Questions:
1. Do other loks go through same turnouts without issue?
2. Is it all your Marklin turnouts or is it limited to straight turnouts vs curved turnouts (gerade o gebogen - 8562/63/65/66 or 8568/8569 or all?)
3. Can it run through other Marklin turnouts without issue?

- Frank

Hello Kristof:

Sounds like a couple of issues at play ...

First, the turnouts may have something wrong with them. I'd try some fresh units in place to see if it eliminates that variable.

Second, maybe your copper contacts are not clean or not touching the wheels properly. If you have taken it apart, when you put it back, were you careful to ensure that the copper contacts are wedged BEHIND the wheelset (and thus, spring-loaded)? Or is it riding along the top of the wheel, not pressed in properly?

I just re-built an 8816 yesterday for one of my customers and had that experience lead me to have a better answer for you. It's a 3-pole and ran through Marklin, MTL and Rokuhan turnouts like a champ.

A last resort would be to get a 5-pole motor that has a bit more "oomph" (torque) than the 3-pole.

Let me know if any of this helps.

Good luck and happy z scaling!

Frank Daniels

If you bent the springs non-symetrically, then yes, it could be a problem. One spring could be applying a bit more force against the wheel than the other.

8802 is the 3-pole track cleaner and 88021 is the newer 5-pole version.

Wheel width? Do you mean the diameter of the wheel or the spacing from flange-to-flange? Wheel diameter, I don't know ... just make sure you are using Marklin axles. The spacing is 6.5mm.

Regards,
Frank

After changing the troublesome switch 2 times (I had 2 spares), the issues were gone. Still finding it a bit strange that one switch was doing well, while others didn t, I started to compare them. The only thing I could find different were the little metal pieces right after the point of the switch. On the trouble swiches they where a lot more spring and thus getting a little higher compared to the other one that was ok. As a test I glued the metal pieces to the bottom plate where they are resting on and the issue was gone. I also tested if the power pickup was still ok, since these pieces also are used for power pickup and I saw no difference. The only thing I can imagine why that railbus was giving issues where the other ones weren t, is due to the fact that all the others have metal housing and thus can push the strips down, while the lighter railbus just bumps on them, loosing traction. I m not sure, but still it s solved and that s the most important thing.

Thanks for helping out,

Kristof

I had a good look at it again and found the issue, hopefully it s a help to some other people too.

The issue was as followed, the railbus has 2 wheel covers, one on each end of the bus. Normally they hang in line with the bottom of the railbus, but I guess due to old age and wear the moment the bus started to run, they were hanging a bit down, catching on the switches (just enough to hinder it) and making it struggle on the switches. The sollution was to bend the hook a bit outwards on both wheel covers so they catch on nice. Also they ware a bit bend so I removed a bit of the material in the middle of the plate, and it works like a charm.

Hopefully it s to some use for other people
Kristof