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Started by mtrails at 04-22-2006 8:39 PM. Topic has 76 replies.

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04-22-2006, 8:39 PM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	I just found a magic Athearn motor, shutting up solution. Immagine running your Athearn locomotive, no matter what it's age, and hearing no more than the wheels against the rails. Hit up your local Home Depot, or Lowes, and grab a can of 2-26. You'll find it in the electrical section, and its a blue can with white text. First clean your commutator with electrical contact cleaner, or alcohol (applied with a Q-tip), and let dry for a few minutes, then apply just one tiny little drop of 2-26 to the commutator of your loco's motor, and spin by hand a few revolutions, then with a dry Q-tip, remove the excess with 1 or 2 revolutions and then let set for about 5 minutes. When you get your shell back on, and put power to your loco, you will be amazed at how much quieter it is. I also applied 2-26 to the bushings where the drive axes pick up track current. I also noticed that my 15-year old Athearn's that need at least 30% throttle to pull 10 cars up a 2% grade, can now do it at 25%. A 5 oz. can is under $2.00, and the larger can is about $5.00 I'd like to hear if anyone else has used this stuff, or the remarks from those who use the product as a result of this thread. Regards, Jeremy
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04-22-2006, 9:32 PM

BNSF_RAILFAN

Joined on 08-29-2004
Blair,Nebraska
Posts 3,752

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by mtrails

I just found a magic Athearn motor, shutting up solution. Immagine running your Athearn locomotive, no matter what it's age, and hearing no more than the wheels against the rails. Hit up your local Home Depot, or Lowes, and grab a can of 2-26. You'll find it in the electrical section, and its a blue can with white text. First clean your commutator with electrical contact cleaner, or alcohol (applied with a Q-tip), and let dry for a few minutes, then apply just one tiny little drop of 2-26 to the commutator of your loco's motor, and spin by hand a few revolutions, then with a dry Q-tip, remove the excess with 1 or 2 revolutions and then let set for about 5 minutes.

When you get your shell back on, and put power to your loco, you will be amazed at how much quieter it is. I also applied 2-26 to the bushings where the drive axes pick up track current.

I also noticed that my 15-year old Athearn's that need at least 30% throttle to pull 10 cars up a 2% grade, can now do it at 25%.

A 5 oz. can is under $2.00, and the larger can is about $5.00

I'd like to hear if anyone else has used this stuff, or the remarks from those who use the product as a result of this thread.

Regards,
Jeremy

[(-D]. Problem solved I guess. So much for those noisy Athearns I guess.
Allan.

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04-22-2006, 10:11 PM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	I don't hear anyone complaining about other locos being noisy...
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04-23-2006, 1:02 AM

rolleiman

Joined on 08-23-2005
Michigan
Posts 1,585

RE: RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by mtrails

I don't hear anyone b*tching about other locos being noisy...

If your 'joined' date indicates how long you've been here, wait.. You'll hear the b*tching.

Thanks for the tip though. What exactly is 2-26??

Modeling the Wabash from Detroit to Montpelier

Jeff

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04-23-2006, 2:44 AM

Medina1128

Joined on 04-12-2003
Clinton, MO, US
Posts 1,331

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Wow... I have at least 5 Athearn locomotives and I'm assuming your talking about the BB models. I have one Genesis and it's shhhhhhh.. really quiet. Marlon See photos of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
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04-23-2006, 6:39 AM

Gumby4

Joined on 01-30-2006
Posts 276

RE: RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Medina1128

Wow... I have at least 5 Athearn locomotives and I'm assuming your talking about the BB models. I have one Genesis and it's shhhhhhh.. really quiet.

I have one very old Athearn and it is pure noise. We recently purchased a Genesis engine and it is very, very quite.

