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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:07:07 GMT -5
Marklin Mikado & Pacific motor upgrade This is a project I started over a year ago, then got too busy to finish it so I boxed it up and put it aside until last night... when I read a post on Facebook asking about the reliability and performance of the Marklin locomotives that are equipped with their new can motors after having a decoder installed. For those who have not run into this issue and/or are not familiar with it, some of us have experienced problems with the decoders letting the magic smoke out and sometimes the 3 and/or 5 pole motors on both American and European steamers burning out after running all day for 2 days in a row at shows. In the 90’s Marklin released a 2-8-2 Mikado and a 4-6-0 Pacific American stile Steamer As well as several European versions with a open core 3 pole motor. While there were some variations many of the parts on these locomotives including some of the motors were the same. In later years some of these were released with a upgraded 5 pole motor. Again, while many parts were interchangeable some were not. For this write up the primary subjects I am working on are my Marklin 8881 B&O 4-6-2 Pacific and the 88812 C&O Mikado. This same upgrade process should work on most if not all of the American 4-6-2 and 2-8-0 style steamers as well as many of the European versions. So, let’s get started The first step removing the shell which is easy enough simply remove the screw hidden in the stack on top of the shell. Lift the shell straight up and set it and the screw aside in a safe place.
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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:09:12 GMT -5
Next remove the screw holding the motor housing to the chassis located just behind the capacitor and sit it aside. Flip the loco over and remove the screw at the rear of the gear cover plate. Leave the front screw tight. The trailing truck and motor should now pull straight out the back. Be careful not to lose the small brass spring that puts tension on the axle (Not all locos have this)
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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:16:33 GMT -5
Now gently remove the driveshaft by twisting the gear as you pull it out of the chassis. if it came out with the motor simply pull it straight out of the motor housing. Next If you plan to install a decoder you will need to unsolder and remove the capacitor. Otherwise gently bend each leg up and out a little so you see the screw hole. Now you will have to do some test fitting. Depending on what drive shaft and motor combination your loco used you may need to buy the E275123 , or the E226940 ( sane as E261460) or if its in good shape you might be able to use the one that you just removed . To figure out which one you need Start by fitting the new E275145 motor on the chassis with the mounting hole on the top. Looking straight down from the top If the hole in the tab lines up with the existing mounting hole on the chassis you will probably need to get the E275123 shaft. If the holes do not line up at all or only ½ the hole is visible, then you have 2 options. (A) order The E226940 or the E261460 which I’m told are the same part and modify it to fit. (B) Modify the drive shaft you just took out. Choosing (A) or (B)? How was your steamer running? Great, Good, Just fine in both directions, your probably fine using option (B) modifying your existing drive shaft, However if it’s just running ok, not running too good, or runs better in one direction than the other, choose option (A) order a new E261460 or E226940, as your existing drive shaft may be worn out or starting to wear out. Regardless of whether your drive shaft is worn or not I recommend getting a new shaft. No sense in using a worn driveshaft with your new motor. Modifying the drive shaft test fit the spur gear end into the bearing on your new motor. if the gears line up skip to the next section If the gears on it and the motor do not line up you will have to shorten that end of the drive shaft. Stick the drive shaft in a pin vice to make it easier to hold while you grind or cut it down with a cut off wheel. Do not us a pair of snips the cutting pressure will deform/Egg the end of the shaft. I used a cutoff wheel on my Dremel to cut the shaft off then some fine files to remove any burs and round over the end of the shaft. I cut 2mm off the shaft on for the Pacific then ground it down another 0.5mm little by little .01mm at a time test fitting it each time by putting the shaft in the chassis then holding the motor in place grinding it down a little more each time until the plastic motor housing sat flush with the back end of the chassis. Then I took another .01mm off to make sure it wasn’t too tight.
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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:19:24 GMT -5
Now if the holes lined up you should be able to slide your new drive shaft in the chassis slip the motor housing on replace the screw fold the motor wires up over the top and solder them to the capacitor on each side or wire in a D&H PD05A decoder it will fit on top of the motor housing.
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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:23:24 GMT -5
If the holes on your motor housing did not line up with the one in your chassis you can use a small round file or reamer to turn the hole on the motor mount tab into a slot. Don’t over do it you just need to make it long enough for the screw to work Making room for the motor Now at 6.75 mm wide the inside of the shell is too small for the 7mm can motor to fit. You will need to file or grid a little bit off the inside of the boiler just in front of the cab. For this I used my Dremel with a 194 bit to gently grind about 0.13mm off each side.
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Post by tjdreams on May 7, 2022 1:25:22 GMT -5
Next I cut a 1.5mm section off a 2.5mm diameter piece of brass tubing to use as a spacer filling the gap where the orignal motor mounted between the gear plate and the chassis. Slip the trailing truck over the spacer, slide them in the gap and reinstall the rear gear cover screw to hold them in place. Re install the shell and give it a test run.
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Post by texrail on May 7, 2022 1:57:24 GMT -5
Great work and good understandable step-by-step instruction. What typ of decoder fits inside the cab? I´m thinking about a Doehler & Haas PD05A Micro-Decoder.
Thanks!
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Post by markm on May 8, 2022 10:40:06 GMT -5
Great work and good understandable step-by-step instruction. What typ of decoder fits inside the cab? I´m thinking about a Doehler & Haas PD05A Micro-Decoder. Thanks! I concur. It would be great if you could post this as a pdf or a narrated slide show on one of the video sites. Unfortunately I’ve found over the years a lot of useful information like this gets lost in threads on the SM sites. I’ve done a bit of work upgrading my Mikados, but having been a child of the tinplate age, I still find a certain romance in having a locomotive that sounds like a garbage disposal Mark
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Post by tjdreams on May 8, 2022 13:38:28 GMT -5
Great work and good understandable step-by-step instruction. What typ of decoder fits inside the cab? I´m thinking about a Doehler & Haas PD05A Micro-Decoder. Thanks! I concur. It would be great if you could post this as a pdf or a narrated slide show on one of the video sites. Unfortunately I’ve found over the years a lot of useful information like this gets lost in threads on the SM sites. I’ve done a bit of work upgrading my Mikados, but having been a child of the tinplate age, I still find a certain romance in having a locomotive that sounds like a garbage disposal Mark You are right Mark a lot of useful info like this dose get lost over time. Guess I'm going to have to get myself a Video camera setup and learn how to do live how-to video's. I agree I love the sound and smell of a old Lionel 3 rail O gauge Loco running around the track. Hell I've been known to leave gaps between the track sections just to amplify the clickity clack of the wheels crossing the joint. But I will pass on the Garbage Disposal sound. In fact I have another project sitting here on my work bench that's doing a fine job of silencing a loco that many call the "coffee grinder"
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Post by tjdreams on May 15, 2022 14:29:13 GMT -5
Update Last Saturday I put ESU LokPilot decoders in both the Pacific and the Mikado then ran them for about 7 hours on Sunday with out any issues. Today they have been running smooth and quiet alongside one of my other re-motor projects for well over 6 hours.
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