hoeij

Eurobricks Knights
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Everything posted by hoeij

  1. A single battery pack can power two XL motors. Use rechargeable batteries (they can deliver more amps).
  2. hoeij

    Review: Cargo Railway 4559

    I also voted a 2. I think this train looks pretty good in the pictures, but on the track, most of my other trains look nicer.
  3. I'm using rechargeable AA batteries, so the nominal voltage of the battery box is 6 x 1.2 = 7.2 volts, and that works fine. With both friction pins removed, my guess is that function switching will still work at a substantially lower voltage (i.e. when the batteries are almost empty). 1. The "spring back" is a small effect because the M motor is geared down quite a bit internally. 2. Removing a friction pin has the same effect as applying lubrication; both reduce friction. You picked one, I picked the other. If you lubricate those tan ribbed sleeves, then you probably do need to use a friction pin to keep it from going back to neutral. I'm still wondering though why the lego designers chose to add friction. Perhaps they were using driving rings + ribbed sleeves that had already been used a lot, and that had much less friction than new ones. The sliding friction between the driving rings and the ribbed sleeves, if that decreases over time when you use them a lot, then it may be possible that at some point their friction becomes so low that I actually do have to put in a friction pin. I don't expect that to happen, but if it does, I'll let you know.
  4. This long friction pin is the gray pin that is inserted on page 12, step 44, of book 2. You see a gray pin being inserted on top of the axle connected to a motor. Then in step 46, this gray pin will go into 2 holes, and so it'll have a huge amount of friction. Function-switching will require lots of force this way, so I left it out, and it works fine. (PS. There is of course also the blue friction pin on page 79, step 35, of book 1. This one will likely have less friction than the gray pin in book 2 because the gray pin has friction in two holes. Still, there seems to be no good reason to have friction there, so I used something without friction instead).
  5. The motor for the change-over function has to turn TWO friction pins, one of them being this one: Light Bluish Gray Technic, Pin Long with Friction Ridges Lengthwise and Stop Bush (see http://www.bricklink.com/catalogItemInv.asp?S=8043-1 for pictures). That pin has friction in 2 holes. It is hard to turn it by hand, so I didn't put it in during the build because it looked like a much too large burden for the change-over motor. Without the friction pins, the change-over is very fast.
  6. There are wires in there.
  7. For the outer 9V loop on I used 1 power supply, connected to 4 spots on the track. The lego 9V cables are much too short, I use regular wiring from a hobby store. I used a low speed setting on that track because I wanted the cargo train to run really slow. As you can see in the video, at that setting, the train has problems at one spot on the track (at the next speed setting, it runs fine, but then it goes faster than what I wanted (perhaps this train should have been PF instead of 9V)). In general, maintaining a near-constant speed, this is much easier for fast trains (high speed settings) than it is at low speed settings. The outermost loop is 12V track, it has less electrical resistance than 9V track, so I used only two connections for that track even though it is quite long.
  8. There is another friction pin (a longer one) on the other side. That pin has a huge amount of friction. I did not put it in since I don't see the point of having friction on an axle that is connected to a motor. This way, function switching takes much less force.
  9. I voted for 8043. I would also vote for 8265, which looks great, and would also qualify as a flagship if you add a couple of motors (e.g. )
  10. hoeij

    Trains, Long and Short: Show 'm here!

    If you replace the 12V wheels by 9V wheels, it'll be much easier to pull.
  11. hoeij

    MOD: 10219 Maersk 2.70 Meters Long

    I had a Maersk train of similar length at our local 2011 train show: It is indeed a very nice train.
  12. hoeij

    Are LEGO Trains Classed as "Real" Model Trains?

