Have had this completely annoying, intermittent squeal, much like fingernails on a chalk board, crop up on Kato C44-9W's before, now I have an SD60 chassis that does the same . It seems to occur mostly when the units are not under load, such as running by themselves or on a downhill run, in a lashup with several cars. It sometimes happens when the units run at higher speeds too. Anyone found the source of this squeal? And, if so, determined the lubrication points or whatever remedy? BTW, these units run like a dream at lower speeds and when in load. Thanks! Russ
#1 The main baerings on the motor are out of tolerance. You could try a heavyer baering lube, but I wouldn't bet the farm on it working. #2 A little less likely but worth a try is to try some commutator lube on the brushes, you can get some from Atlas. If these don't work I'd recomend replacing the motors.
Russ, the problem is in the motor brushes as said above. You can take them out, flip them around and that might solve it, or just flat out buy new ones (which you need to do after so many hours of running anyway). Kato has a brush set for $2.00. Item #927010 You might want to try a TINY bit of lube in the motor as well. Hope this helps you, it worked for me.
I have had that problem also, Atlas conducta lube on the motor shafts and brushes should solve your problem.
Thanks! I've had some success with some oil, as suggested above, but I have not tried Conducta Lube. I'll have to give that a try next time. Russ
