons class 66.I cleaned the commutator gaps with a pin and then cleaned the commutator with fine emery paper.All motors now running perfectly.
I had the same problem with a Hattons Class 66. Externally the motor looks exactly the same as your Accurascale Class 37. Motor is easy to dismantle with those metal tabs easily opening with a flat bladed screwdriver. As Hattons had no spare motors I had nothing to lose trying to fix it. I cleaned the commutator using some fine grade sand paper. This fixed it but 3 months later the problem came back. So I repeated the fixing and since then its been running fine for a few years. Hopeful that the problem won't come back.
Having spent £169.99 on a europheonix 37 mine pack up after about a hours running. I returned it to the model shop from where i purchased it in early October ,,,,still waiting ...If i purchase a product from Curry`s and it packs up ,i return it ,i should not be expected to dismantle it and put it right ..my one and only purchase from Accurascale .......give me Bachmann anyday ...
Almost certainly something that's becoming a plague - the commutator is clogging up between its slots, causing a semi-short. This is all down to motor design - older open frame motors could suffer this, but they were accessible, so this was just part of the servicing. With these closed can motors, you can't get easy access, and the flywheels mean you can't easily get in at the commutator. Happening across the board - Hornby have suffered it, I've seen it on smaller N gauge motors from Farish and Dapol. What happens when we get Chinese CAD designers to make things, and then not properly test to see the proper failure modes. Running at full speed can sometimes 'throw' off enough of the accumulation to clear it, but it's a loosing battle unless the motor is completely cleaned out, and the commutator edges polished. In some cases it's too soft brushes also, but a new motor will almost certainly be at risk of suffering the same problem.
This particular motor just needs the some plastic lugs removing to take off the brass flywheels and some metal tabs prised open with a flat bladed screw driver. So its fairly easy but in general I agree with you. X03, X04s and Lima motors were pretty bomb proof. The characteristic fault is motor works fine but gradually slows down eventually coming to a stop no matter what the power setting.
Throw an old Hornby X04 on the bench as see how that goes, my old model shop had a Britannia running in the shop window layout for weeks at a time, no problems , or the old Bulldog motors...
Oh no, this is the same issue as seen on the Hornby long motor out of the 9F, B12, S15. In that case it's something to do with the brushes and the materials
Hornby had This same problem with their steam Locomotive some years ago. Is this the same supplier? If it's the same as Peters Locomotive I would suspect poor soft carbon brushes or brushes that have not been formed to the shape of the commutator so at the initial startup of the motor, the edges of the commutator cut into the face of the brushes and the carbon fills up the insulation gaps and this causes a intermittent short between segments (Poles) we used to have this happen on large DC motors when I was a very young apprentice electrician. so we used to form the face of the carbon brushes with fine sandpaper of course they were on a larger scale than our Model locomotives. Best Regards Bill from Western Australia. (Stay Safe)
Seems a very close match to the issues i have had with my hornby class 800, where the motor was struggling to turn , or would run up to a certain speed and then stop restart for a ffew seconds and stop multiple times. then it would give a short circuit message on my railmaster software. i have sent mine back to Hornby this week for the second time, last time it failed was 9 months ago. at least now i have some info that replicates the exact issue i have come across.
Same problem with my accurascale class 55. Current varies wildly and my thought is that a winding has short circuited. The hobby seems to be awash with cheap (chinese?) motors . Dapol have the same problem - my Class 21 is on its third motor! Accurascale make it very difficult to get into their models. They seem to have forgotten that the primary thing a model railway engine has to do is run properly and not just for few days or a month or so.
Sounds like the motor could have bad windings and when they heat up current passes through bridges. How hot does it get? When you have the motor apart, measure the resistance between each pole.
It gets fairly warm but not what I would consider hot. Around 19:32 or so in the video I put my thumb on it. I definitely measure the resistance between each pole while I have it apart and report back with the info.
To be honest. Having owned three Class 92's in the past last year before selling them on. It is a shame that AccuraFail has dropped the ball on their motors. It seems that to me, they really don't care about the quality of their models and it is a number of reasons I have moved over to American and Canadian HO scale model trains with only a few OO gauge UK stuff like the upcoming Cavalex Models Class 60. If it was me, I would just fit a Japanese made Mashima motor in to the Class 37 as they are better grade. Perhaps they should consider using Kato or Mashima motors which are way better than these. Any future models I get from Accurascale in the future. if they have a duff motor. I will just swap it with a Japanese motor from Kato or Mashima. I hope you can get this sorted and AccuraFail gets their act together.
You can hear the speed change. Before you strip the motor put a drop of oil in each bearing which is easier than taking it apart. If that doesn't help, go for it and take it apart.
@Oorail OK then. If you find the inside has metal debris, use a piece of masking tape to remove them by sticking them to it as the magnet will try to hold them. Clean the commutator and the gaps between the segments. Don't forget to lubricate the bearings while reassembling. BTW, I watched the video you mentioned. This is exactly what I meant by keeping the gaps clean. This is called "undercutting" in the electrical motor jargon. One thing is that he did not clean the commutator. You should clean it thoroughly and get it shining and do the undercutting before assembling. You can use a fiberglass pen for that. Undercut after cleaning. Check the position where the brushes have been contacting. If the brushes are close to the one side like in his video, put a thin plastic washer on the shaft to move it in the other direction(if you have enough play). You can make one with an x-ray film kind of thing. Good luck.
Remove the tabs and spray the motor internal area with WD40 Specialist Contact Cleaner...it's what the trade call a "Dirty Motor"...you could use IPA but do not soak the motor in the stuff or you could remove the laquer of the windings. Unless there is a serious issue with the armature or commutator then a good clean will usually suffice.
Seems a very close match to the issues i have had with my hornby class 800, where the motor was struggling to turn , or would run up to a certain speed and then stop restart for a ffew seconds and stop multiple times. then it would give a short circuit message on my railmaster software. i have sent mine back to Hornby this week for the second time, last time it failed was 9 months ago. at least now i have some info that replicates the exact issue i have come across.
These cheap motors must be a false economy. Have had to replace motors on a few models including Heljan Bachman and Accurascale. You can get to the commutator on these without removing the flywheel. Cleaning it and checking alignment of the brushes has helped with speed instability but not current draw in my case. Am awaiting a replacement motor from Accurascale but they are out of stock and have been for a while. There have been suggestions ‘it’s your controller’ related to these problems but I exclude that given its the same on a battery.
Yeah that was one of the first things I tried. The motor is spinning around 2000 rpm on max power, think these are either 9500 or 12500 rpm motors. So definitely a pole / commutator / brush issue.
