Wheel Make UP

[Geoff]

I thought I would start up about the properties in Wheels of Loco's from Graham Farish and Dapol, because I get different connection problem with Dapol Loco's than what I get with Graham Farish Loco's, with being DCC at first I put it down to bad track connection but after lots of runs with different Loco's I have come to the conclusion that Dapol Loco's have poor pick up properties compared with that of Graham Farish, I was checking the track with a straight edge to make sure where the pick up was poor that all the wheels of the Loco were sitting square, and there was nothing to make me take any action with the track.

Are the wheel sets on Dapol Loco's of a different alloy base than what Graham Farish Loco's are.

Are Dapol Loco's coated in a film so it causes poor pick up and the wheel sets really need a good cleaning.

Or is it down to the actual pick ups that contact the wheels.

It will be interesting to hear folks views on this subject because it has stumped me that Farish Loco's never ever give me problems like the Dapol Loco's do and if anyone has found a way to rectify this please let us know your findings.

As you know I run my Loco's via a computer so the same problem may not be on DC systems.

I can run Farish Loco's really slow throughout my layout and I do not get any kind of hicup.

[Dr Al]

Are the wheel sets on Dapol Loco's of a different alloy base than what Graham Farish Loco's are.

Probably, but I doubt it's of any significance.

Are Dapol Loco's coated in a film so it causes poor pick up and the wheel sets really need a good cleaning.

Can be - I had that notable on one particular B17 which had zero loco pickup until a lot of gunk on the drivers (presumably from blackening).

Or is it down to the actual pick ups that contact the wheels.

Can also be. There is quite a bit on the Dapol Pannier thread discussing poor pickup on those. Also, there can be poor connection between locos and tenders with the wires and their posts - this has been the most common problem I've seen. Poor design of the A3/A4 tender pickups means weighting the tender additionally is often necessary.

Cheers,
Alan

[elmo]

Greetings.
Firstly I am not an expert on every type of loco but I believe that your problem will be down to the type of electrical pick up mechanism as opposed to material type etc.
My Farish locos use a wiper arm on the back of the wheel to transfer electric from the wheel to the motor. My Dapols take the current through the wheel bearing. This system will work fine and provide less drag but will not work correctly if too much oil is applied. Dapols pannier is a case in question with a large thread about them on this forum. Mine did not work very well until I carried out a full degrease of the bearing area due to far too much oil being applied at manufacture.

Elmo

[Dr Al]

My Farish locos use a wiper arm on the back of the wheel to transfer electric from the wheel to the motor.

They still do on diesels, but on all new tooled steam Farish also now use the bearings to pickup.

Cheers,
Alan

[Geoff]

OK Loco's causing the problem is the Dapol Pannier it runs well for about 2 metres and then decides to give up the ghost and after a careful push its off again until it needs a push again, I need this to run well because it goes on my branch line and maybe I need to give it a degrease, the next loco is the A4 Pacific this can go for about 10 minutes and decide to not move and always in a different place with this loco I am thinking if dirt has got through somewhere. It does have me baffled because any connection problems are down to Dapol.

I think the Pannier is the most concern and will look at it tonight, I think I will test them on DC tonight to see if I get the same problem but if its down to the lubrication from the factory then it might be difficult to get to.

The A4 Pacific do you think the tender needs weighting a little?

Thanks for the input folks

[Dr Al]

Your problems sound entirely typical of those that generally occur with those types. Specifically:

I think the Pannier is the most concern and will look at it tonight, I think I will test them on DC tonight to see if I get the same problem but if its down to the lubrication from the factory then it might be difficult to get to.

If you have a read at the extensive (15 pages, but worth a good read) Dapol Pannier thread there is a lot of guidance on the problem, and how to improve things.

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=18619.0

The A4 Pacific do you think the tender needs weighting a little?

Check the loco is actually conveying power to the tender first. If it is, then try weighting the tender (test it first by overhanging some temporary weight or blu-tacking it on). There is a wedge of space above the DCC decoder that is spare and I've filled on some of the tempremental locos with significant improvement. On most of my A3/A4s (same chassis) I've also fitted wiper pickups to the rear bogie for a little additional help:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/54500-dapol-a3-photo-review/?p=753451
(link shows A3, but A4 is the same).

Cheers,
Alan