I've been playing with an old non-running Hornby Ivatt Class 2 loco - just for fun !

I took it all apart, including the X04 motor - cleaned and oiled everything and having eased a sticking valve gear and gummed up axle bearing - hey presto - everything now runs freely.

The motor seems sweet as a nut using a 9v battery across the terminals.

Now, during the service/repair, I snipped off the red wire from the capacitor to free the motor from the chassis but at some stage, the brown wire (from the pickups) broke off.

I know where the red wire has to be re-soldered but my question is, where does the brown wire go ?  I think originally, they both disappeared into a large insulating sleeve near the capacitor (similar to heat shrink but not thermoreactive).

Does the brown wire simply solder to the tab attached to the motor mounting screw or what ?

Maybe this photo explains ………………


 

Hi Peter.

I found the service sheet  www.hornbyguide.com/service_sheet_details.asp?sheetid=10

And from what I can see the red wire (insulated to the motor feed attaches to the brown which then goes to the pickup underneath,  The return is through the motor frame and the chassis to the uninsulated side wheels.  The other side of the capacitor also connects at that point but if TV interference is not an issue in your area, just leave it disconnected!

Hope this helps

Trevor
Editor
Rail;way Modeller Australia ( railwaymodelleraustralia)


 

Thanks Trevor and sorry - I missed your reply.

I had in fact, found a YouTube clip (Sam's Trains I think) of fitting a decoder to an X04 motor - that showed what went where.  I wired it up and it runs well but I understand these old motors require quite some juice to run so I'm slightly concerned about risking a Zimo decoder in there …………….

Might have to save up for one of the latest Hornby offerings, maybe sound fitted now that we pensioners are going to be rich with the latest increase………………..

Hi Peter,u

The basic XO4 is ok but as you note the current draw can be high. I would first check out fitting your motor with a rare earth magnet which is supposed to reduce the current draw almost logarithmically. The installations I have seen pics of have four or five little…  magnets stacked on top replacing the Single magnet and a reported increase in torque. I do not have direct experience of this as I have not had a Hornby loco for many years. Having said that I went to a DCC forum organised by a club I was in in Melbourne before the higher capacity chips were around with an old Jinty around a basic loop … a similar system to what you have but your motor would be far newer than what this was…

Good luck!

Cheers

Trevor

Indeed Trevor - new/different magnets would probably make sense but finding such spares here in France is often a nightmare and twice the price of UK………………

I needed a couple of small items from Peter's Spares - he has them in stock and the cost would be under £5 in total but postage out here is £12 and no doubt French Customs will want an additional €10 "handling charge" …………………..

Interestingly, I checked out the Hornby Ivatt Std. Class 2 - Hornby themselves charge £217, Kernow £196 and a German company I deal with "Modelbahn Union" charge €224 (for the black version I want), that's £191 sterling !   The latter has a €10 postage fee but of course, no silly Customs charges.  It does show that some items are available in Germany for similar prices to UK but without the hassle.

Nice excuse for a rip off there, Peter.