HO Scale Cleaning Athearn Trucks 5-1-15 Podcast

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In this video podcast episode, Dan demonstrates how to disassemble, clean, and re-assemble Athearn HO scale trucks to ensure smooth operation of your diesel models. While he's at it, he also lubricates the gears. If you're a model railroader, this is definitely one to watch!
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[@ghost4281]

old soft bristle tooth brush works really well

[@rebelrailroader]

I use warm soapy water to wash the gears. I also clean the axle gears and recheck gauge and clean up the contact points. Using canned air is great to get a lot of little stuff out. You had some really great tips. I love your podcasts.

[@tsgmultimedia]

Thanks for watching. Soap seems to be a popular method of cleaning the trucks prior to re-lubricating them.

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

That's a bunch of good advice! It's the sort of thing that newer guys often ask me. I read the comments, and concur with the dish soap and toothbrush. I usually add, make it a very soft brush, and really recommend using Dawn dish soap. If anyone's worried about cost - I've been using the same bottle for over 4 years!! 😉👍👍 Dawn is just better at breaking down grease and deposits. Soak the gears, and the truck halves in a cup, with about 5 drops of Dawn, let it sit an hour or two. If you're type A (like me!), and can't leave anything alone, stir the soapy water a few times.... After the first hour, I'll take everything out, lightly scrub with the toothbrush, then put them back in the soap. After that, I take them out, and put everything in a wire mesh strainer (I HAVE dropped a gear or two down the drain!!). The strainer will help prevent mishaps... Rinse in the strainer, with running water, as warm as you can stand. Then I lay everything on a clean towel. I'll blot lightly over them with a paper towel (don't wipe hard with the paper towel. Paper lint has a way of getting into the most inconvenient places!). When dry, just like was shown on the video, dab a tiny amount of grease on the gears, and spin them with your finger, just to start spreading the grease around. Then reassemble! I've been in the Hobby for over 40 years. 😲 Some of the older methods still work well! ~ Carmine

[@CarminesRCTipsandTricks]

Just one more thing(I know I just wrote a book! lol Dan forgot only one detail.... Checking the Axle Gears for cracks. This is VERY common on P2K locos, but quite a few Athearns can have cracked gears too! If you roll the truck like you did on the rails, if there's a gear problem, it will show up clearly. Either a clicking, or even a spot where the truck stops rolling, will often indicate a cracked gear. They are super easy to replace! I only replace the center gear section, not the entire axle assembly with wheels - unless they are the really old sintered bronze wheels. If you haven't done it yet, you may want to do a video on replacing those - and just as important, re-gauging the wheels afterwards. 😉

[@dbtech7914]

That was helpful. I opened up my first Athern last night to clean it and didn't know where to start on taking it apart.

[@ichabod0391]

Very good video... Useful material people often take for granted...Thanks...!

[@tsgmultimedia]

+Cameron White Thanks so much for watching! Share our channel with your friends. :)

[@charlesmazz5676]

Thank u fella, your instruction help me full! Best wishes

[@jimweikak457]

You can clean it real good with CLR, it's kind of expensive, but you don't have to go crazy with it!! , There's a great job, and is plastic compatible

[@everbladesplm895]

This was very helpful

[@BossSpringsteen69]

One thing i did years ago was pull the gears out and spread wet bentonite clay into the entire gear box and on the gears. I then ran the truck off the locomotive for several minutes added water as need to keep the clay moist. I washed the clay off the truck and gear parts and let the parts dry. I put some Labelle oil on all of the important surfaces sparingly and It quieted the drivetrain down a bit. Not a lot but, enough to notice.

[@2448toyman]

Hi Dan thats a good tip Thanks for sharing

[@tsgmultimedia]

Thanks for watching!

[@joenewstead4848]

I use super clean to take off any grease or oil in them.. just simply wash in hot water and let dry overnight. i recommend washing them in hot water right after pulling them out because the super clean leaves a kinda slimy residue after. I also have used super clean to safely strip paint off cars and locomotives because it does not harm the plastic..

[@tsgmultimedia]

Thank you for watching!

[@johnlong5899]

I've always soaked my gears in dish detergent and water and scrubbed them with a toothbrush.

[@tsgmultimedia]

+John Long Thanks for the tip. Sounds like a very thorough way to do it!

[@avlisk]

In the really old days, Athearn didn't have any gears at all! Does anyone but me remember the Hi-F drive? (Not to be confused with Hi-Fi, which is a different podcast.) On an old Hi-F drive, the rubber band would fuse to the axle after a couple of years if it didn't snap first. And then, good luck to the 10 year old kid in scraping it off or finding the right size of replacement band. I think my first Geep 7 (AKA "rocket sled) cost about $2.98, but it ran on the carpet, and it ran F-A-S-T!

