Hello everyone.

I was wondering if anyone in this forum can help me with regards to the careful handling of the circuit boards of HO Scale Piko electric and diesel locomotives.

Months ago, I damaged one of the wire connections running from the motor to the circuit board, and I know that the wires are very thin. I tried soldering the wires back on but ended up melting parts of the circuit board. I have placed an order for a replacement circuit board from my authorized dealer and I am awaiting the delivery.

Now I know that when you change the traction tyres, you first have to remove the body, and unscrew the circuit board from the top of the chassis. Then you have to tilt the circuit board at a certain angle, use a small flathead screwdriver to remove the retaining clip on top of the bogie gearbox to disengage the bogie gearbox from the chassis before you remove the bottom plate to access the wheels.

But at what angle should you tilt the circuit board, and how careful should you do it so as not to damage the wire connections? Should you tilt it slowly in small increments?

I have a knack of taking things apart and putting them back together again. But I think I may have used to much force when tilting the circuit board, or may have tilted it too much.

With other brands like Roco and Marklin, all you have to do is to remove one or two screws from the bottom of the bogie to remove the truck frame and you can access the wheels before you put the traction tyres on.

I do remember one of the members of this forum stating that to change the traction tyres of an HO Scale Piko diesel or electric locomotive is a nightmare.

On most of the Marklin 36xxx locomotives, I also remove the clip from the top of the bogie gearbox to disengage it from the chassis, but is it much easier since the lengths of their circuit boards are short and do not extend close to the ends of the chassis.

On the Piko HO Scale locomotives the circuit boards are longer and they do extend close to the ends of the chassis making it more difficult to fix. I am also wondering whether Piko deliberately designed the circuit boards like that to make it more difficult to fix so that you might want to send in to them to fix?

Also is it possible to slip on new traction tyres without disassembling the truck frame from the bogie gearbox without using a product called "Bullfrog Snot"?

Keith Lailann.

Toronto, Canada.

New motor and technology has changed the components of model train locomotives. Oiling some models today often requires the partial removal of the PC board in order to access the motor underneath.
Changing traction tires now often requires the disassembly of bogie components which can often lead to contact issues (wheel/axle contacts) after the parts are reassembled.

It takes more dexterity and knowledge to service new models than it did with the older models from the 90s and before

Regards

Mike C