Lima Class 33 CD Motor Conversion 

I have found over the years, that regular cleaning and lubrication go a long way to making Lima's run quiet and smooth, I think part of the problem was that big wire, it didn't look like a standard Lima wire at all, more like household wire to me, Also Lima produced to different types of motor, one for express work which never runs slow, and one for more control. still a very good example of how to do a conversion, very well done, cheers Mark

Interesting . Have often heard of folk using CD motors and wondered how they converted them . Thanks for posting

I remember when people started doing these conversions at least a decade ago, they were seen as a miracle cure to Lima running problems. I've fitted a few of them but have reverted to the original lima pancake which if well serviced can yield very good results, even a crawl at a walking pace. Extra pick ups help and keeping the wipers clean in the trailing bogie, however, there are some Limas that just won't come good no matter what you do to them. I still have a soft spot for Lima as the motors are so easy to service and work on.

Much of the Lima starting resistance (and running noise) comes from the indifferent quality plastic gear cogs. If you run the motor disassembled you will not find it making much noise. Check carefully for gear moulding imperfections on the side faces and on the tooth ends. There is often a tiny moulding sprue to cut off or the end of a tooth may need shaping to its proper triangular shape with a sharp blade. A touch of gear grease once tidied up should help. Despite the big weight a little extra may help along with some foam or something similar to fill some of the void in the body to overcome the sound box effect, as already suggested by someone else. Actually with a bit of effort you can get these models to run pretty well with the original very reliable motor.

I've done two of these, lima deltic and lima hst, it works really well. I do not use the diode and have no issues (I am also on dcc). When you fit the motor you have to check that the wheels are really easy to turn, if there not just back off the mounting screws a little. Only an observation as your loco should have pulled away smoother than it did. Great content, keep it up. Cheers.

Excellent - I have quite a few Lima Locos with Ringfield Motors, so this Tutorial could well come in handy - Many Thanks Yet again DrBill 👍🏻

I sat listening to the wise words whilst rebuilding my very early Blue Pullman motor bogie, went from graunchy snail to smooth and fast so now I have the power cars of a set plus a spare power car, now I need to source some cheap MK2d coaches and dig out me airbrush :D

would be nice if they could supply a gear that you don't need to cut down to size! But I like how it has the plastic case that the motor fits into and then just press fits into the original Lima motor housing that is really good.

I've done a few of these. They're okay but the motors aren't serviceable like the original one. Worth a look though. Look at all the Lima spares you've gained as a bonus! 😁

Add some foam to the inside of the locomotive. All that empty space is just a big echo chamber.

Hi, I swapped out a none working lima Prairie motor for one of the 12v motors from Strathpefferjunction with great effect. A quick and easy fix for a duff motor. Also the customer service was second to none.

I used to do tv and video repairs many years ago and still have lots of those motors and the belt kids in stock... I have just found a use for them thanks to this video... Maybe the 12V version motor might pull away better and also it should have more torque.

Really valuable video; thank you. Suitable grease is better for gears than oil - save the oil for axles/bearings. Heartening to observe how your confidence with manipulation has increased since your earlier operations on non-runners etc. Keep on keeping on! Mike.

I tried a Strafpepper CD motor in my Lima Crab but it didn't improve the slow-speed performance much. In the end I converted back to the ringfield motor but this time I put new brushes and springs in. That made a big difference. I think it was the springs that did it. The modern ones are much finer than the old Lima ones making it easier to get the pressure just right. The CD motors might work on DCC. It's a well thought out kit though.

Adding extra pick ups would help too - it's quite straightforward to do too.

Just realised I hadn't subscribed to your excellent videos, well done. Rodge David Kidderminster 🇬🇧

I think the only proper way to get smooth acceleration and low speed running is via CV control in DCC. On my experience playing with CVs 2, 5 and 6 and sometimes CV45 makes a huge difference to the performance of locos.

Judging by your tee shirt, you have excellent taste in beer!

Excellent tutorial on fitting a CD motor. I've see the Strathpefferjunction ones but is good seeing an alternate way with one of the kits he's making instead of using hot glue 🤣 I've several Lima lococs for conversion so this I'll Help me. Have you thought of fitting extra pick ups and doing a video as your really good at showing how to do things 🤔 Thanks Stevie.

