Souschef's switch engine project

[Just_Steve]

I'm following this thread also.

[Souschef]

I just got a price on the batteries we need-$280 each and we need 4
They weigh 80 pounds each!
Before we do that, I am taking the starter and solenoid to a repair shop to get checked out.

[Clone]

edit: Looking for better info

[Souschef]

Monday I am going to take the starter and solenoid to a starter shop to get it checked out and repaired, if necessary. I also bought a roll of Military grade aircraft wire to aid in rewiring the engine.
I also found a General Motors dual needle air pressure gauge on eBay to replace the one in the cab that is missing the glass

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef I just got a price on the batteries we need-$280 each and we need 4 They weigh 80 pounds each! Before we do that, I am taking the starter and solenoid to a repair shop to get checked out.

I imagine you have other diesels with similar battery requirements, and that you don't run them all at the same time? If so, would some sort of wheeled battery cart work out, to share these batteries across a couple machines?

Or are you too much of a purist for that?

-ERD50

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 I imagine you have other diesels with similar battery requirements, and that you don't run them all at the same time? If so, would some sort of wheeled battery cart work out, to share these batteries across a couple machines? Or are you too much of a purist for that? -ERD50

Dear ERD 50, This is the only working? diesel engine that we have. Your suggestion is valid if we had more than one, but sadly, that is not the case.
We are a very small railroad society, and do not have the many engines that places like the Pacific Railway museum does. If this one had not been donated to us, we would not have any.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef Dear ERD 50, This is the only working? diesel engine that we have. Your suggestion is valid if we had more than one, but sadly, that is not the case. We are a very small railroad society, and do not have the many engines that places like the Pacific Railway museum does. If this one had not been donated to us, we would not have any.

Only other thing I can think of, and probably just not worth messing with, would be a group of five 6 V batteries, which might be more common and cheaper. But that's 30 V in a 32 V system, so electrical changes would probably be required (maybe just a tweak of the regulator to avoid overcharging the batteries), but I don't know your physical constraints, plus I imagine you want it to be historically accurate as well. That rules out a parallel/series combination of about 16,000 AA cells!

-ERD50

[Souschef]

Today I took the starter and solenoid to a repair shop to get overhauled.
This is what they looked like when we got the locomotive.
The plan is to reinstall and try turning the engine over without the injectors so there is no compression.

[Bamaman]

Is the locomotive run by a generator hooked up to the diesel engine? If so, how are the electric motors, wiring, etc.?

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman Is the locomotive run by a generator hooked up to the diesel engine? If so, how are the electric motors, wiring, etc.?

Yes,
The diesel engine drives a generator. The generator feeds the traction motor mounted between the wheels.
I have a complete electrical diagram so I can see how everything is connected.

[OldShooter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef ... I also bought a roll of Military grade aircraft wire to aid in rewiring the engine. ...

Make sure you understand what you have. There is no such thing as "military grade." The military has various specifications for various purposes. I have some mil-spec wire here that I used for wiring race car electrics; IIRC is it PVC with a clear nylon overjacket. No real resistance to heat IOW. Teflon is nice stuff, very heat resistant, but you have to be careful not to bend it around sharp corners because it has a tendency to cold flow under pressure. For more heat resistance, there are mil-specs that have a fibrous (probably nomex, kevlar, or another aramid) jacket. Finally, ordinary THHN stranded house wire from Home Depot might be an inexpensive choice. Short version: Try your "military grade" wire with a match & if possible look up the MIL-xxx specification to see what you have.

More than you wanted to know, probably.

[Souschef]

Dear Old Shooter,
Thank you very much for the information. I am going to use the same aircraft grade wire that I used on a 1947 Stinson aircraft. I had to totally rewire the plane, as it was a mess.

[Souschef]

Just picked up the starter. It was completely overhauled. I have posted after and before pictures

[Walt34]

Wow, at least going by appearances whoever did the rebuild did a great job!

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Walt34 Wow, at least going by appearances whoever did the rebuild did a great job!

+1 And one day turnaround!? Wow!

Maybe the re-builder is a rail fan?

-ERD50

[MikeD]

re: the last picture, is that skinny little wire replacing that big fat wire?

Mike D.

[Souschef]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeD re: the last picture, is that skinny little wire replacing that big fat wire? Mike D.

No Mike,
The skinny wire is a ground connector to the starter solenoid. The big honking wires are still on the engine. If you look at the bottom right of the before picture you can see the old skinny wire connected to the stud on the starter.

[Souschef]

Just received a new air brake pressure meter. The scale is a little different, but that does not matter

[Souschef]

The main problem with this engine is the cracks on both sides of the bell housing. Apparently the cast iron bell housing was used as the rear support for the engine, which is not a good idea.
Today we put a floor jack under the rear of the engine, and sure enough, the cracks got a little smaller
We then loosened the 12 nuts holding the bell housing to the generator. You can see 2 of the studs in the picture. We then jacked the bell housing up more, and the c racks closed even more.
We are going to fabricate a brace for the rear of the engine to take the stress off the bell housing.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Souschef The main problem with this engine is the cracks on both sides of the bell housing. Apparently the cast iron bell housing was used as the rear support for the engine, which is not a good idea. Today we put a floor jack under the rear of the engine, and sure enough, the cracks got a little smaller We then loosened the 12 nuts holding the bell housing to the generator. You can see 2 of the studs in the picture. We then jacked the bell housing up more, and the c racks closed even more. We are going to fabricate a brace for the rear of the engine to take the stress off the bell housing.

Sounds like a plan.