Thought on breaking in

[wm3798]

I only run Kato.  They are precision machines, so there is no "break in."  We're not in the sixties anymore folks.....

Says you!

[NorsemanJack]

Says you!

LOL!! That's funny.  Now, that said, if that thing isn't broken in by now, it NEVER will be!   

[AKNscale]

This is a really funny comparison.  An automobile with internal combustion engine, liquid cooled, various pumps, many roller bearings, automatic transmission/transaxle, many machined metal parts, etc. to a DC motor driving an extremely simple "drivetrain" comprised mostly of molded synthetic components?   

Obviously an n-scale locomotive isn’t a car, however, there’s a reason why guys talk about their locomotives running smoother and more quietly after a few hours of running. (Bearings etc) Same concept, smaller scale, less components. The concept is the point, not the vehicle. When you’re done facepalming yourself, think about it.

[peteski]

Obviously an n-scale locomotive isn’t a car, however, there’s a reason why guys talk about their locomotives running smoother and more quietly after a few hours of running. (Bearings etc) Same concept, smaller scale, less components. The concept is the point, not the vehicle. When you’re done facepalming yourself, think about it.

I really don't think that few hours of running will "break in" any of the model's plastic or metal gears.    Plastic gears are molded from slippery plastic with no flash to "wear-in".  Even if there was some flash, few hours of running would not wear-down the flash.  Same with metal gears (which are rarely used in today's models), and if they are, they are machined to tight tolerances and very smooth. The worm and motor shafts, and the plastic or sintered brass bearings are ready-to-run out of factory.

IMO, the entire mechanism "breaking-in" ideal is to large extent bunch of bull.
One thing that can actually "break-in" are the motor brushes, but it will take more than few hours of running for them to better conform to the surface of the commutator.

[Maletrain]

I suspect that what we think is the "breaking in" effect from running locomotives for a few hours is really a combination of rubbing electrically conducting surfaces "clean" of corrosion and redistributing stiff lubricants.  On steam locomotives, I suspect there really is some breaking-in on the valve gear, particularly piston rods that that really just slide in and out of holes in cast metal blobs with various amounts of paint in places it may or may not belong.

Whatever, there is sometimes a really noticeable effect of locomotives "smoothing up" when run.  But, it doesn't apply just to new locomotives.  Locos that have been sitting around for a long time seem to demonstrate similar effects.

[AKNscale]

I really don't think that few hours of running will "break in" any of the model's plastic or metal gears.    Plastic gears are molded from slippery plastic with no flash to "wear-in".  Even if there was some flash, few hours of running would not wear-down the flash.  Same with metal gears (which are rarely used in today's models), and if they are, they are machined to tight tolerances and very smooth. The worm and motor shafts, and the plastic or sintered brass bearings are ready-to-run out of factory.

IMO, the entire mechanism "breaking-in" ideal is to large extent bunch of bull.
One thing that can actually "break-in" are the motor brushes, but it will take more than few hours of running for them to better conform to the surface of the commutator.

Brushes and bearings are what I was talking about.

I suspect that what we think is the "breaking in" effect from running locomotives for a few hours is really a combination of rubbing electrically conducting surfaces "clean" of corrosion and redistributing stiff lubricants.  On steam locomotives, I suspect there really is some breaking-in on the valve gear, particularly piston rods that that really just slide in and out of holes in cast metal blobs with various amounts of paint in places it may or may not belong.

Whatever, there is sometimes a really noticeable effect of locomotives "smoothing up" when run.  But, it doesn't apply just to new locomotives.  Locos that have been sitting around for a long time seem to demonstrate similar effects.

When I buy new locos I “strip” and clean them, re-lube them properly, and then run them for a few hours on my test track. They tend to run quite better after this.
With locos that have been sitting for a while, I re-lube them and the smoothing out goes very quickly.
This leads me to believe that initially there is some breaking in while running them.

[NorsemanJack]

Obviously an n-scale locomotive isn’t a car, however, there’s a reason why guys talk about their locomotives running smoother and more quietly after a few hours of running. (Bearings etc) Same concept, smaller scale, less components. The concept is the point, not the vehicle. When you’re done facepalming yourself, think about it.

I've owned many, many Kato locomotives and never had a single one that ran any smoother after a few hours of running than it did after a few minutes of running.  If you refer to my original comment, it was qualified by the Kato brand.  I have no doubt that some other brands have more issues.  We certainly read about a lot of them.

(p.s. it was just the one facepalm and then I moved on to other things....  )

[Iain]

Well, at least I don't have to scrape bearings like I do on the 1:1 scale steam engine I work on.