Last night I decided to work on some decoder installs. I decided to start with the easy projects first, 2 atlas U30Bs. All I have to do is pull the shell off and plug in an 8 pin decoder right? WRONG. After struggling with the shell for a few minutes, it finally slides off to reveal that the frame has now snapped in two. The shell is fine, all of the small delecate plastic tabs that hold the shell on are fine. I can't figure out how in the world the frame broke, but I got it super glued back together. On top of that, the new design atlas used for there factory light board prevents me from using the 8 pin plug they provide. So I'm not very happy right now with this product to say the least.
I forgot to mention in the post its self, the frame is indeed made out of metal but its really poor quality. I've heard my dad refer to it as pot metal
Ethan, pot metal is really cheap and brittle, it's one step above the slag they pull off the top. Joe
On the plus side its so soft you can drill it and put dowels in to repair them. JB Weld will hold it and you can sand it afterward. FYI.
I thought “pot metal” was the same as “Zamac”, which I thought was a zinc alloy. All the Mantua, Varney, and Roundhouse steam engines of yore were zamac. Zamac was the hardest stuff on earth, NASA scientists couldn’t do better, it was almost impossible to cut or drill. Those engines were at best metal lumps that sort of looked like steam engines but us teenage model railroaders loved them anyway, brass engines were beyond our imagination to own. If there is a difference in those metals ....what is it?
I'm no metallurgist Patrick, but the crap used on those frames is about as hard as solder. Any pot metal I have been around for construction or automotive was brittle but not hard by at means. It also is full of tiny air pockets if you look very closely at broken areas. " Zamac" is new to me? No clue what it might be like.
Wikipedia calls zamac or zamak. Pot metal in the description. There are many different zamak alloys. A shiny metal that takes coating well , does not rust. Trinkits and some jewelry is made from it. No mention of NASA anywhere. The stuff was invented buy a chemist in America 100 years ago. You can literally cut it with an exact blade. So soft that it will gum up on drill bits and milling tools. Don't ask me how I know that. It is used in frames because it's cheap, easily molded and takes coating well and doesn't rust, it is also heavy, and will conduct electricity. It is not mallable in the sense you can't bend it very much if at all. Again don't ask me how I know that..
On the Space Station we were drilling a soft aluminum alloy that we joked about it being pot metal because it was so gummy. Good times, really miss it. Joe
The NASA reference was a joke, I don’t think any scientist could create a metal harder and less workable than whatever my Mantua mikado and Varney Casey Jones were made of. Of course I was 16 and unskilled in every way but I was determined to do some kitbashing and that stuff was literally kryptonite.
