New collector trying to get American Flyer #290 running

[Paulfil]

Bought an untested #290 American Flyer steam locomotive.  Seemed in nice cosmetic condition.  Won't run.  Tested reverse unit after unplugging wiring harness from locomotive and the unit seems to cycle properly.  Next I tried jumping the two inner connections of the four-wire locomotive connector and applying base and variable power directly to the outer connectors.  I get a spark when I make the connection but no sound or movement from the motor. When  turning the armature? by hand the large gear on the driving wheels turns freely.   Do I have a dead motor?  Is there something else I should check. 
What are my options if it is dead?

[TrainLarry]

When you made the electrical connections, the plug from the tender was not plugged into the locomotive, correct? If you get no motion from the motor, remove the brushplate, check and clean the brushes, springs, and the motor commutator. Replace brushes or springs if needed. Reassemble and check again. Make sure all wires and solder connections are in good shape to the plug and brush holders.

Larry

[Paulfil]

Larry, thanks for the quick response.  I spent about another hour testing and found that if the moving part of the motor (commutator or armature?) was moved by hand to a certain spot, I could get a little movement when jumping power to the motor.  after doing that several times, the motor ran smoothly.  I lubricated the gears and driving wheels and put it on the track.  seems to work fine except for the reverse sticking once in a while.  I plan on opening up the tender and cleaning the unit.  Thanks again for you advice and assistance.

Paul

[TrainLarry]

Thanks for the reply, Paul, and you're welcome. I still recommend cleaning the motor as advised above. Your symptoms sound like it needs a good cleaning.

(The armature is the entire part of the motor that spins, and the commutator is the copper plate that the brushes ride on to give power to the armature windings).

Recommend for starters just to spray the reverse unit contacts and drum with tuner cleaner, or some other quick evaporating, non-residue leaving solvent safe for plastic and paint. Make sure the contacts are touching the drum properly with enough tension, and are not bent, worn through or dirty. Insure the drum is in good condition also.

Larry

[Russ D]

Flyer engines are really pretty easy to work on and it is usually something simple.You may have tried these tricks but bear in mind not sure where you are at.Take the cover plate off the main gear on bottom of engine.Many times this is so gummed up the gears can't turn.Years ago instead of white grease Vaseline was used and over many years this can turn to a hard paste.Clean the well thoroughly.Spray the armature and the communacator face with electrical contact cleaner it won't hurt the motor.Take a Q-Tip and flatten it with you fingers or use a pipe cleaner and place it on the communacator face while spinning the armature by hand to give it a quick cleaning.Check your springs and brushes to see if they are broken or worn.Check all solder points on motor,armature,headlite and smoke unit I assume you have the engine cover off.You said you used a jumper wire.A jumper can be a short piece off coated wire stripped at both ends and bent into a U shape.Generally placing both open ends into the two inner holes on the jack panel and then placing positive and negative leads from your transformer into the outer most holes and apply power will give some motor movement.You can invert the jumper to the outer most holes or some other combination if that doesn't work.Check all your wires may be loose or bare spot.Don't give up just keep playing around with your cleaning and inspection and I am sure you will get it running.....

[phillyreading]

Another thing to make sure of when working on an A.F. engine like the 290, the armature brushes need to make good contact to the motor. A weak spring can prevent the motor from running, take a toothpick and apply pressure to each armature brush and see what will happen. You need to see a small blue looking spark inside when the motor is turning, yellow sparks mean bad armature brush tension. This is how I got my A.F. 293 running again.