I.P. Jessie problems (again)

[Pendo Pilot]

Well after having about a week of my Jessie actually running good & then treating it to a video special the bloody things gone & fubared the frankly piss poor plastic gearbox again. Last time I welded the thing together with a soldering iron & superglue. This time the gearbox has stayed together but instead it has ripped open the small holes at the top where a little wire running from left frame to right frame is supposed to hold the box level. I believe the earlier Jessie's came with a whitemetal gearbox? Can someone confirm this? If so I'm wondering why they changed it as personally I find this plastic self build job frankly not up to the job. As anyone with one will know they are a good weight & to have all that plus the trains weight behind them seems to much for this plastic box to cope with. Maybe it's just mine I don't know. I will give Ivan a ring at IP to see what he suggests but failing that has anyone modified there Jessie's gearbox & if so any pics/ parts required would be helpful.
After my week of working Jessie power I know this loco is good in ecsence, just in my mind flawed with the naff box.

[tuppenced]

There have been two previous styles of whitemetal gearbox. Some builders managed to epoxy the original into a solid non-rotating lump, so Ivan introduced an improved design.

I've not seen a plastic variety so I don't know what's inside it, but the metal ones depended on correct greasing (with the grease supplied) to give its little nylon gears a decent chance.

Some turned their noses up at the gears, but provided they aren't thrashed they could outlast metal ones - after all, choosing gears for a servo is more complicated than a knee-jerk 'metal must be better'.

I suspect that the weight and robustness of the model as a whole tempts some users into loading it beyond what its tiny gears can reasonably stand.

I've bought some of these mechanisms for railcars, making sure to have sets of spare gears, which are very cheap.

Getting final drive gearboxes right in 16mm isn't easy. You may have noticed that the butch brass worm gears that used to be used by Essel etc have been priced out of the market and replaced by bulkier gearheads and bevels.

David

[Pendo Pilot]

Hi David,
Thanks for the advice. I've stripped down the Jessie tonight & the plastic gearbox is trashed. The plastic has cracked in 4 different places. The top mounts are missing & the motor to gearbox mounts are cracked through. Both gears are totally fine with no damage at all. Infact I've never had an issue with the actual gears, just the gearbox unit itself. However as I did no notice the loco had stalled straight away (in garden doing chores) I think it may have damaged the motor as well as it's now running pretty naff & getting very hot running with no gearbox (or remains attached) & it keeps slowing down & going back fast again randomly.
Anyway I've emailed IP & see what they can suggest, I hope they have a plan as I really like the loco.

[mhlr]

On my Jack, I have a whitemetal gearbox, but instead of epoxying it together I drilled 2 small holes where there was space and used 2 small bolts to hold it together. I've had no problem at all with it, and all you can hear is the wheels on the track. I've never come across the plastic gearboxes, so have no idea what it's like.

EDIT: I have now...


Looks rubbish to me. Personally I'd ring him up and see... he may even have some of the whitemetal ones left? I'd get hold of one of those if you can.

If not, and if Ivan can't suggest anything, what about fabricating a metal version of the plastic gearbox out of some thin steel/brass sheet? Just need a drill, a small vice to bend things up, and a small blow tourch with a bit of solder to weld it together.

[MoelygestLR]

Funnily enough my gearbox on mt Jack has just given up, seems a simple job as the cap that holds the worm drive gear in the right place has poped off meaning that its pushing the gear out of place all the time. Mine is an old whitemetal one, seems like a decent casting and a simple repair job, just have to find the time to do it!

Oh and I was trying to pull a long train, but my Jack is uprated so it has more power almost rivaling a small steamer.

[Pendo Pilot]

Well I wrote an email to IP about the issue I was having, just asking for advice about the issue. Sure enough the nextday was a reply asking to ring them to discuss &the phone number.

However I have tried since then but the recorded message was that they were closed for maintainance unil the 19th. Now I waited the week & a bit & rang them today....It's been engaged since 9:30am.............I miss my Jessie running!

[MoelygestLR]

Well I wrote an email to IP about the issue I was having, just asking for advice about the issue. Sure enough the nextday was a reply asking to ring them to discuss &the phone number.

However I have tried since then but the recorded message was that they were closed for maintainance unil the 19th. Now I waited the week & a bit & rang them today....It's been engaged since 9:30am.............I miss my Jessie running!  :roll:  ;)

Keep trying, he is a chatty man Ivan so it wouldn't suprise me if his phone bill was more than his electricity bill for his lazer cutter. He will be of help though once you do get through, he always has been for me anyway.