    All model trains are toys. They do not move passengers across the country. They don't haul thousands of tons of cargo. Their aim is to entertain us. (expensive cars are toys too. A cheap car is equally useful, so the extra cost of an expensive car can only be categorized as toy spending). Respect comes from doing something that people know takes a lot of skill and time. Train modelers know that building good scenery requires lots of skill and time. Some of them might not be familiar with LEGO, or have only seen LEGO's aimed at children, so they might not know that there are LEGO displays that also require skill and time. But I think that most people are at least somewhat familiar with LEGO, especially those under 50, and those people quickly understand that building Sava's steam train (shown in a picture earlier in this thread) requires a tremendous amount of skill, time, and determination.
  13. hoeij

    New to Trains - Some Questions

    What I do is insert two dummy batteries (something to conduct the electricity from one end to the other) and 4 actual batteries (I prefer rechargeable ones). That makes the train speed easier to manage.
  14. hoeij

    LEGO 12V Train Motors

    I do not think you can damage it. I've lubricated about 4-5 motors by opening them, but recently I actually lubricated one 12V motor without opening it. To lubricate it without opening it, I squirted a bunch of WD-40 into that motor (there are a couple of openings, e.g. for the middle wheels), and then carefully shook the motor for a while, in various directions, to make sure it gets everywhere (without opening it, that's really the only way I can get it to reach the spots that I want to reach). It's quite easy to tell if all the spots that I want to reach have been reached: A good motor should move with as little as 2 volts (of course, the speed at 2 volts is very low). Before I lubricated this motor, it would not turn even at 4 volts, to get it to turn its wheels it needed at least 5 volts. After I lubricated it, it now moves at 2 volts (and it runs more quietly), even at 1.5 volts the wheels already start to turn. That means that everything that needs lubrication has received some. Of course, I don't want WD-40 to end up on the track, so I placed this motor at various angles (with a paper towel underneath) for hours to let as much as possible WD-40 drip out of the motor (you actually only need a microscopic amount of lubricant on the gears). Then I'd apply some electricity to spin the wheels, turn it again, and repeat the process to get more WD-40 out of there. Only once I was sure it was not dripping WD-40 anymore do I put it back on the track. The lower the voltage at which the motor starts to move, the less current the motor will be using. Less current means it will get less warm, and that means it will last longer. I'm sure that my lubrication process is definitely not recommended by the manufacturer, but then again, they probably also did not imagine these motors to be still in use after 30 years (motors that were stored properly might very well still be properly lubricated, but not all motors are. About half of the 12V motors I bought needed lubrication).
  15. hoeij

    LEGO 12V Train Motors

    About 1, I wouldn't worry about the carbon, because if it were worn, then I wouldn't know what you could do to fix it. As far as I understand DC motors, if the carbon is gone, then the motor is game over, however, in the 12V motors that I've opened, they all still had some left (it's a bit hard to see, because the color is almost the same). About 2. It should have oil/lubricant inside of it. If it has no oil/lubricant in it at all, then it can not run well. About 3. This noise might be coming from the parts marked 3 and 4. I had that with one of the motors. If I remember correctly, the noise went away with some WD-40 but then it came back again.
  16. hoeij

    Maintaining 12v Motors?

    I have quite a few 12V motors, and all of them have connectors that are very brown-ish/ not shiny. So that's not the issue. If a motor hasn't been used in a long time, then usually it runs slowly the first couple of laps, and gradually gets faster. Somehow, the act of running electricity through it makes it conduct electricity better (the Ohm resistance drops measurably after some use). So it looked like the motor was doing what it was supposed to do. It's quite mysterious why it would then suddenly stop. Do you have something other than the 12V controller than can produce a DC voltage, so you can check the motor by sticking wires into it? Anywhere between 4 and 12V is OK. Make sure it is DC (indicated with =) never use AC (indicated with ~).
  17. I think the 12V trains look just as good with 9V wheels. The difference is that they run better with 9V wheels. For example, my 7745 (unfortunately the picture is not very clear) http://www.math.fsu.edu/~hoeij/t/c/gedc0628.jpg has 9V wheels. Even though it is twice the normal length, the burden on the motor is about the same as it is for a regular-sized 7745 with 12V wheels. I also make some cuts to the wheelsets (as described in Railbricks #2 if I remember correctly) http://www.math.fsu.edu/~hoeij/t/c/wheelset.jpg because when the wheelsets get older, the wheels start to rub against the wheelholder, and a little cut can make them run as new again.
  18. hoeij

