Weaver VO-1000 Motor/Drivetrain

[DaveJfr0]

Anyone have any history on these locomotives? Any known issues with the China drives or drivetrain? (You know like the old Weaver chain drive issues.)

I haven't had much train time in the past few weeks nor will I this week, but I finally got an hour to start cleaning up a Weaver VO1000 I had that once worked. I was testing out the motors with a fresh 9V battery to the leads and they won't turn at all. I took the motors off the chassis and still no go. I am guessing that the motors are toast. I did find that wheels were very hard to turn...either some old grease dried up in the axles or a lack of oil caused the axles to lockup. I took each truck apart, cleaned them, and relubed everything seems to have made those happier. Now I just gotta figure out the motors.

So I guess a few questions....
1. Do these have a history of drive-train issues?
2. These can-motors used in these should turn at 9VDC, right? Doesn't make sense if I need to apply really high-voltage on these to get them to even just barely spin. (Flywheel/worm turn freely when turned by hand.)
3. Anyone have an idea who may have a supply of replacement motors? If they're better than the originals, are DCC friendly, and spin at a very low voltage, that is fine. I suppose I can figure out how to swap the worm gear, etc onto another motor, or enlist some help with learning how to do that.


Photo of said motor. Both motors have the same symptoms.

IMG-0791.JPG (137.29 KiB) Viewed 5598 times

[big bad jim]

Dave,
I presume the Weaver vo-1000 went to MTH? If so, maybe you could source new motors from them. I wouldn't be surprised if they still use the same specs.

Otherwise, a lot of the motors for china drives from various manufacturers appear very similar, with possible exception being the shaft and corresponding worm length. So Atlas or Lionel might be viable alternatives as well.

I have a beater Atlas gp60 chassis around here somewhere that I can dig up tomorrow. I'll check out the motors and let you know how they look. If acceptable, you can have them. More info tomorrow.

Jim

[sarge]

Dave

If it ran, then sat ("ran when parked"), it makes no sense the motors are toast from sitting. Might be caked up with whatever the loco was greased with, so give 'em a good clean. They may well not turn on a 9v battery/ not enough amperage from them. Hook up a DC throttle or DC wall-wart with some decent output.

That said, it would be interesting to know if the magnet sheets fell off inside the cases, for that would be good info for other owners.

Check the drivetrain gears as well. There is a huge problem with the last five years' production from Kadar to Heljan (of Brit prototypes, so we haven't heard it much here) of gears splitting. Same drive; poor quality control in gear casting process lately.

[rrjjf]

David,

I have never been able to get one of those China drive worms off of the motor shaft without cutting the shaft off of the motor and re-boring the worm. Generally the China drive motors do not draw a lot of current and if your motor is not performing well after cleaning and lubing I would replace it.

Joe

[bob turner]

It takes heat, a fixture, a punch, and a soft place for the motor to land. The heat is apparently the key; the Chinese use Loctite and very tight press fits. You have to be very careful not to shock the motor too much.

Re-assembly is best done with a loose press fit and Loctite. The shaft is really skinny, and won't survive a heavy press.

There is literally nothing I haven't replaced on MTH Diesels - we even wear out the axles!

[2railjon]

I think I have a Weaver VO-1000 in 3 Rail that has very little run time and is under my work bench still, I think. If you can use the motors I’ll ship the engine to you. Let me know.

[2railjon]

OK, found it! I can’t find any markings on it but I’m pretty sure it’s a Weaver.






If this looks like yours let me know.

[DaveJfr0]

Thanks all for the replies.

Thanks to Brian. So I guess these motors just require more juice. Threw a DC power pack on the motors and they ran like expected. This is worrysome though to me though that these would require so much more juice to turn and perhaps put more wear on a DCC decoder. Not sure if this would qualify them as "not performing well" as Joe put it.

I never had a motor until now that wouldn't just turn with a 9V battery. Before cranking them with a DC powerpack, I did a continuity check. Interesting measurement is one motor measured ~5.9 ohms across the leads and the other measured ~57 ohms across the leads. Maybe I just need to spray some deoxit in there to help with that.

The remaining question is, do we think the higher required amperage is worth keeping them (I am putting a 3A Loksound decoder in this) or since it's apart, is it worth the investment in time/resources to put these worms on "better" motors?



Jon,

Really appreciate that offer when things were looking south; luckily it looks like it won't come down to cannibalizing your very nice Weaver VO1000. I would never have let you do that. You should get that thing for a test drive on the layout. They are nice when they run.

[2railjon]

Dave, glad to hear you got it going! I wasn’t worried about you cannabalizing my engine as I don’t have a 3 rail layout anymore and not sure how to convert it to 2 Rail.

[PRR Man]

Think your making more of this than needed. Clean up the driveline and relube if not done already. These motors do require more amperage than a 9v can provide and have been used by the 1000s in engines. Run the engine for a while to loosen it up and recheck your current draw after that. A 3 amp decoder for a pair of motors will be fine.

I've run two units of 4 motors on a qsi 4 amp decoder with no problem, pulling a heavy train.

[Chris Webster]

\3. Anyone have an idea who may have a supply of replacement motors? If they're better than the originals, are DCC friendly, and spin at a very low voltage, that is fine. I suppose I can figure out how to swap the worm gear, etc onto another motor, or enlist some help with learning how to do that.

Dave, you might try asking for suggestions on replacement motors and gears over at the RepowerAndRegear forum on groups.io.