I've had the worst time with those motor saddles, sometimes, somehow breaking off at least one of the clips. I'm a bit more aware of them now.
Same here on my Atlas GP35's. One was noisy and I tried all the usual tricks but it ended up being the motor saddle not seated correctly with one of the "clips" kind of smashed. Replaced it and all good. Sometimes it's a bit of a bearcat to get all four clips in place correctly. It seems the saddle and how critical it is is often an overlooked item. Doug
I use a toothpick to push the saddle tabs so their catch clears the frame allowing separation. Trick is to apply outward pressure to the frame halves as you are doing this so the catches don't re-engage the frame. One method is to put the chassis on the bench and use a regular screwdriver placed in the slot of the frame halves over the motor then twist it with enough force so that as the catches clear (using the toothpick) that the frame separates enough so they won't go back. Usually once I get one tab to clear I can use my fingers instead of the screwdriver to wedge the frame halves apart as I clear each tab. Never broken a saddle yet with that method.
Alright I need a picture of said Motor Saddles? BTW, this quote by @Mark Ricci "Please continue the VO1000 saga..." is epic, as it's exactly what it is. However... there is good news to report about said saga. I took the VO-1000 apart for maybe the 10th or 15th time, this time determined to wipe, clean, oil, blown air with my mouth, lift one leg in case of vodoo, take my time ( really hard for me ), and by golly, I think I have it working as good as it is going too. Is the noise still there, sometimes, but like someone said, I can't tell if it's because of the echo of the motor in the shell, or something is actually wrong at his point in time? And it's appears to only be in forward, and bottom line, I have worked so hard on this thing to learn, I don't think I can Return it now. The amount I have learned will go a long way in the future of maintaining or try to fix locomotives. It's that project that you feel you conquered for the most part. I can now Start it in Forward or Reverse from a dead stop, no pushing required ( although it take a bit of throttle on my Bachmann EZ Command Control ) before it kicks in. Ran it all night long for hours in both Forward and Reverse and it appeared to get better over time, way better! Break in maybe? Although it was used it had not run in so long it needed to Run for a while? Suggested by people. Bottom line is, I can definitely live with it, and it may be ones of Those that always makes some kind of noise, although MUCH better than before. So is the saga over? I would like to think so, but think it might bite me in the arse in the future hopefully not. Plus it is my ONLY DCC switcher. Now to find a CB&Q or Burlington shell? Do they make such a thing for the VO-1000! Saga OUT! I hope! It's running in the background as I type, Yippee! P.S. where do I get those little rubber light things, cheap? I need a bunch of them? Only Atlas sell them? I don't see them on Atlas parts site! Video of VO-1000, tell me what you think? Sorry about the lighting. BTW, when I put it in Reverse should the Entire cab be lit up? I have a piece of painters tap on the bulb Just wondering as I lost that rubber piece.
Just to stop you going nuts, the first run was made by ajin in South Korea. They had a small problem in that the shell vibrates giving that noise, it kinda sounds like the armature hits the side of the plastic shell. The second release made in china is much better, no horrible noise. You can always get a FM 12-44 or 10-44 shell off shapeways and fit that, more clearance. You might also try a shell from Atlas spare parts and see if that vibrates (but you'll have to paint and decal it) Not very helpful I know but a lot of us have already been down this road. To their credit Atlas did fix it for the later releases.
I have the Cotton Belt Orange and it appears it was released in 2010, which should be the China version according to this and Spookshow? https://archive.atlasrr.com/NLoco/arc-nvo1000.htm I do however want a CB&Q or Burlington even if it is not accurate. Does Atlas sell a Non Painted shell for them? Something else I would have to learn, or pay someone It appears when I look at locomotives, and I got lucky, it's CB&Q Burlington or just Burlington I ended up getting, and I like them. Nothing to do with the actual real life stuff, cause I don't know and I am not that kind of modeler, just like them for some strange reason! Have a CB&Q KATO Zephyr on order with all the cars cause of it? Crazy I know, makes no sense
Atlas VO-1000 pulling some rolling stock, and quietly too! Seems the longer it runs after cleaning the better it is getting? Maybe, maybe not?