[@tsgmultimedia]

Dan might remember this, but I don't think I ever heard of it! John

[@farmerdave7965]

My very first Athearn locomotive was an F7 with rubber band drive. Slow speed operation was very poor but it ran REALLY fast. The rubber bands were prone to collecting a lot of hair and guck.

[@tylerbonser7686]

I remember seeing that years ago

[@jeffreymcneal1507]

Useful.

[@charlesbard2331]

You do not need to remove the side frames to get the wheels off I know because I have done it...

[@charlesbard2331]

I'm just wondering waxing the inside of the gearbox would that be a good thing or a bad

[@westernwashingtonrailprodu6339]

3:00 It's actually a lot easier to simply pop the gearbox cover off from the top. Less fighting to get it in through the opening between the truck and frame.

[@tsgmultimedia]

I dunno, that looked pretty easy the way Dan did it too.

[@westernwashingtonrailprodu6339]

tsgmultimedia Well, anyone can do it how they want. I was just posting the way I prefer to do it.

[@dmj-ju9zx]

What would make these run even better would be full-sized flywheels...but, no room. Heavier flywheels would do it. Lead, maybe?

[@PeterNGloor]

The current Blue Box motors have two massive flywheels. I think the big problem is electric contact, so I hard-wired all of my locos. For Geeps I had to place some lead inside the hood, they are too light in comparison with the heavily weighted F-units.

[@choo-choosam]

I clean mine in warm water and Dawn

[@orgelspielerkmd]

I opened up the bottom cover plate and went through the same steps you did, but when I put everything back, the wheels did not freely move on track. The gears themselves moved freely without the wheels. However, when downward pressure is applied to the assembled truck, the wheels and gears move, but they do not move freely with no pressure applied. Do you have any idea what's causing that? As a test, I had one truck that moved freely and all I did was literally take off the bottom cover plate and moved the wheels slightly and put the cover plate right back on and all of a sudden, it did not move freely again. Sounds very odd to me!

[@warbabyproductions]

If the gears are binding on the Athrean is it a bad sign or something not to worry to much or is it something easy to fix

[@2005GLI]

Dam, so they should be to free roll that easy.? I have some when ive taken apart a loco that feel like they are bound up.

[@tsgmultimedia]

Free rolling means the motor will not have trouble turning them too.

[@redbarnz]

OMG, John .... LEMON JUICE!?!?!... you suggested that on the GP60 review too and got panned! No John, no!

[@tsgmultimedia]

I think I was on a lemon juice kick after finding out how well that cleaned my cymbals. I don't use lemon juice for anything related to models ... yet!

[@tombarnes7196]

@@tsgmultimedia HAHAHAHAHA!

[@AlanSpenceAlanGCCMSpence]

Good stuff, do you have a video from start to finish ? I bought a used in box Atheena Santa Fe diesel but it has no pull power, here's the box number, 3153 GP9 I want to clean n do pick ups too..any help

[@PeterNGloor]

those gear and axle covers CAN break, be careful.

[@morganhay859]

They break super easily I’ve broken a few myself. Always scares me a little when going to take one apart.

[@eXtremeFX2010]

Does Athearn SD70MAC trucks still have the WARPED defect issue? I recently purchased a BN Executive SD70MAC on Ebay that was in never used condition only to find Athearn DEFECTIVE trucks for that brand causing derailments. I researched only to find this is a common issue with Ahearn SD70MAC of a particular lot number. Should I return or contact Athearn for Replacement parts? Or just return the item?

[@tsgmultimedia]

I'd check the warranty card to see if the product is under warranty and if the warranty is transferable before contacting them. If you're still not sure, you could always contact them and ask. The worst thing that could happen is they say no, then you're exactly where you started out anyway.

[@Superseanbarry]

Thanks. Are tho protos the same as bluebox,genisis, etc?

[@PeterNGloor]

No, but similar

[@parmadj]

How do I know what inch to buy? I'm a beginner and this looks like what I need to do with my two trains

[@drewzdrew27]

oh good grief. I have a lot of work todo.

[@tsgmultimedia]

Thanks for watching!

[@eddieboards5961]

Black parts against a Black work surface doesn't work.

[@tsgmultimedia]

You got that right! I have been using gray since mid to late 2015. Although in this video it isn't too bad. The problem happened when dan put his hand in the shot and his fingers glowed like radioactive sausages.