The main agenda now is to prepare for the arrival of the CA&E cars from Cleveland. I'll have more about this later. The main thing I wanted to do was to work on preparing the trucks from the 321, which will be put under the 319 when it arrives. The more I can do now, the less I have to do when the trucks are under the car.
Here's a view of the commutator of a traction motor. The upper brush holder is obvious, part of the lower one is visible. They're 90 degrees apart because this is a four-pole motor. I started to megger them, but decided the results were not reliable. It was raining most of the day, so there's condensation on the surfaces, which increases the skin conductivity. The two armatures I measured both read about 0.8 megs, which is less than optimal. I'll try again on Saturday, it's supposed to be nicer then. I checked all of the armature bearings and added oil as needed, and blew out the commutators.
Here's a view of the commutator of a traction motor. The upper brush holder is obvious, part of the lower one is visible. They're 90 degrees apart because this is a four-pole motor. I started to megger them, but decided the results were not reliable. It was raining most of the day, so there's condensation on the surfaces, which increases the skin conductivity. The two armatures I measured both read about 0.8 megs, which is less than optimal. I'll try again on Saturday, it's supposed to be nicer then. I checked all of the armature bearings and added oil as needed, and blew out the commutators.
On Saturday we'll also try to wye one of the trucks; as they sit now, they're both facing the same way. And I also want to clean the commutators with Carbosol, if it's possible to move them so the armatures can be rotated.While we're at it, let's check the gears and pinions. They all appear nice and wet, so no additional crater grease is needed.
Meanwhile, Tim Peters was working on the 1268, Bob Kutella on the 68, Pete on the 972, Frank was cleaning up the new PCC, Gerry was doing some welding for repairs on the Com Ed 4, and so on.
And the contractors were installing the ceiling in the shop extension. After finishing the first section, they blew in insulation, and here they are installing the next section.
4 comments:
In the photo where you are checking the commutators, above your finger is a vent screen. It appears to be plugged up with dirt. Doesn't it need to be cleaned?
Yes, you're probably right. I'm not sure how best to do that without knocking dirt back down into the motor. Suggestions welcome. Notice too that the ones to the right look fine.
I must admit we usually don't check those things, they're nearly impossible to get at, or even look at when under the car.
Could you elucidate the reason for the truck shuffle that you are doing prior to the arrival of the CA&E cars from Cleveland?
Sure. The 319, when it arrives, will be put on the 321's trucks because it is known to have good motors. The 319 has at least one bad motor, and there may be other problems. This will avoid the need for truck swaps later, and the 319 should be operable very quickly.
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