I have one of these that isn't picking up from the rear driving wheels, well one of them actually.
Before I take it to pieces I thought I'd ask here to see if anyone has done it before and any advice or top tips.
If you are referring to the old Jouef Decauville, then there were several versions of this - and Brian Meldon can give chapter and verse on these! :) I suggest that you read his recent articles in 009 News on the history of the range, and locos in particular (the topic on this Forum does not include any photos, all of which are in the News).
The earliest ones had a phosphor bronze wiper behind the wheels, and these could eventually fracture; the theory of the mechanism was that the stub axles also passed the current to the frames, but this was more "hit or miss". To disassemble this version, the wheels need to be removed - they are on thin axles, and are insulated from the axles. Then the two nuts holding the pickups to the frame can be removed. This will permit the studs to be withdrawn if required. Provided you do not loosen the motor nuts, this should hold the frames together. However, in your case, only one wheel needs to be removed, and then you should be able remove the pickup on that side, and inspect it for damage, and/or adjust to restore contact.
Richard I think you need to make it clear what loco you are having problems with.
Is it the new Minitrains 0-6-0 Decauville that looks like this:
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gaugemaster.com%2F_upload%2Fimgs%2Flrg%2F56124235%2FMTR1083.jpg&hash=64034bf2e8f09d9774c54ca8d7735ff34c5ac9a1)
(Oriuginating web page: http://www.gaugemaster.com/search_results.asp?searchstring=Decauville+brand~~678~~brand#2)
Or the old Jouef Decauville 0-4-0 that looks like this:
(https://forum.009society.com/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.playcraftrailways.com%2Fimages%2Floco.jpg&hash=a432d81b120384b2b33af838e9537896ea25b382)
(Originating web page: http://www.playcraftrailways.com/decauville1.htm)
Brian Meldon
Sorry, slightly confused reading this it is a Minitrains Decauville as in the topic heading.
Ok so it is the new Minitrains Decauville 0-6-0.
I have known issues with the pickups on the Minitrains locos.
My first recommendation would be to return the loco to where you got it from as faulty and let them sort it out, refund you or replace it.
If you cannot do this, it may be an idea to e-mail Minitrains direct, but they may not be able to help.
I have never had to take one of these apart but provided there is nothing obvious between the wheel and the pickups, to clean or adjust the pickups you will probably have to remove the wheels from the chassis.
Removal may be quite easy, but reassembly getting the wheels all aligned with each other and all the tiny gears in place in the sequence they were removed with the contacts behind the wheels will not be easy at all.
It is also worth knowing that Minitrains do not supply any spares for their locos, so if you misplace one of those tiny gear wheels, or any other components you will not be able to get a replacement from Minitrains.
Brian Meldon
Sorry for my confusion - getting old! :D
I got it new from 009 Society Sales about 6 months ago
Quote from: Richard Pike on January 25, 2019, 12:57
I got it new from 009 Society Sales about 6 months ago
So contact the sales team, see what they have to say.
Brian Meldon
Quote from: B.Meldon on January 25, 2019, 10:48
Ok so it is the new Minitrains Decauville 0-6-0.
I have known issues with the pickups on the Minitrains locos.
My first recommendation would be to return the loco to where you got it from as faulty and let them sort it out, refund you or replace it.
If you cannot do this, it may be an idea to e-mail Minitrains direct, but they may not be able to help.
I have never had to take one of these apart but provided there is nothing obvious between the wheel and the pickups, to clean or adjust the pickups you will probably have to remove the wheels from the chassis.
Removal may be quite easy, but reassembly getting the wheels all aligned with each other and all the tiny gears in place in the sequence they were removed with the contacts behind the wheels will not be easy at all
It is also worth knowing that Minitrains do not supply any spares for their locos, so if you misplace one of those tiny gear wheels, or any other components you will not be able to get a replacement from Minitrains.
Brian Meldon
In my capacity at the time as Society TLO I had a chat with Andreas about taking the Minitrains loco's apart (something I did in a very limited fashion for review purposes), his advise was in effect don't even think about taking the keeper plate off the bottom of the loco as you will enter a whole world of grief being greeted with a veritable cascade of very small gears, and of course on the steamers you will upset the quartering of the wheels relative to one another.
So if you can't fix it simply without taking it apart, send it back to your supplier (whoever they may be).
Regards John Bruce former TLO.
I concur with John's advice - however, I did dismantle a Minitrains (F&C) chassis to make my model of RHEIDOL. This featured a couple of years ago in the News. Although I was successful in swapping the axles between front and rear, the point made about the multitude of small gears and washers leads me to suggest that this should not be attempted by anyone but the most experienced and/or foolhardy! :D
I had a similar problem with my Minitrains Decauville and emailed Minitrains, here is their reply:
I
Quote from: Turin 60 on January 25, 2019, 18:30
In my capacity at the time as Society TLO I had a chat with Andreas about taking the Minitrains loco's apart (something I did in a very limited fashion for review purposes), his advise was in effect don't even think about taking the keeper plate off the bottom of the loco as you will enter a whole world of grief being greeted with a veritable cascade of very small gears, and of course on the steamers you will upset the quartering of the wheels relative to one another.
So if you can't fix it simply without taking it apart, send it back to your supplier (whoever they may be).
Regards John Bruce former TLO.
I tend to agree. My previous post was perhaps not worded strongly enough.
I have taken another four-wheel loco in the new minitrains range apart that was years past any warrantee, somewhat modified and purchased by me as faulty. It was not at all easy to get it all back together again. The tiny plastic gears all must go back in the same place they came out as they are not all the same, doing this, getting the quartering correct and the contacts behind the wheels all at the same time was a very fiddly indeed.
I did the job in the end and sorted out the problem that was obviously caused by the previous owner taking it apart and not getting back together correctly, but it was difficult, and I have been working with small chassis like this for over 30 years.
As I said the first and best option is to return the loco to the seller.
These locos are just not designed to come apart and with no spare parts available at all they are almost a throw away item when they fail!
Brian Meldon
Anyone know how to get the body off? I'm not touching the keep plate. I read a post on facebook a few months back about someone who'd taken the keep plate off and it locked up when re assembled.
This might help, if there is not a screw in/on chimney to remove first then Andreas recomended using a flat bladed screwdriver between the top of the flywheel and the underside of the cab roof and twist to un-clip the boiler/cab moulding from the chassis, it usually simply clips on to the central block on the center of the chassis.
Good luck.
John.