I got my N scale RSD4 out of storage for a test run on the Arklatex Sub, and boy o boy- it sounded like a coffee grinder! A bit jerky-moving, too....... I'm probably asking silly questions here, but any hints on how to reduce the sound & improve the operation? I've already cleaned the gunk off the wheels using isopropyl alcohol, and got quite a bit of crap off, but now I have the noise- sounds like it's gonna throw a rod. How do I fix this?
I have gotten some results by cleaning crud off the gears. At my club we have a Bachmann trolley that just sounds like a grinder no matter what we do. Now... if we could only get it to actually grind coffee beans...
Did you clean out the inside gears? They can get as gunky as the wheels. My biggest problem has been the wheelset gears picking up a tiny piece of ballast, but I've also had worm gears that looked like they'd been undersea for 100 years,
I thought you were talking about modeling a coffee grinder for a restaurant scene. I haven't ever done that, but I once built an N scale hot dog rotisserie for a carnival concession trailer.
i have always successfully cleaned my gear by letting them soak in Goo Gone. i would let them sit over night, and then get them good and dry and put a drop of oil on them and it has always seemed to work for me.