[Pendo Pilot]

Thanks for the advice, he must be a chatty man to be engaged that long!!

I'm sure he will come good, just frustrating trying to sort stuff out.

***Yep I'm one of those people that like to get things organised asap...

[MoelygestLR]

Right, Well I have just got round to trying to fix my gearbox and for some reason the gear wont go back into place. think maybe the gears may have given up and sheared. I would like to try and keep the whitemetal cast gearbox as it seems to be up to the job but i can see no way of getting to the gears without taking the gearbox apart. I'm about to ring IP now and have a discussion with him. I'll let you know how i get on.

Any update on your problem pendo?

[Pendo Pilot]

Hi Paul,
A bit late reply I know, just catching up after being internet less for a month. Seems he doesnt do the whitemetal gearbox at all now. Well I couldnt get one of him anyway. He did replace the plastic one for me free of charge though.

However my motor was fubard after the last gearbox failure. I replaced it with a motor from maplins that was intended for drills or robot building It was only £4 & seems like a good strong powerful unit. I have no test track yet but on a straight bit of track it hauled two wagons with two house bricks on with no problem..

Shane

[Narrow Minded]

on a straight bit of track it hauled two wagons with two house bricks on with no problem..

That ought to do the job then
Any chance of details on the Maplin part number or something so I can get one? (I keep throwing the worm gear )

Incidentally, the last thing I bought from there was a do-it-yourself kit for a "Steam Loco Sound Unit". Dirt cheap (especially compared to the other offerings for similar units) and sounds ace

[Pendo Pilot]

Any chance of details on the Maplin part number or something so I can get one? (I keep throwing the worm gear )

Of course that would be the sensible thing, keeping the part number & details.......I of course did not....

As for the worm gear, I reused the original as the motor comes without gear.

Funny you should say about the steam sound unit, I was actually looking for a diesel one in there but didnt find anything. Instead I bought a small PC cooling fan & mounted it up front behind the grill. Trouble is it runs so silent & is hard to actually see until it stops....

[Narrow Minded]

Yocould always put a piece of card in there so that it catches the fan blades - you know, like when you put lolly sticks in your bike forks as a kid!

I might try and fabricate an end cap to keep the worm gear in place, my Jessie "Crantoc" is the lines thunderbird loco so we can't be having any of these reliability issues!

[bessytractor]

Any chance of details on the Maplin part number or something so I can get one? (I keep throwing the worm gear )

Of course that would be the sensible thing, keeping the part number & details.......I of course did not....  :evil:

As for the worm gear, I reused the original as the motor comes without gear.

Funny you should say about the steam sound unit, I was actually looking for a diesel one in there but didnt find anything. Instead I bought a small PC cooling fan & mounted it up front behind the grill. Trouble is it runs so silent & is hard to actually see until it stops....  :D

http://www.alwayshobbies.com/Store/Mode ... Generators

[Pendo Pilot]

A bit of a Jessie update...

Well after chocking the motor in with wood to stop it wagging from side to side which is what I think was cracking my plastic gearbox the Jessie ran good for about a month.

Then is ripped a crank pin out.



It's once again dumped on the stored out of use siding.

Keep looking at the Essel chassis's. Just wondering if that would fit under my Jessie & how good are they. The gears look superb from the pics. Does anyone run an Essel here?

Just a plan as I need thunderbird 1 back, the ex MHLR Jack is tired of doing all the thunderbirding around here.

[hussra]

Myself, I'm just finishing off a nice new pair of more substantial coupling rods for my diesel (freelance on IP 4-coupled chassis) after snapping one of the plastic (yes, plastic) rods in a minor shunting derailment.

As you say, the Essel bits do look a whole lot more businesslike.

[garratt100]

A bit of a Jessie update...

Keep looking at the Essel chassis's. Just wondering if that would fit under my Jessie & how good are they. The gears look superb from the pics. Does anyone run an Essel here?

Just a plan as I need thunderbird 1 back, the ex MHLR Jack is tired of doing all the thunderbirding around here.  :roll:

I have an Essel chassis on my Jessie & it is superb. The original IP gearbox lasted about 50ft & gave up, but then i do like a long train & it probably wasn't meant for that...

Steve at Essel used to make them to order, i'm sure he still would if you asked him.

Chris