Repairing an Advance Power Car?

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Has anyone actually ever repaired a PlaRail Advance motor car?

I've got a substantial number of PlaRail Advance trains and to date I've never had a non-runner, until this week when in a 'job lot' I bought from Jauce I had a motor car which was DOA.

This isn't necessarily a disaster as I can just use the middle car with another of the same type and potentially turn the dead motor car into a dummy car also to produce a 6 car train as opposed to a 4 car one.

But and this is the but, like most of the tinkerers on here I like to try to resurrect or renovate any motor car I get as it just seems a shame to give up on these. I know they're not in short supply yet, but some day in the future that may change, so I want to keep or get as many running as I can.

Anyway I've had it partially apart in case the motor just needed a manual turn to kick it into life, but unfortunately that doesn't seem to work so its looking like either there is a failed circuit/wire or maybe even a burned out motor.

When I get more time I'll strip it down enough to actually get directly to the motor and try jump starting it directly, but until then does anybody know what type of motor these cars use? It's obviously not the normal can types as they physically wouldn't fit. I'm assuming its probably one of the minature can motors (the round cylinder type), but if i know in advance (no pun intended) I can at least look around to see if i can source replacements Big Grin

If not maybe I'll have to publish a 'how to fix' guide if I get the thing working again Smile
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
[-] The following 2 users Like Nigels's post:
  • ripley802, Ucwepn
I'm interested to see the insides of one, good luck my friend Smile
They are custom models of a series of motors commonly used in small toys.

They are custom in that the maximum voltage rating is 3V (I think) when I took them apart last time.

You can get replacements online with the same dimensions but they are rated to 5 or 6V.

-plarnold
[-] The following 1 user Likes plarnold's post:
  • Nigels
(06-24-2016, 01:26 AM)plarnold Wrote: They are custom models of a series of motors commonly used in small toys.

They are custom in that the maximum voltage rating is 3V (I think) when I took them apart last time.

You can get replacements online with the same dimensions but they are rated to 5 or 6V.

-plarnold

Thanks for the info Plarnold, did you do this to repair one or were you just curious? Only asking in case you have any tips when it comes to my repair attempt Smile

I guess one of the 5-6v motors would probably work, but just be very slow, although maybe something could be done with an additional battery in a dummy car or maybe one of those converters that steps up the voltage Smile

(06-24-2016, 12:54 AM)Ucwepn Wrote: I'm interested to see the insides of one, good luck my friend Smile

When I do it I'll take photo's as I go so I can post up a repair guide - even if only on the initial dis-assembly till I can get a replacement motor if its needed Smile
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
(This post was last modified: 06-24-2016, 05:07 PM by Nigels.)
Scheduled maintenance.

If I were to give it a difficulty rating out of 10 it would be around 2 to 3 (1 being user-friendly, 10 being expert).

If you are afraid of breaking something, I will be taking some apart this week. I can document it as I go if you want.

-plarnold
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  • Nigels, ripley802
Hi Plarnold,

Sure, it would be great to have a step by step as although I've had the faulty one about 60% dis-assembled I've not gone the whole way yet as I didn't have time when I initially looked at it.

It didn't look that difficult from a standard maintenance perspective, but I've not seen the wiring or control board components yet so any advice is welcomed.

Do you know the details of the motor?

Cheers, Nigel
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
Here is a photo of the motor.

Plarail Database - Plarail Advance Disassembly

More photos will go up when I have time.

-plarnold
Thanks Plarnold, in the meantime I'll do a bit of research and see if I can find replacements in case I need one Smile
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
@Nigels,

I managed to put up all the photos of the full disassembly of all four cars of a 100 Series Plarail Advance Train.

Plarail Advance Train Disassembly - Plarail Database

I hope it helps!

-plarnold
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  • Nigels
Wow!! That's great Plarnold, I was only expecting some pics of the power car, but this will make a great reference.

BTW - I've managed to find a source for the exact motor type used in the Advance trains, so if I have got a dead one I know where I can get them Smile

Thanks, Nigel
Happily collecting things all my life... Big Grin
(This post was last modified: 06-27-2016, 09:01 PM by Super.)



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