Quieting Athearn Locomotives

What's the best way to quiet a Blue Box unit without totally ripping the mechanism apart, and starting anew?

One source of noise is the shell, which can vibrate or amplify any vibrations in the loco. An easy way to quiet this is by placing a narrow strip of foam into the top of the shell. Fortunately, Athearn supplies some black foam in the blue box the loco came in; just cut it to length, width (it should fit snugly into the top of the shell) and height (don't want it interfering with the motor or other moving parts) and that's it. It won't remove all the noise (it wouldn't be an Athearn blue box if it wasn't growly!), but it does reduce one source of noise.

John Longhurst, Winnipeg
Visit the CP Rail Manitoba & Minnesota Sub. at http://members.shaw.ca/longhurst4

My method:

http://trainiax.0catch.com/meathearn.htm

I saw your website before! how well does that work? im kinda afraid to go tinkering with gears, and springs (even though im studying mechanical engineering). I will probably use goo-gone as lubricant

Goo-gone is not a lubricant - in fact, it's a pretty effective degreaser.

When I re-lube a locomotive I usually start by assembling the gearboxes "dry" (with factory lube removed), then add a drop of Hob-E-Lube Moly Grease to the top gear of each truck. After running the engine to spread the lube thoroughly I follow up with aditional grease and Hob-E-Lube Light Oil (one drop of either at a time) until the gearboxes run smoothly and quietly.

A common source of noise is excessive end play in the worm gears - you can buy thrust washers from NorthWest Short Line, or use washers from a scrap Athearn engine. You also can check for end play in the motor, but that's more often found in motors with a lot of running behind them. As for removing the commutator brushes, I'd be more inclined to leave the brushes and shorten the springs a fraction of a turn at a time. This will have a similar effect on noise generated by the motor, and last longer.

The ultimate solution for Athearn motor noise is to install an aftermarket motor, but I'd only advise that if you're also dissatisfied with the motor's performance.

i have the Hob-E-Lube grease, i thought it was goo-gone, sorry for the mix up.

I have found that the noise problem with athearn locos has 2 sources-- flywheels that are not centered on the shafts, or have some sort of wobble, and loose fit between the couplings and center shaft

In the first case I remove the motor and use a fine needle file or fine sandpaper and smooth out the flywheel, all around until it turns true - motor as a lathe.

In the second case, I wrap some masking tape around the spline, excepting the ridge, press it down firmly, and work it into the coupling for a tight fit. this can eliminate most of the noise caused by vibration.

Gluing some thin cardboard to the body interior - sides and roof also helps
I have some 20+ athearns and lots of experience with these techniques, as I hate a noisy loco

I found flywheel wobble and loose driveshafts to be a problem too--I used to sand flywheels as well. One problem I also found with older models was that flywheels that were physically balanced were not weight-balanced, so I turned one of them until it cancelled out the wobble of the other.

But recent Athearns have eliminated both problems. All the ones I've bought within the last 4 years or so have perfectly balanced flywheels and the new "hex" drive system, which I find less noisy than the older driveshafts.