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04-23-2006, 8:19 AM

AntonioFP45

Joined on 12-02-2003
Good ol' USA
Posts 7,595

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Hello Mtrails. It's good that you started this thread as quieting Athearns has always been an interesting topic. As a fellow forum member I'm just passing to you a friendly caution.....be cool with the language. Bergie, our moderator, allows us a lot of freedom but he also upholds the standards to keep this a high quality forum. Anyway........I'm going to pass your idea on to a friend of mine who is an Athern tune up pro. There have been various methods that modelers have been using including the "Pearl Drops" toothpaste method on noisy gears from the trucks. For the worm gear slack, experts recommend shimming (though not too tightly). So it appears that by performing your method "PLUS" the toothpaste method on the trucks, an Athearn can run much more quietly. I'll buy a can of 2-26 on my next trip to Home Depot. BTW: For those of you with quiet Genesis units, I'm glad they're quiet. I know that the F units are usually smooth runners. However, as I've stated on other posts, my wife's cousin purchased two Genesis six axle units in the BNSF schemes. One is an SD75M the other a modern GE. Those $100+ puppies are as loud as my old Blue Box Athearns. One had a warped truck. He is so irritated that he no longer will buy Athearn locomotives
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04-23-2006, 8:37 AM

NYC56

Joined on 01-01-2005
Rochester, NY
Posts 271

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Amazing what you can find when you poke about the Internet! MSDS Data Sheet... http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=3003020 Which lead me to CRC's Products Page to find this: http://www.crcindustries.com/ei/content/prod_detail.aspx?PN=02004&S=Y After looking things over, this may help with some noisy fans at Work! Chris
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04-23-2006, 10:12 AM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

RE: RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Hello Mtrails.

As a fellow forum member I'm just passing to you a friendly caution.....be cool with the language.

Thanks for the advice. I didn't think using the "B" word was on the bad language side. I did edit the word on my original post.

QUOTE: Originaly posted by rolleiman
If your 'joined' date indicates how long you've been here, wait.. You'll hear the b*tching.

Thanks for the tip though. What exactly is 2-26??

I know there are other locos that are noisy, but Athearns are talked about the most. I have old and new (none of them Genesis) that were noisy.

2-26 is an electrical lubricant, which improves conductivity, repels moisture, and helps prevent corrosion.

One of the guys at my local hobby shop turned me onto it.

I just hope everyone who uses it (on any loco) will be as satisfied as I am.

Jeremy

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04-23-2006, 10:20 AM

TA462

Joined on 06-07-2004
PORT HOPE, ONTARIO
Posts 3,137

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Antonio, my 2 SD75I Genesis loco's are as loud as any BB one I have. Nice detail but loud. I call it free sound, lol. NMRA member Ontario Northland in HO
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04-23-2006, 12:48 PM

Darth Santa Fe

Joined on 06-21-2005
Posts 1,989

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Thanks for that tip![:D] I'll have to try that sometime.[:D] Darth Santa Fe, builder of Bowsers!
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04-23-2006, 5:00 PM

Don Gibson

Joined on 06-09-2004
Pacific Northwest
Posts 3,771

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	LET'S SEE: You found a magical elixer that takes the noise out of Athearns. It's a Petroleum Distillate (read thin) Oil Lubricant. As a Lubricant, it will reduce friction - where ever that is - for a while - and attract dirt. Without finding the source of the noise, I predict it will return. Some find vibration in the gears, Brakie finds it in the shell. Others have found it in the motor or flywheels. I think it's really poor Quality Control, no matter where it is. BB?Joe D'Elia found the answers. http://www.ppw-aline.com/custom_built_chassis.htm Don Gibson .............. ________ _______ I I__()____\|\|__\| \|\|\|\|\| I / I ((\|__\|----------\| \| \|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\| I ______ I // o--O O O O-----o o OO-------OO ###########################
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04-23-2006, 6:02 PM

BNSF_RAILFAN

Joined on 08-29-2004
Blair,Nebraska
Posts 3,752

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	I like very noisy Locomotives. It makes them almost sound so real. Allan.
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04-23-2006, 6:44 PM

trainfan1221

Joined on 07-24-2003
Elmwood Park, NJ
Posts 1,411

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	I don't recall my Athearn engines being too noisy, but it was a while back. I know I had trouble with the way some of them ran.
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04-23-2006, 7:12 PM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

RE: RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by Don Gibson

LET'S SEE:

You found a magical elixer that takes the noise out of Athearns. It's a Petroleum Distillate (read thin) Oil Lubricant.

