I have a LifeLike C Liner B unit that has a broken wire in the armature. Apparently, it had this malady when I purchased it. It will run but at a reduced speed and will not keep up with the two A units and thus acts as a sled and reduces the pulling power of the ABA consist.. Atlas bought the LifeLike line from Walthers but they told me they only bought the tooling and not any parts or product. Anyone know of a motor that I can use as a replacement? P.S. This is the 2006 model that was DCC ready. I would imagine that LifeLike used the same motor in their FA and Erie built models also.
What do you normally run for consists? And what are you running layout-wise? The reason I ask, is those C-liners are tanks as far as pulling power. I'm sure there is a motor out there that will fit, but if it was me I think I'd just pull the drivetrain out of the B unit and make it a dummy. Those C-liners are one of my favorite locos.........I have all the ones LL made for Milwaukee Road which includes one DCC set and 2 DCC ready sets. The DCC versions have MRC sound decoders, which wouldn't have been my first choice, but I got them cheap and they are totally drop in (no milling for speakers,ect.)
Once I discovered the problem with the B unit, I only ran the two A units and they had plenty of power to pull anything I coupled to them. I'm thinking that the motor from a LifeLike FA/B1 or an Erie built would probably be the same as I doubt LifeLike would change out an already proven design. Spookshow's write up seems to suggest this.
Were any of the FAs ever DCC ready? I pulled the shells off a DC FB, a DC C-liner and a DCC C-liner The DCC unit is NOTHING like the DC units. I think you are correct that the DC unit motors would be interchangable, but they appear to use contacts on top of the motor that contact the frame, and the DCC version has buttons on the side that contact wipers from the board on the sides of the chassis.
Unfortunately, I sold all of my FA/B1's (all twelve of them) two years ago so I cannot check them. The B unit is not critical as the two A units are quite capable of pulling anything I can couple to them. Still, if there is a chance of getting a motor for it at a reasonable price, I would want to do it as I already have the decoder for it.
Yeah.......if you can find one it would be worth fixing.....like I said, I love mine and use them at club events when I pull out the 80 to 100 car trains. My suggestion for the Dummy was based on if you want to have the ABA consist. But again, you'll definitely need the motor for the DCC version.
Can you see the broken wire in the armature? If so and with a microscope, you may be able to solder the broken wire. If you can't see the break, disregard this suggestion. Doug Doug
