Little Helpers - Servicing basics (Märklin), with the help of EP5 (aka E52/BR152)

Christmas is around the corner, and judging by the channel videos people are watching the most at the moment, it looks like planning for the big event is in full swing. It looks like this might be the right time to look at basic servicing again.
We'll use an EP5 from Märklin set 2660 to demonstrate basic servicing steps for most Märklin locmotives built between 1950 and the mid 1990s.
I hope you enjoy the video,
Please consider subscribing to my channel and hitting the like button. It helps me reach a wider audience and create more content like this.
Thanks for watching!
Sous titrage auto-traduit disponible, pour voir comment faire: • Petite astuce - Sous-t...
Automatisch übersetzte Untertitel verfügbar, wie macht man das? Siehe: • Kleiner Tipp - KZbin...
Channel email: [e-mail]
Subscription: / @the3rdrail
#Märklin #mgleis #analog #wartung #tmrguk #mobaanalog #maintenance märklin trains #Spielbahn

[@user-xu1qq8lj5e]

When replacing the wheel nut, I find it easier to put a little amount of cotton wool in the tool so that the nut does not fall all the way into the spanner. A little bit of grease on the cotton will help to hold the nut in place while locating the thread.

[@The3rdRail]

Great tip! 🙏🙏🙏

[@lindaoffenbach]

👍

[@roguico]

I do similar.

[@MMK96]

Very informative and entertaining as always! your videos will encourage more & more märklinists to maintain and repair their locomotives, accessories, etc. themselves as much as possible!

[@The3rdRail]

Thanks a lot!

[@craighuntington1303]

I recently purchased a Marklin 3366 with a seized motor. This particular video, along with your other video on repairing engines with seized motors, have been exceedingly helpful in restoring Marklin 1980s and 1990s engines. Your training has been instrumental to my rebuilt vintage Marklin layout. Thank you!

[@The3rdRail]

Glad this was helpful, well done! Enjoy your locos.

[@CM-he8ni]

Always good to see a Master at work , mis quoting Voltaire “Pour encourager les autres ” as in we, to tackle this essential part of running trains😊

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you kindly 👍😉

[@roguico]

As always a very enjoyable video.

[@The3rdRail]

Thank you very much!

[@michelcottier6370]

I had in mind to ask you to produce exactly a short video like that. And you did it without my asking! Many thanks.

[@The3rdRail]

Glad it was helpful!

[@raymondleggs5508]

This is why I run my locos every few weeks until I can an build a layout. Some older locos are tempermental if they do not run often even when lubed and cleaned

[@The3rdRail]

The old girls need exercise from time to time 😉

[@andyc972]

Thank you, very useful, Subscribed !

[@The3rdRail]

Awesome, thank you!

[@derbundesbahnandre8357]

Nice video. 🙋🏻‍♂️😁👍👍

[@The3rdRail]

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@lindaoffenbach]

Thank you again for these very helpful vids. What we've just learnt here is which service intervals are best for these classic mechanical constructions. Frankly, we had little idea about it and only service the locos once a year based on observation. We certainly don't want to over-oil them but opening up for cleaning the motorhousing can never hurt. However, 40 and 15 running hours seems to be pretty doable. In our experience, the stretching and weakening of the tyres also depends very much on the model and how tight curves are. Especially curves harm them the most, we observed. We have one model (BB9200, M item 3038) which persistently drops a front tyre at the inner-rail of the first curve it enters. As we observed closely, the particular tyre at that spot stretches significantly, and then the wheel throws it off. New tyres don't help. It does occur on R1 and R2 curves. Better results are on R3. It's only that loco, very odd. Perhaps the diameter of the wheel is off? For now we just have to leave that tyre off unfortunately and leave the traction to the other 3 tyres on the bogie. No idea what else to do atm. Anyway, it seems that curves harm the tyres the very most as it seems. Thanks again for the vid 🙂

[@The3rdRail]

Hi, I'd check the track for imperfections. As you have seen on my layout, there are plenty of tight curves, and I rarely have to change tires for anything else than normal wear and tear. I usually change tires on new additions that havent run for a while or have not been serviced for years, once that's done, it takes 100s of hours before I have to do this again. What does damage tires are uneven track joints, for example a small drop of 0.25 to 1 mm, or wide gaps, between track sections. Try and follow the track with your fingers in the proximity of and in the problem area and see if you can feel an uneven spot, your skin might get caught here and there, the same would happen with the tires, and they would progressively deteriorate. In these areas, the track might have to be adjusted in a way that you don't feel it anymore (tighten track sections back together, adjust fish plates so the joint is even again). Of course, there is also the possibility that the wrong size of tires have been used, but I am sure you have already checked that... Hope this helps...

[@lindaoffenbach]

@@The3rdRail Thanks for the feedback. Most appreciated. The tracks have extremely carefully been laid on cork strips (and glued-in ballasted, where K-track is concerned). Some M-track has been applied in non-visual areas but we are sure they are good and as flat as possibly can be. The base board is very thick and the table is rock solid. Traction tyres on our locos hardly do need service indeed. We just figured that curves stretches them though, observing that 3038. The latter loco and its tyre constantly falling off (new ones make no difference) remains a real mystery though. But apparently the inner tyre of our loco 3038 stretches ~1 mm in the curves; can clearly be noticed; which is an extreme stretch which other locos don't show at all but surely curves do have some effect on tyres then (loosening due constant stretching to some degree). But they generally do have a very long life span. No biggie. Oh well, we'll keep digging that 3038, lol.

[@The3rdRail]

You can send a few pictures of the bogie to the channel email address, if you want, I can have a look and see if something obvious jumps out....

[@lindaoffenbach]

@@The3rdRail Thanks for the offer. The thing is, nothing obvious can be seen statically but it just occurred to me that the loco also wobbles through the curves; has a very hard time negotiating them; motor also has to work hard at the same time. It also very slightly wobbles on straights but with normal motor noise. We've absolutely made sure that the tyres are in their grooves perfectly, and the motor has been completely serviced. What comes to mind is that the assembly is somehow damaged or warped somewhere (axle?). That's the only plausible cause remaining we thought. That's going to be a tough fix, if possible at all. Or does the 3038 have a design flaw? For now, we'll leave one tyre off. Not ideal but it works. The entire assembly might need replacement eventually perhaps, if viable. But thanks for the offer 👍

[@The3rdRail]

No design flaw known to me for the 3080, but it was made for very young hands, and these tend to drop things frequently... In general, for diesels or electrics: wobble = - tires damaged/not fitting properly for some reason (you have checked that, I know 😉...) - bent wheel. Not easily fixable imho, or at least not worth the effort on a 10 to 20 euro 3080... I'd get a new one and use this one for scenery in the fiddle yard 🚂🚂🚂

[@user-xu1qq8lj5e]

Also works for holding the bolts

[@The3rdRail]

👍

[@antonmilius5197]

Anyone who knows Märklin or German cars knows what quality is.

[@The3rdRail]

Vorsprung durch Technik