# hot motor



## piercejim4 (8 mo ago)

What are the most common reasons for locomotive overheating? The loco in question is a 2-6-0 mogul by Atlas . It is the most attractive steam loco I've seen and it runs perfectly except for the heat.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

piercejim4 said:


> What are the most common reasons for locomotive overheating? The loco in question is a 2-6-0 mogul by Atlas . It is the most attractive steam loco I've seen and it runs perfectly except for the heat.


Stabbing in the dark. 
Maybe the motor and the rest need a good service and cleaning?
A bad wire?
How hot is hot?


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

Slightly warm after running for awhile is probably normal. Really warm after running for a short while is not so normal.

Several years ago, after bringing home a new purchase, I discovered I had a motor brush in an Atlas N-scale diesel locomotive that was 'stuck' due to a deformed brush holder. The brush couldn't float up and down with spring pressure. The only way to make contact with the commutators was to press it down against the commutators. As a result, the brush acted like a brake, and thus the motor would heat up fairly quickly when running.

I disassembled the motor, and using a bent piece of piano wire, managed to reach inside the motor frame and round out the offending brush holder, thereby allowing the brush to float freely in the bore. After re-assembly, no more overheating. Not to mention the loco flat out ran much better to boot.

This is an extreme example of what could cause your motor to be running quite warm, or even hot. There are lots of other reasons too, but they will probably all boil down to something binding, touching, or rubbing somewhere, or even old, dried-up grease or other lubricants. You just need to carefully disassemble and inspect every last facet of your loco (and tender) to determine where the binding and/or friction is happening.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Locomotives get hot for one reason: resistance, whether that is the electrical kind, or friction. You can't do much about the first... it's inherent in the design and manufacture of the loco. For the second, though, make sure everything is running smoothly, and especially make sure that things are properly cleaned and lubricated.

As others have noted, "warm" is normal -- you can't completely eliminate friction. Hot, especially too hot to touch, or hot enough to warp plastic, shouldn't happen.


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## piercejim4 (8 mo ago)

Big Ed said:


> Stabbing in the dark.
> Maybe the motor and the rest need a good service and cleaning?
> A bad wire?
> How hot is hot?


Very hot but not too hot to touch. I've taken it apart and serviced and cleaned it several times and checked it for binding with no result.


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## 5kidsdad (Nov 28, 2021)

I would contact Atlas to get a new motor from them. It was something I had to learn to do. Once you get the skills down, it's easier the next time.


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