AlloAllo

Will keep the capacitor as it was there for a purpose, still appreciated it appears!

So the capacitor is not really necessary? Going back to the track, my elder brother had a train set with a Princess Loco and a Jinty, and some transcontinental coaches. This was back in the mid 50s and I think the track was on a grey plastic bed? Grandad's memory may be failing him there!

Hi Rana, One query please. What is the purpose of the capacitor?

Hi Rana, I checked the wheels as I was aware of this .The motor is fine with power direct to the brushes. Must be my lousy soldering!

Perhaps I should not have soldered direct to the brush. Will retrace my steps. Electricity still a mystery to me.

No fluff found, but it was over-oiled. Now taken to shorting out... No lights.

I have two dock shunters (don't ask), one with milled wheels, one without. The milled wheels version crunches around the track but doesn't like one of the points. The smooth version zips along, then slows to a crawl, then stops! It's not overkeen on the same points. Currently gently filing down the plastic. Don't know why one stops? Could it be a weak magnet? The light stays on.

And sorry Topcat - my understanding of electricity is poor - hence the duh!

The UK Golden Plover is probably from the 1024 set - it came with three pullman coaches but no box. Both the loco and the coaches have Queen of Scots logos - as does the Chinese tendered loco. Both locos have identical sets of identifying characters underneath the chassis

The Chine Ringfield is 5 pole... which is why they are not compatible. Duh! Neither model DCC ready

They are Golden Plovers.

The tender of one model does not electrically connect with the body of the other, and vice versa.

Sorry to be a bit naive, but why is a UK built model of a loco different from a Chinese built loco, when they look alike? I have two tender models of the same loco, but they are not interchangeable.

The neo magnet finally arrived. The motor was carefully disassembled and reassembled. Tested - nothing... I re-did my dodgy soldering and bingo! There is a dmu growling up and down my test track. I remember the dmus from the late 50s - they growled then. Next project is an additional pickup and then lights. A steep learning curve! Thanks for your help guys, you can relax now!

Thanks Topcat. I do have a multimeter. I tested the old armature as directed and got 7.0 for all three segments, so perhaps not defunct. Will report on the new armature in due course. (after I finish work!) . The magnet is so-so, hence the new neo on order. Threelink - I think the sphericals were coated in dried up gunk - the contact cleaner solved that problem. Note that when I received the dmu, one of the wheels was actually rusty, suggesting that the dmu had been stored somewhere damp for a long time. Getting the motor to work is a challenge to a newbie like me!

Ref Topcat: nothing after dropping out the wheels, the coil just got hot. The armature does not spin very freely. Have ordered a neo magnet, when that arrives will strip the motor down, taking care not to loose the now free spherical things. and carefully reassemble. I bought the armature itself recently as a working item so that should not be the problem.

Thanks XYZ, will try that. It tried to spin once, before I freed the ball. I'm also new to continuity. I tried pickup to positive brush and got a beep, but also got a beep pickup to negative brush. Presumably not correct. New to soldering so probably messed up there too! Better than watching endless repeats of Inspector Moltalbano.

The contact freed the ball. Now re-assembled, the wheels spark, the coil gets hot, and that's it. My lack of knowledge of electricity doesn't help. Time to teach an old dog new tricks. Fetchee ball, dog.

The bearings are now in a bath of contact cleaner. Hopefully this will free the bearings from whatever gunk is holding them stuck.

Grandad here. Bought a dmu101 from ebay, a non-runner. Took it to bits as per you tube videos, all ok, apart from when expecting the ball bearings to fall out, they remain resolutely stuck in the bearing housing. Presumably important that they are able to move around? Rebuilt the motor with the stuck ball bearings, and the motor just spits... Armature tried to spin a couple of times. I think I answered my own question, yes, it's important that they move. So how do I get them out ? Tried a pin, which bent.

Thanks morairmike. My grandson came yesterday , picked up the King and connected the tender. I still can't manage it. Fortunately, he took the King home with him.

My grandad bought aa as new King from Ebay, details R2530 01 06. Is there a drawbar missing from the tender or is there a cunning method of connection?

Reading an old service sheet. I was informed that 'to avoid loss of magnetism when withdrawing the armature assembly a suitable keeper must be applied to the magnet.' What sort of keeper? A goalkeeper? A beekeeper?

Thanks Threelink, now that's what I call an answer!

Thanks Going Spare. I saw a British Railways Tank Loco no 9 on ebay with red wheels, and it certainly looks basic. Perhaps I could use some imagination and come up with something better!