    Power Functions 7745 Advice Request

    The specs of the 8878 are good, it can deliver plenty of amps, probably more than the substantially larger AA-battery box, and that makes it very good for lego technic constructions. Of course, a train with a AA-box will run longer on a single charge than the 8878 (a content of 2450 versus 1100 mah), but either way a train will run pretty long on a single charge. All of this is moot anyway, as cost considerations for the poster rules out buying 8878. The battery box with 6 AAA batteries is cheaper than 8878 and has the same size, but the poster had no AAA rechargeable batteries, so that makes the AA box cheaper for him. I don't think that the AA box will fit though, but perhaps he can make some modifications. My charger for rechargeable batteries can handle both AA and AAA size; my advice would have been to buy the AAA-box and then buy rechargeable AAA batteries. That way, you can use the same components if at some point in the future you decide to buy another train. Edit: I mistakenly wrote 8886, that should have been 8878 (changed now).
  19. hoeij

    Power Functions 7745 Advice Request

    A used 12V motor is probably not more expensive than the PF components. I've bought quite a few of them through bricklink and eBay, the price is typically below $50 (a brand new one costs a lot more, I've only bought used ones). I think that I can repair your motor. I have a few spare parts coming from 2 broken motors that I combined into one working motor. It sounds like all you need is a spare axle, and I have one. To insert it, you'd have to open the motor at the bottom (that's not so easy, it takes a good bit of force). Let me know if this is something you want to try (if not, I'd be interested in your motor).
  20. hoeij

    Emerald Night Tender Problem?

    Is the underside of the tender built correctly? There is a piece between the two trucks, and there is just enough room for the trucks to turn. Check if it is built right so that the trucks can turn enough. (it is more likely that the cable is the problem though).
  21. hoeij

    7939 red container cars pulled off track

    One thing you can do is to put the heavier cars in the front and the lighter cars in the back of the train. Also make sure that the track is properly tied down so that it can't slide when the train comes through.
  22. The train sets 3677/7938/7939 all come with track and the PF components to make the train move, so I'd start with one of those sets (of these three, I would recommend to buy 7939 first, because it comes with more track than the other train sets). If you buy 7939 (or 7938) then I would also recommend buying a PF light, it does make the train look better when the lights are on. One of the advantages of PF compared to the 9V trains is that you can control the light and the train-speed separately, in particular, you can have the light on while the train is standing still (that's something you couldn't do with the 9V trains). If you later decide to buy an Emerald Night or a Maersk train, then you can run that train using the PF components from 3677, 7938 or 7939 (in the case of the Emerald Night, you need to add an XL motor to that). I'd also buy AAA rechargeable batteries. That way you can run it as much as you want and not worry about the cost of batteries.
  23. hoeij

    Lego Passenger Train Battery problem

    I have tested the train with 4 rechargeable batteries plus 2 dummies, which produces 4 x 1.2 + 2 x 0 = 4.8 volts, and the train runs on that. So if your train is not running, your battery pack is producing less than that. The batteries that are drained are dead. To check this, put the bad batteries in something else that uses AAA batteries, and see if it can power that for more than a few minutes. The best thing to do is to buy new rechargeable batteries, that way you can run the train for many hours on a single charge. You'll be pleasantly surprised to see how strong the PF motor is. Most of the older rechargeable batteries lose their charge when not used for a couple of months. There are new types that can hold their charge for more than a year. Make sure to get those, because they're very convenient for lots of things.
  24. hoeij

    MOC: Large 12V-Era Train Station

    I recommend that you put the layout on tables or benches. The area underneath the tables can be used as storage space, very convenient, this ends up saving a lot of space. Also, you can run the wires underneath the tables this way. And the trains look much better when you see them up close.
  25. How does the pneumatic operation of this set compare with that of 8868? Does it behave pretty much the same, or is it different?