Do you love your locos so much..

[Ontrack]

That you are afraid to use them?
With the increasing use of coreless motors which according to some only last for 100 hours together with two recent failures, I have become afraid to leave them them running around my track while I do other chores in fear it will happen again.
Have I become over paranoid or just unlucky?

[Bealman]

To address the title of this thread, yes.

But my layout is basically end to end, and my locos don't get to run round and around for hours.

I do worry that they haven't been run in properly because of this, though.

But on the other hand, when I was a member of a club back in the late eighties early nineties, I ran a Minitrix Mallard around at exhibition for a weekend, and it's still stuffed to this day - thrown traction tyres, gear problems.

So I don't know what's best.

Not much help ,eh!

[ntpntpntp]

They are toys to be played with, otherwise why buy them?  Run them at sensible speeds and loads and enjoy them 

Mine don't get left running for many continuous circuits, as they run on an exhibition layout so the objective is to present a variety of trains.  I have way too many locos, so the running time gets shared.

The "100 hours" thing is just a notional value plucked out of the air based on some anecdotal experiences.   With all mechanical models you will get some failures over time, and for me that's just part of the hobby to carry out servicing. 

I have to admit I'm not a fan of the trend toward using "disposable" sealed can motors (coreless or standard) many of which have simplified "precious metal" brushes. I like a motor I can remove/clean/replace carbon brushes and keep the motor going for decades.    I've replaced a couple of sealed cans on Farish and Liliput models for myself and @Invicta Alec due to shorts which appear to be due to brush failure (I dissected the motors), neither were coreless motor types.  I have a Roco HOe loco awaiting a new can motor.

The cost of OEM replacement motors can be quite high though.  The Bachmann motors are something like £18 IIRC, but the Roco I have on order is getting up toward £50!  Replacement old style Fleischmann motors are also over £40.    This is why enthusiasm for the 3rd party coreless from the likes of Tramfabriek and Micromotor.eu is gaining ground, and also for the cheap "look-a-like" sealed cans to be found on ebay.

[mk1gtstu]

For me no, I'm not afraid to use them. I don't use them enough really, as I own a fair few locos now & many rarely get run due to lack of time. Worse case if a loco does fail due to motor failure spare parts can usually be found for them & they are not that much of a problem to strip down & repair, for me anyway.

Cheers, Stu

[Bigmac]

if you're afraid to use them--buy del prado..saves a few quid.

[martyn]

@Bealman ;

You must have been unlucky with your Minitrix A4.

I have four Minitrix Britannias (and one converted to 'Duke of Gloucester') which are now around 45 years old, and still get some (limited-replaced by Dapol) use. These all did many hours, and probably 'real' miles, on the exhibition circuit in the mid to late 90s, mainly on the roundy roundy part of the layout, and though they all have had at least two sets of replacement tyres, they still haven't had a brush change or any other failure. A 'to do' job is replace all the tyres, as they are now getting a bit old.

To answer the OP-no, I'm not afraid of using them even on the two exhibition layouts that I help run. But I have to say that they now get limited running at home because of that, as I tend to keep them in a stock box for transport. I can only recall one failure in traffic; a Farish B1 shed its right hand valve gear, and has been replaced by me with a spare set from BR Lines. However, for whatever reason, the Farish steam locos (B1 and J39) which I use seem to need tyre changes much more than the Minitrix ones did!

Martyn

[port perran]

I'm all for running my locomotives but at home they only get the occasional outing although I do try to rotate them as much as I can.
At exhibitions, I try to take a goodly supply of engines so that I can alternate as often as possible.

[RailGooner]

I don't have a layout so nothing much gets run after initial testing.

Got a couple of classic European trains which are eye-candy and will likely spend theie life in Train-Safe display tubes.

[Steven B]

But my layout is basically end to end, and my locos don't get to run round and around for hours.

I do worry that they haven't been run in properly because of this, though.

Running in = using the model for a couple of hours at a sensible speed. It doesn't matter if this is going round and round in circles or going backwards and forwards on an end-to-end.

The only thing to watch for on any layout is avoiding sudden stops or changes in direction.

Steven B.

[chrism]

But my layout is basically end to end, and my locos don't get to run round and around for hours.

I do worry that they haven't been run in properly because of this, though.

Running in = using the model for a couple of hours at a sensible speed. It doesn't matter if this is going round and round in circles or going backwards and forwards on an end-to-end.

The only thing to watch for on any layout is avoiding sudden stops or changes in direction.

Especially up, down or sideways 

[Steven B]

Sudden changes in direction downwards aren't too bad. It's the sudden stop when it hits the floor that's the problem!

Steven B

[Ontrack]

I have to admit I'm not a fan of the trend toward using "disposable" sealed can motors (coreless or standard) many of which have simplified "precious metal" brushes. I like a motor I can remove/clean/replace carbon brushes and keep the motor going for decades.    I've replaced a couple of sealed cans on Farish

Similar to yourself I dont like box-can but they are generally easy to replace. Have found an ebay source for under a pound each that work on many farish models with 1mm flywheels. so far i have had no failures (3 locos fitted x2 class55 x1 class 66) they run very smooth and quiet with a good turn of speed Just finished a 2 hour run without fear as have 10 spares costing less than one farish motor https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-N20-Motor-DC-12V-24V-39600RPM-High-Speed-Power-15mm-Long-Shaft-Worm-Gear/254603349875?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=554342383827&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

[ntpntpntp]

Have found an ebay source for under a pound each that work on many farish models with 1mm flywheels
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-N20-Motor-DC-12V-24V-39600RPM-High-Speed-Power-15mm-Long-Shaft-Worm-Gear/254603349875?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&var=554342383827&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Yeah I have a few of those in my stores, single and double ended versions ready for the next time something does fail and needs that size of motor.  Out of my large collection of locos there aren't many that would take an N20, the most obvious being the Fleischmann BR 212 types where a double ender fits very nicely (I've used N-Drive's motor and shaft sleeves in this example).

[Ontrack]

(I've used N-Drive's motor and shaft sleeves in this example).

Nice picture, well fitted
I had no luck with N drives BLUE ended motor, on a farish class 66 x2 burnt out after a day.
they don't like too much voltage or load, maybe ok on smaller locos but not for me.

[PLD]

That you are afraid to use them?
With the increasing use of coreless motors which according to some only last for 100 hours together with two recent failures, I have become afraid to leave them them running around my track while I do other chores in fear it will happen again.
Have I become over paranoid or just unlucky?

Most Certainly Paranoid... I don't know what I must be doing wrong but I've never suffered any motor failures in goodness knows how many hundred hours of exhibition running. I'd love to be able to understand what some do different to cause them to suffer so many problems so we could help them avoid failures.

So no, not at all afraid - if there not to be used what's the point of them?? You may as well collect Stamps or Coins instead... Having said that though, I don't see the point of just leaving them running round and round for the sake of it, if you're not even watching/admiring them...