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Offline Darexc  
#1 Posted : 09 May 2019 03:30:07(UTC)
Darexc

Canada   
Joined: 09/05/2019(UTC)
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario
Hi all,

I am a noobie to this hobbie. I have a lot of great memories playing with my dads old train and my grandparents house as a kid (it was a pink Lionel train in O gauge). One of my grandfathers was from Germany and since I had my son I figured I'd get him something nostalgic for me with a tie in to the old country....anyways, I picked up a Maerklin R 66/12900 off eBay a Maerklin Throttle Control No 13474 Z PRIM 110 Volt 50Hz 20volt, some track and some cars. My son isn't quite old enough to play with it so I have time. I am really interested in how it all works too and love the antiques.

So everything is in and it was all sold as working. However, the train headlight will light up, but it won't move. It hums, but I can't get the engine to work. My dad was an electrician and he came over, tested it all with the volt meter. It is outputting 14volts and there appears to be no broken connections anywhere in the engine to the motor. We took it apart and he identified where to connect it directly, it still just hums. Any idea if I can do anything?


side
Front
other side
top
bottom
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Offline CCS800KrokHunter3  
#2 Posted : 09 May 2019 16:16:04(UTC)
CCS800KrokHunter3

United States   
Joined: 03/04/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,605
Hello,

Great engine - I recommend you try switching the reverse unit if you haven't tried that already. The engine uses a magnetic coil that drives a "finger" to switch the polarity of the engine.

20190508_210415.jpg

Try moving the lever into a different location (yellow arrow) and see if it runs. When switching, there's forward, "switch", and reverse. You may be stuck in the "switch" state. A higher pulse of 20Volts + causes the magnetic coil to "switch" and then sometimes you have to pulse the voltage again to get it to engage. Even when this unit functions sometimes the electrical contact tabs are bent in the reversing unit so they are not making contact and your engine won't move.

Another common problem is the motor brushes, but yours both look to be present. You can unscrew the silver motor brush covers and check them out. Make sure the springs are pushing the motor brush down fully on the armature - it looks like they are making contact with the armature which is good.

All the best,

Paul
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Offline Darexc  
#3 Posted : 10 May 2019 01:52:03(UTC)
Darexc

Canada   
Joined: 09/05/2019(UTC)
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario
Thanks so much for taking the time to reply. We did indeed try changing gears yesterday. I took your advice and unscrewed the motor brushes. They are different sizes and one appears to have another screw inside, the other does not. Each time I took them apart and put it together I've gotten a little further. I noticed the motor would spin ever so slightly if I gave it a push...so I tried again. Next time it spun about a 1/8th turn and would stop, I'd push, get another 1/8th turn....I tried again and also wrapped the exposed wire going into them with paper. If I take it off the track now, it will slowly, but constantly spin and make the wheels move. It doesn't seem to have enough power to move forward on the track though (it did go a couple mm's once). Both forward and reverse are the same.

I must say, I am enjoying figuring it out :)

*update*
Just a quick update, I got the brushes out. One of the springs is a bit bent and the brushes are certainly not the same. One is metal and one is a spongy copper. I cleaned them up and tightered the right connector as it was loose. It now runs pretty fast lifted off the track. Not enought to overcome the resistance of being on the track or ground though. It slows down if I move it onto its other side too. Is there some place I can get new brushes and springs for this model?


UserPostedImage
UserPostedImage
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Offline CCS800KrokHunter3  
#4 Posted : 10 May 2019 03:54:51(UTC)
CCS800KrokHunter3

United States   
Joined: 03/04/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,605
Very good! The brushes are correct, one is "coal" and the other is "copper" ... there are a few places to buy new brushes but they're mainly in Europe. Here are some reproductions from RITTER:

https://www.ritter-resta...ey=2.14;artID=6196;typ=1

I don't believe the brushes are your issue. I think either you have a short when you place it on the tracks or your voltage simply isn't high enough. What kind of transformer are you using?

On my Marklin O Gauge even 20 Volts isn't quite enough, so I have to use the Pulse function to get it up to 25+ Volts and then it can pull a few cars. O Gauge can also be either AC or DC.

Paul
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Offline Darexc  
#5 Posted : 10 May 2019 04:02:24(UTC)
Darexc

Canada   
Joined: 09/05/2019(UTC)
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario
Thanks, I am using the Maerklin Throttle Control No 13474 Z PRIM 110 Volt 50 per / sec. Seconds 20. It is very old. It seems to put out max 13-14volts. Is there a more modern one I could use?

That's the one I bought
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/...p;_trksid=p2047675.l2557

I thought I had read I could only use AC?
Offline CCS800KrokHunter3  
#6 Posted : 11 May 2019 20:24:44(UTC)
CCS800KrokHunter3

United States   
Joined: 03/04/2007(UTC)
Posts: 1,605
Interesting - I know Marklin HO is almost strictly AC. I had heard the larger gauges were mostly AC but some DC as well. It may have to do with the 66 vs 70 series - and yours is a 66.

The vintage one you bought should be appropriate, but if it's only outputting ~14V that likely isn't enough. They perform best at 20+ Volts.

All the best,

Paul
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Offline Darexc  
#7 Posted : 18 June 2019 17:39:08(UTC)
Darexc

Canada   
Joined: 09/05/2019(UTC)
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario
Just a quick update. I got it running. The new brushes helped, they made it about 4x faster...that still wasn't enough to really make it move though. I also was able to get 16.5volts out of the old controller. Still not enough. I ended up getting a MRC Throttlepack AC Model 0001301 and it really goes now :) My son is super happy. Thanks all!
Offline David Dewar  
#8 Posted : 18 June 2019 23:12:18(UTC)
David Dewar

Scotland   
Joined: 01/02/2004(UTC)
Posts: 7,333
Location: Scotland
Good to know all is now well. However as bought as a working model I would complain as clearly it was not working as advertised.
Take care I like Marklin and will defend the worlds greatest model rail manufacturer.
Offline Darexc  
#9 Posted : 19 June 2019 00:26:34(UTC)
Darexc

Canada   
Joined: 09/05/2019(UTC)
Posts: 5
Location: Ontario
Originally Posted by: David Dewar Go to Quoted Post
Good to know all is now well. However as bought as a working model I would complain as clearly it was not working as advertised.



You're right...but I got WAY more out of it than I would have had it just worked :D
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