Steve,

I wonder where to find those bearings.
I never found them but perhaps i have not digged deep enough....

The strain put on the drive motor and wheelsets of a Marklin locomotive is soo low that i reckon no bearings are required,it is just bare metal on bare metal i believe.
The number of revs of the Marklin motor does not warrant the use of bearings.

There are miniture bearings for sale for RC airplanes and RC cars,where the strain is much higher.

I have a job as purchaser in shipping and buying ball bearings on a regular basis.
These bearings are used in high rev. applications such as drive motors for pumps and separators,where high revs.will cause undesired wear and generation of heat.
Running such motors without bearings will cause trouble within minutes.
Not so for the average Marklin locomotive.

Paul.

Hello,

I've installed ball bearings in three locos yet. If it is an older loco, who's bearings are used al lot, a ball bearing will birng al lot of sucess, espcially in noise reduction.
Your loco makes noises a bit like a real diesel? Then try ball bearings!
Also they are a good for the gear box (they prevents wear).

The size of the ball bearings should be: 1.5 mm inner diameter; 4mm outer diameter and 2mm height.

I by them here, but this won't be useful for you, because it's a shop in Germany.

kind regards

Robert

P.S.: For installing ball bearings, your locos must have the "HLA", I don't know, if it's possible if they have older motors.

Hello,

for drilling the hole, you can also take a center (or centre) drill (1,6mm -> 4mm).

kind regards

Robert

I thank the honorable member Matt for guiding the member Steve to my topic which I can see has had considerable success and followers.

Paul I can assure you. ball bearings do help the motor and there are several benefits associated with. drum collector armatures or any other type of motor has a plastic motor shield or brush plate and we can now confirm the friction is between metal and plastic. for instance if there is no friction on the back of the motor = metal to metal, why is there a provision to add oil, furthermore you may have heard from members or sellers who sell locos: the loco hasn't been used for years and the motor may need some oil as it could be ceased up, although it is a hint but it doesn't work in practice. the armature axle is made of a different metal than that of the motor housing and therefore oxidation can take place. you may have noticed in later years the back of the motor had a brass insert and later again a plastic insert.
The most important benefits are: a.) the brush plate needs no longer to be oiled and this prevents from oil going onto the brushes and the 3 or 5 pole segments, b.) the axle at the back again doesn't need to be oiled, c.) the running characteristics are smoother and especially at low speed and this helped further by following my discovery about the motor shield or brush plates construction and assembly in itself and its deficiency.

regards.,

John