Now that the railway is into Polar Express season and 33063 is in use alongside 31430 on the downhill end of the train, both providing ETH (Electric train heating) to 3 coaches, overhaul work has paused.
After 2 successful days working the train over the weekend it was found that the drivers side rear heater in cab 2 wasn't working. So on Monday our electrician set too and tested the heater element with the readings showing it was in full working order. On further investigation it was found that due to dirty and corroded terminals causing a high resistance joint causing the wires to be burnt off the terminals.
So after a clean up, new nuts, washers and crimps it was reassembled and tested with no further faults and heat from the right places. So hopefully it will keep the cab nice and warm as the temperature drops.
With work paused on 063 the overhaul on 33065 has recommenced over the last couple of weeks. We started with running the triple pump courtesy of 063's battery's and controls. Once run for a few minutes and around 16 PSI of Oil pressure was raised the pump was stopped and barred over 2 full rotations to try and ensure the engine doesn't deteriorate while none operational.
Next came a big clean up in both cabs and the engine room. Eventually after a lot of cleaning and sorting there was some space to work.
Then our electrician and a couple of others started by attempting to remove the ETH relay box for repair and repaint. After a lot of struggling and persuasion the relay box was removed, they then moved on to cleaning up the threads on the conduit and nuts that lead to the ETH voltage regulator which should make reassemble a lot easier.
With the box removed needle gunning could then commence along that side of the engine room to remove all the flaky paint while all the electrical equipment is removed, a very tedious job but one that needs doing and once done the area can be repainted to try and increase the longevity of the bodywork. Work has also been happening in Cab 2 of 065 but we will save that for the next update.
