Atlas Rivarossi 0-8-0 redo

[timwatson]

Son of a gun ... Tony I never even questioned those disks. Pulled them off and then put them back on. That's where the short is!! Are all Rivarossi wheels plastic inserts? I thought they were metal??

Tim,
 I'm confused. The wheel centers on the RR steam are plastic. The only way the wheel rim made electrical contact with the frame was when a steel disc was inserted between the back of the wheel and the axle to complete the circuit. The simple answer is to remove all the steel disks which will remove the frame electrically from the circuit and then use wipers on the wheel rims or just rely on tender pickup for the whole thing.

[timwatson]

Thanks Tony, I gotta admit, missing those after everything I've done thus far to this loco - I feel kind of dumb. 

Would a mod kindly rename this thread "Atlas Rivarossi 0-8-0 redo." So as to not point out my rather large oversight. If not that's fine. Just thought I'd ask.

[timwatson]

Here are the culprits of the short. When I ground down the flanges to these I did it in a batch so I removed one wheel on 4 sets. I ground down the flange in a drill while it was on the axle. Well I didn't pay any attention to how they came off. So I rinsed and repeated the process on the other axles and quarter the wheels so they lined up on one side and then lined up on the other side - unknowingly having one metal washer that was backwards to the rest. That metal washered wheel was then on the wrong side causing the short. I thought the wheel hubs were metal - they aren't it was the washers.



Thanks for the help all. I'll post more progress on this engine here as I make it.

[timwatson]

Any ideas on what material makes for good side wheel wipers and where to purchase it?

[Chris333]

Phosphor bronze wire from Tichy Train Group.

[mmagliaro]

Any ideas on what material makes for good side wheel wipers and where to purchase it?

Hands-down you want to use phosphor bronze strips.  Don't use brass, copper, steel, or aluminum.  They aren't
 springy enough and it will never stay pressed against the wheel with good contact.
I usually cut my contact strips from phosphor bronze sheet from Clover House.  They sell a sheet of .003" thick

http://cloverhouse.com/Store/product_info.php?cPath=31_34&products_id=62

You can use a steel ruler and an Xacto to cut a thin strip off the sheet, and then just rub over it flat on
a table to get rid of the curl that will happen as you cut it.   You can solder wires to it easily.

[SkipGear]

Any ideas on what material makes for good side wheel wipers and where to purchase it?

Both previous answers work as well as K&S Brass sells a 5x7 sheet of .008 PB Sheet for about $6. Any shop that has a K&S Metal center can get it for you. Part# 15053. I use all of the above, depending on the application.

[Chris333]

Sheet would have more surface area than wire.

[timwatson]

You 3 guys are the sultans of steam redo (if Victor were here it'd be a quadfecta) - I seriously thank you for the suggestions. I will likely try a few of the suggestions and see what works.

Stay tuned.

[peteski]

You 3 guys are the sultans of steam redo (if Victor were here it'd be a quadfecta) - I seriously thank you for the suggestions. I will likely try a few of the suggestions and see what works.

Stay tuned.

Victor is here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1296  He just doesn't post very often.

[mmagliaro]

One more....

Slaters, item 1220...
They make .005" thick phosphor bronze strip, already cut into nice neat 1/16" wide strips, so you don't have to cut
it from a sheet and flatten it down.   I found them on eBay and bought them, and they are beautiful.
I haven't used them yet.  I just bought them because I know I'll need to make contact strips one day, and having
ready-made, nice square-cut strips looked like a great idea.

You can find them on eBay by searching for Slaters 1220.

The seller is in the UK, but the shipping was cheap and very prompt.  About $12 for a package of strips that will last
a lifetime.

[timwatson]

Awesome find Max - I just ordered some for $11 (inc shipping) from the UK. Looks like it'll be perfect.

[timwatson]

Yup I knew that he was over here Pete but for some reason he isn't as active over here as he was the Atlas forums. Sadly.

Victor is here: https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=1296  He just doesn't post very often.

[timwatson]

I came up with a wheel quarterer this evening because I'm having troubles getting these wheels in quarter with the gears. I'll build this and report back. Fingers crossed.


N Scale steam driver quarter by nScaleRail, on Flickr

[mmagliaro]

Tim...

You build that thing and make it work, and I will buy one from you!


There is an obscure N Scale wheel quartering product consisting of a set of plates and other fittings.
You will find it reviewed and photographed in the 2mm Association forum if you do a web search
for "2mm Scale Association quartering jig"

http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=21039

I have never had the chance to try out the 2mm jig because I'm not a member and you must join
to order one.   Out of pure lethargy, I just never bothered to fill out paper work and go through
the manual process to join (but I probably am missing out).

Maybe you can see something in there that helps you as you develop this.