Samhomgsa current draw?

[peteski]

LOL Max!  It is all Daniel's fault!  He got me confuzled!  I fixed my earlier post.

[woodone]

I have done a number of locomotives and added extra power pick-ups.
I have been able to use .010 phosphor bronze wire for them. The trick (I think) is the length of the wire. Too short and it will be too stiff.
Too long and it will not make good contact . I try to make the contacts touch the treads. If you have contacts on the back sides you need to have them on both sides, other wise the spring pressure will push the wheel set to one side of the truck.
I have also used .010 guitar string for the wire. It is most times made of stainless steel which is hard to solder to.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have experimented with some .008" bronze wire with - eh - mediocre results. I don't think it is as good as stock (though soldering is a hell of a lot easier).

I really want to convert to wheelback wipers, which would be less prone to dirt than the tread based ones on the model. But this looks like it would be a nightmare to implement on a live metal truck.

When I first tested the engine it had a clicking noise and I thought it had a broken gear. I took the offending truck apart, cleaned everything and repacked the gears. This did the trick and the engine runs very nicely.

[peteski]

I have experimented with some .008" bronze wire with - eh - mediocre results. I don't think it is as good as stock (though soldering is a hell of a lot easier).

I really want to convert to wheelback wipers, which would be less prone to dirt than the tread based ones on the model. But this looks like it would be a nightmare to implement on a live metal truck.

When I first tested the engine it had a clicking noise and I thought it had a broken gear. I took the offending truck apart, cleaned everything and repacked the gears. This did the trick and the engine runs very nicely.

The clicking was probably a small piece of debris (like a grain of ballast) stuck in the grease between the teeth of one of the gears.

As for installing wipers in a metal truck, you could maybe use small squares of single sided copper clad PC board material to hold the wipers. Solder the wire to the copper side, then the PC board can be easily glued (or screwed) to the metal truck frame.  Are both wheels insulated, or is the metal truck frame used as a pickup on one side?

[160pennsy]

Streamlined Backshops now has some of their N scale axle & wheel wiper kits back in stock. You could use nylon screws to attach the wipers to the trucks (w/thin insulator washers between the wipers & truck frame) along with small gauge flexible stranded wire to bring power up to where you need it .

https://store.sbs4dcc.com/wheelandaxlewipers.aspx