The NUMERO UNO ENEMY of all things N Scale is DIRT. I just got finished cleaning up an N Scale Atlas FM road switcher. It has the same kind of pickup as the Baldwin. It is usually reliable. It almost never stalls. Suddenly it was sputtering and jerking. I noticed some dirt on the wheels, cleaned the track; all in vain. I disassemebled the trucks. I cleaned dirt out of the grooves in the sides of the wheels. I cleaned dirt from the needlepoint on the axles and off the face and tread of each wheel. I used LL track cleaner and a Q-tip. I also used a scrap piece of styrene to scrape the dirt off the tread of the wheels. Most importantly, I put some LL track cleaner onto a Q-tip and swabbed the convex side of the indentations on the contact strips (the things that Original Poster has on the alcohol pad wrappers). I then took a toothpick and cleaned the dirt out of there. You will be amazed at how much dirt will accumulate there. For good measure, I swabbed the LL track cleaner again. I then re-assembled each truck. Before replacing them, I swabbed the contact strips on the chassis with LL track cleaner and track erased them. The thing now runs as well as it always has. Original Poster will do well to take those alcohol pads, swab the convex side of the contact strips, then clean out those indentations with a toothpick. I can see the dirt on them from his photograph. Those needlepoint contacts/pickups are excellent, but, dirt does tend to accumulate in places. It is necessary every once in a while to disassemble the trucks and clean out the aforementioned dirt. I still have three of these things. At one point, I had more than ten. I sold most of them. I had trouble only with one. One of them performs the most demanding job on my pike, the job of Short Creek Junction station switcher.. It does it not only well, but better than any other locomotive that I have. The other two are excellent locomotives, as well. The slow speed control is the best that I have seen for any N Scale switcher. The Bachmann USRA 0-6-0 (with the SPECTRUM tender modification) and Kato NW-2 come pretty close, although that B-mann does not pull as well as the diesels.
So since wiring for the DCC extra locations, my locomotives run much better I guess cause of the extra spots to pickup DCC current? Except my Atlas VO-1000, which runs fantastic now, no more motor sounds, etc... since everyone helped me, BUT it just won't work from a dead stop most of the time, while all the others do? I imagine it is because of the weight of it? It doesn't weigh very much compared to the others, and then you have the extra wheels/trucks for pickup on say the Intermountain FT A& B and it is heavy in comparison, and the Atlas U25B's which are kind of heavy compared to the VO-1000 but have more wheels/trucks for electrical pickup. Plus since I consisted ( is it a word? ) two of my Atlas U25B's they run much better it appears, although they do run alone also. Except the second one that is reversed when backing up ( motor issue, have the NEW motors ), but quiet as a mouse in forward. So is this normal for a light weight locomotive? It runs great now, but I hate having to push it with my finger to get it going all the time? Track is clean, locomotive is clean, extra DCC drops, etc... And it's my only switcher. Not a fan of the theme, livery, scheme, whatever you call them for trains? But can't I change that? I want to love it, but I just can't
I didn't run the couple I converted to DCC much before putting them back away but none had that problem. I'd think it is still a pickup problem, most likely the track wheel combination. I'd really clean the track real good in a short section and work with the loco in that section. Also really clean the wheels, clean the contact strips where they contact the tops of the trucks (maybe start there). I'll bet the problem is between the track to the frame part of the electrical pickup. Now if you have to push it and then it runs but stalls when you throttle it back to slow speeds I'd suspect that it might not be electrical but mechanical and something is binding in the drive train a touch. I'd do all the testing with the shell off (you need it off anyway to clean the long contact strips) and not put it back on until it is running right. Then if if also acts up there is some interference from the shell somehow. Sumner
Be aware that there's a minor difference in the South Korean-built and Chinese-built VO-1000 body shells. I think the South Korean shells have small tabs which project from the bottom of the hood. These can be fit to the Chinese mechanism by breaking off the tabs. I don't know how well the body shells hold to the chassis afterward. I have two of the South Korean-built models and they seem to run okay.
I'll have to take the shell off and see if anything is binding I guess. Thanks for your suggestions! I'll report back if there are any changes.
I thought this was already discussed here but, looking back thru the replies, I don't see it. The Korean-made (first run) version of the VO-1000 was well known to be noisy. So much so that Atlas had a webpage dedicated to how to fix it (maybe it's still up?). The fix involved replacing drive line components with parts from the Chinese-made version. You may have even needed to replace the frame halves. By the time I ran across this how-to page, the parts needed for the refit were not available. So, having a noisy VO-1000 from this first run, I've tried to address this using the existing parts without much success. The source of the noise, IIRC, is that the worms mesh too deep with the top truck gears causing excess vibration. I've tried to add some (very thin) shims to the underside of the worm blocks to raise the worn slightly, but this resulted in some binding and not much improvement in noise.
Yeah the noise issue originally has been solved. This is simply a running issue from stand still to get it moving. The locomotive when it runs, runs quiet and super smooth. I'll take it apart and look at it again in the near future. And my particular model is a 2010 version so it should not be the Korean version? According to Atlas production site. And the Spookshow site?