LIMA MOTORS & WHEELS The initial problem with Lima motors (& Wrenn) has always been, that they simply need re-magnetising to increase their lack lustre performance. Certain specialist model shops can re-magnetise motors for a few pounds. It should of course be understood that as a "Budget" range Lima never used quality motors, so fine performance is limited !!! Being a pre NEM budget designed range, Lima models also have "Steamroller" wheel treads & flanges. That can even be a problem on old Code 100 points (100 thou of an inch high rail), never mind modern code 75 track (75 thou of an inch high rail) ! Lima coach & wagon wheels can usually be changed to Hornby/Bachmann modern ones, as long as you check the diameter of the wheels, and the total length of the axle before buying replacements. Loco wheels are a bigger problem as there are often gears on the axles. But there is a rapid alternative solution ! You need a Mini Drill with real Carbonundrum Discs for this solution. The loco axle needs to be removed to disengage it, and temporarily put into a coach bogie. Then you can apply the rotating Carbonundrum disc very carefully to the Lima wheel flange, making the wheels spin, and simultaneously grinding down the flange. (By no more than 0.75 of a millimetre) !!! Carbonundrum discs are however very brittle so great care must be taken when using them to cut anything, or they shatter. But being the second hardest cutting medium after diamonds, will cut through anything !!! Happy Modelling.

little dab of hot melt glue to stick the diode thing on. It is easily removed since it does not melt the actual plastic, yet still holds very very well.

I just repaired a class 50 that had an armature with the segments worn completely through. I made new ones and soldered them onto the original armature. I would like to try these cd motors.

I have wondered if a capacitor would help in smoothing the power curve a little, doesn't have to be a big one but rather as a signal smoother than a power storer I was wondering.

My Lima 33 goes from zero to racing, I have an old Triang 4.5 controller which I use the low and high stance lever with the high stance for slow speeds and low stance for higher speeds so it makes my racing engines behave a little better. Not my Caledonian Railway saddle tank though, I have no idea why but it is like a rocket on the tiniest of power and super strong being able to pull all my rolling stock with no sign of struggling and high stance seems to not subdue it one bit either O.o

Adding extra pickups to the trailing bogie might help

Like the video very much thanks.

I am surprised the CD motor didn't fix the slow running problem. Could it be your controller? Our railway society layout has three different controllers (H&M Duette, a cheap Hornby train set -like thing, and a Gaugemaster handheld) but only the Gaugemaster gives slow running.

Nice ale.....

Oh. Hobgoblin. Yes. Not had a pint of that in over two years.

Loving the content mate...one observation, what sort of microphone are you using, gets very boomy at times.

Sounds a lot better, runs smooth. Nice upgrade. Do these motors need run in like other motors? Thanks again and all the best. Brian @ The Angels

The real solution would be gearing the drive down. It would give a slower scale speed, and a dramatically smoother take off.

Good job. Maybe not enough torque at low-end speed. Lower ratio gearing will solve that for sure, and give you exactly what you are after :)

Are you sure that's a diode? A diode only allows the current to flow in one direction, so you wouldn't be able to reverse the loco. Also, a diode would only reduce the voltage by about 0.6 volts, not 6 volts.

Where is the motor-holding to find and the gear?

I have the same train do you do them for other people or just for self .

Thanks for this. Very well shown. I've got a Lima Class 33 that looks just like that but it's HO scale. Is yours OO scale? What I have never understood (since my childhood in the 60s and 70s) is why model railway motors don't have flywheels. And I don't mean tiny things, I mean big flywheels. They should at their absolute minimum be the same size diameter as the motor, but preferably bigger. To my way of thinking a flywheel is an absolute MUST have item on a model. It should not be classed as an optional extra, it should be a priority. Every, and I do mean EVERY, model should have a flywheel, especially model locomotives because in the real world all locomotives have some tonnage and there is no way they can be capable of stopping dead on a sixpence. It's not a space issue that stops them being included. Many a time I see plenty of space available and yet no flywheel, and if they do add one it can be smaller than the motor even when there is room for a bigger one, even one bigger than motor. If room is very tight then I would consider it better to make the motor smaller in order to make room for a flywheel. Every time I see a model jerk about and stop or start suddenly I stop seeing a model and see a toy. A flywheel on your model would sort out that jerky start but of course you need a shaft long enough to stick it on. On yours and on mine I don't think there is room either. It would have been better if the manufacturer had made the motor thinner and then included a flywheel. Any loss in power due to a thinner motor I think would be compensated by much smoother running, and some of these motors go too fast anyway. I might have to change mine to a different motor set up all together in order to include a flywheel.

Wrong voltage motor and an oversized gear, this might fix a dead loco, but, if it's not broken then don't fix it springs to mind. Great video by the way, if you need to replace a motor.