Hornby J15 (R3415) motor not spinning

[ausrym]

Hi all,

 

I purchased a Hornby J15 early BR (R3415) ~2 years ago and it was working fine. Took it off the layout (which is all DCC) and shelved it for the past ~2 weeks. Put it back on the layout a few nights ago, it moved forward about 1cm then stopped and now doesn’t move.

 

I’ve pulled it apart and cleaned it with mineral turpentine and re-lubed it but still no dice (nothing obvious looked broken). All my locos use Hornby R8249 decoders and I swapped the 1 in the J15 with another working loco: the J15 decoder works in the other loco and the other loco's decoder in the J15 didn't fix anything.

 

I can hear the motor make a whining/humming sound and feel it vibrate but it doesn’t turn. The wheels can’t be turned fully by hand. When I took off the body and spin the motor itself with my hand it turns freely but it doesn't transfer through to the wheels.

I did notiece one of the tender wheels looks 'worn' down to a copper-type colour on the first axle - see below pic. Could this be the issue?

My logic is that the power from the track > pickups > motor > worm drive > gears > wheels > loco starts turning. Accordinglly, could it be the soldered joints from the tender wiring (which goes to the motor) have almost broken. I've never soldered before but I'm happy to give it a go if that fixes things (bought a soldering iron and supplies today just in case).

Before I have a go at this does the brains trust have any other ideas what it might be?

P.S. Rest of my locos still work fine on my layout so I know it's not the track.

Thanks in advance

[TVR1707822112]

Hi There,

I would suggest providing current/power directly to the motor contacts via a smoke alarm battery (or the track on DC (analogue)) and seeing how this goes. If the motor does not work then, I suggest that the motor may be damaged and need a replacement. The other thing to try is turning the wheels by hand with the motor removed - if they don't turn, something is jammed and will be causing the motor to lock up or burn out.

AS far as I am aware the copper colour on the wheel should not be an issue.

If none of this works let us know and we'll be happy to help!

Hope this helps!

Best wishes

[ausrym]

Hi TVR

Thanks for your quick reply.

Unfortunately I don't have access to an analogue layout. I don'also don't have any 9V battteries but I'll buy one tomorrow and see if that helps.

So that I'm clear - do I apply the battery to the wheels and see if starts moving (not sure what you mean re "directly to the motor contacts").

I did just pull the motor out (it's stil connected by the 2 black wires) and I can't rotate the wheels more than say 1/8th of a turn. Do I need to snip both wires to try the test or does this narrow down the issue for you?

Thanks aagain for your help as this is all new to me

[ausrym]

So, minor update. I miraculously found a 9V battery. Tested it on my other 2 locos and their wheels spin so the battery isn't flat and my technique works

On the J15, nada. I can't even feel the motor vibrate or hear any hum. Put the J15 back on my layout and it at least makes the hum sound but no movement.

Any ideas?

[P-Henny]

Everything you have said points to the wheel drive mechanism being jammed up. With the motor physically removed from the chassis the wheels should rotate freely by hand. If they don't, then something is jamming them. Investigate the wheel mechanism whilst the motor is still physically removed.

With regard the comment about motor contacts. This means the location on the physical motor body where the electrical connection is made. Thus the 9 volt battery is then being connected directly to the motor and therefore eliminating all other electrical paths in the power supply drive circuit. But be cautious, this should be done with the decoder removed, else you risk damaging the motor output circuit of the decoder.

[TVR1707822112]

Glad that I could be of some use.

I echo the comments above, if that does not work check for jams in the drive gears. Then you could maybe speak to a local model shop or club to see if they can repair it? If not, I'd speak to Hornby although this may cost you money!

Best wishes

[Tony57]

Have you had a look at HSS 413 service sheet for the J15 in product support section of this web site, it could be there is an issue with the motor drive shaft.

[ausrym]

Hi guys

 

Thanks for the ongoing help. So, a minor update. Firstly, I'm in Australia and it's too costly to mail anything to Hornby unfortunately.

 

I pulled the loco apart right down to the worm gear (thanks for the service sheet suggestion, which helped). With the motor both in and out of the chassis I can rotate the worm drive which then rotates the wheels freely.

 

I accidentally broke one of the wires from the tender to the moto so I’ll have to solder that back on.

 

I otherwise can't see any faults. Does the above shed any further light for anyone?

EDIT: typos