As a Lubricant, it will reduce friction - where ever that is - for a while - and attract dirt. Without finding the source of the noise, I predict it will return. Some find vibration in the gears, Brakie finds it in the shell. Others have found it in the motor or flywheels.

I think it's really poor Quality Control, no matter where it is.

BB?Joe D'Elia found the answers.
http://www.ppw-aline.com/custom_built_chassis.htm

It may attract dirt. It may wear out and need to be re-applied. I don't care, my Athearns are quiet! For now... [:D]

And I do agree, it is poor quality control. Athearn can't shut 'em up, nor can I. Since I started this quick-fix tip topic, I will offer to regularly report my findings after having used the product, and at which point the product is re-applied, or com cleaning is evident.

I suggest anyone who is willing to use the product to do so at own risk, since I cannot yet prove it's worth.

Thanks,
Jeremy

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04-23-2006, 8:57 PM

Medina1128

Joined on 04-12-2003
Clinton, MO, US
Posts 1,331

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Years ago, I found a tube of graphite lube. It had a runny consistency, but when applied to a commutator in Athearn motors, then wiped off, the results were amazing. Not only was it quieter, but the graphite also helped low speed operation immensely. Marlon See photos of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
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04-24-2006, 10:20 AM

trainwreck100

Joined on 11-14-2004
In the Heartland
Posts 677

RE: RE: RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

QUOTE: Originally posted by mtrails

QUOTE: Originally posted by AntonioFP45

Hello Mtrails.

Thanks for the tip though. What exactly is 2-26??

I know there are other locos that are noisy, but Athearns are talked about the most. I have old and new (none of them Genesis) that were noisy.

2-26 is an electrical lubricant, which improves conductivity, repels moisture, and helps prevent corrosion.

It's actually very similar to non-conductive WD-40. We use a lot of it, and a lot of Liquid Wrench, a little Gibbs, some As Seen On TV (PB B'Laster) and some Bolt Buster (really cheap stuff). All of them are very similar really, some just foam more than others, or are lighter or heavier or non-conductive so they meet different needs. Bolt Buster smells alot like Vanilla Ice Cream when it burns. (don't ask)

I think the biggest problem with this is, the carrier will slowly evaporate, and as the lube that's left sits there, it'll slowly distribute and disappear, so I think you'll probably have to re-do it pretty often.

Greg

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04-24-2006, 6:02 PM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	This is such a great forum! Everyone relays their bit of info from their personal knowledge, and experience, to provide a wide angle view of the topic at hand. I'm not just talking about this particular topic, but in general, as I have noticed in reading many of the other topics throughout the forum. I'm glad that all that we share in this hobby, can be expressed so vividly. Jeremy
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04-24-2006, 6:22 PM

Don Gibson

Joined on 06-09-2004
Pacific Northwest
Posts 3,771

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	Jeremy A 'hobby' involves learning. "Without finding the source of the noise, I predict it will return". D.G. Don Gibson .............. ________ _______ I I__()____\|\|__\| \|\|\|\|\| I / I ((\|__\|----------\| \| \|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\|\| I ______ I // o--O O O O-----o o OO-------OO ###########################
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04-24-2006, 6:25 PM

mtrails

Joined on 02-08-2006
Billings, MT
Posts 216

RE: Athearn engines ARE quiet!

	I learned the noise was coming from the brushes against the commutator?[%-)]
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