Emerald Night train - how to make it run smootly?

[Steph 104th]

Hi everyone, i pose this question to other people who own the emerald night. i bought mine a long time ago and have rebuilt it twice but to no avail it is still jerky it runs in a stop start motion and has been doing so when i bought it the day it came. is this a general problem? it runs with all the recommended power functions are they to blaim

thanks

Steph

[Paperballpark]

Yes.

EDIT: To clarify, I meant that it is a general problem (not a PF problem). Most people I've spoken to about the EN have some kind of problem getting it to run smoothly through corners.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Paperballpark

[Daedalus304]

There are going to be a lot... no I'm sorry, a LOT of suggestions you'll find for ways to improve the running of your Emerald Night...

But the first two, and most important things to check, are these:

1. Make sure your drivers are quartered properly. The instructions have an image showing one side with the technic pins holes at "12 o clock" and the wheels on the other side at "3 o clock". This is inarguably the most important, yet easiest detail to miss.

2. Double check all the Technic bits, and make sure everything is lined up properly and there's no loose bricks or overly tight axles.

There are other tips and methods out there to get a better running engine, but these should get you on the right track. Aside from some problems with uneven terrain, all of my Emerald Night engines have run admirably.

Power Functions as a system is a little more complicated than 9v was, but it is a very well put together system and I highly doubt ANY of your running issues are due to PF not being up to par.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Daedalus304

[JopieK]

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37468

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28523

[Rumpelmuck]

I bought my emerald a few months after it was released, built it and equipped it with PF. With no modifications it run's reliable and very smoothly on my layouts without any Problems. I have no Need to make any modifications. Generally I will agree with daedalus' recommendations. Look here

[Steph 104th]

thanks so much i will try it

[Lazarus]

I though most of the fixes where in the Railbricks books, just put rail bricks into google.

There is a fix to stop the main drivers binding up in there.

I also found removing the rubber ring around the front wheels and rear (small train wagon wheels) reduce drag also.

Once i did these to i went from two 9v motors over heating pushing this train to one have no issues at all.

[JopieK]

they are in Railbricks (the one by Ludo Soete e.g.), but they are linked in the topics I mentioned:

http://railbricks.com/magazine/issue-7/

[domboy]

they are in Railbricks (the one by Ludo Soete e.g.), but they are linked in the topics I mentioned:

http://railbricks.co...gazine/issue-7/

I did the modification on page 33 ("facing the second problem") from the above link and that's really the only one I needed to make it run smoothly. Granted I have a later copy of the set which fixes a problem early copies had with the two small tan gears, and I haven't worried about vertical movement with the trucks myself.

[Doom2099]

My Emerald Night ran smoothly for about half and hour, and then starting getting gummier and gummier, and eventually just became undrivable.

Though Lego making this set was a dream come true, it's too bad that so many people have had trouble with it, and I'm grateful to forums like this for all the great solutions people have put forward over the years.

[Bluredblue]

I was having the same issues everyone else was reporting here. I used some Labelle teflon grease on the moving parts on my Emerald Night's driving rods (pistons) and that solved the problems. This is the same grease I use on my Lionel train gears each Christmas.

[nimrod6134]

I was having the same issues everyone else was reporting here. I used some Labelle teflon grease on the moving parts on my Emerald Night's driving rods (pistons) and that solved the problems. This is the same grease I use on my Lionel train gears each Christmas.

This was the solution that worked for me as well. It ran better with part fixes but would still jam up pretty quickly and derail. Combined with grease it moves much better through corners.

Edited January 13, 2014 by nimrod6134