I have a 3462 milk car with coil couplers that works intermittently. I replaced the crumbling wiring and cleaned up the mechanism. When it works, it works well. However, every once in a while it stops working. I can get it to work again if I press down on the car while pushing the unload button.
The coil couplers seem to work even when the unloading mechanism doesn't. I tried cleaning both the spring contact inside the truck and the shoe rivet with some alcohol and fine grit sandpaper, but no improvement. I suspect one of the shoes and/or spring contacts since pushing down on the car will make it work again.
Any thoughts on what else to try?
It sounds like you/ve covered all the bases. Try some electric contact cleaner on the shoes, and the track, for a "boost". I prefer CRC 2-26.
First, clean the unloading track and wheels with Naphtha. If you still get intermittent operation, remove the trucks and check that everything is assembled properly and good electrical contact is made to the sliding shoes. Are the rivet heads in the sliding shoes worn? If so, they need replacing.
If this does not work, turn the car upside down and apply transformer power directly to the sliding shoes. Everything should work. If it does not, the merchanism needs looking into. Check for free movement of the coil plunger by hand and free movement of the mechanism with no binding.
Larry
Thanks for the suggestions! Here's what I tried, all with no success:
At this point I was about to give up, when I noticed that the pickup shoes sometimes ended up tilted to one side or the other after I put the car on the track, and this seemed to have an effect on whether it worked or not.
This car has the electromagnetic coil couplers, and the electrical contact from the pickup shoe to the car is made by a single strip of copper that functions both as an electrical connector and a spring to push the shoe against the track. The part of the rivet that touches this strip is just a small ring, since the rivet is hollow.
With the shoe tilted to one side, the spring was hitting the shoe and not making contact with the rivet end. Bending the spring slightly fixed the issue. I adjusted it so that no matter how the shoe was tilted, the rivet end could still make contact with the spring.
I made a few rough drawings to help illustrate what was going on in case anyone else runs into this issue:
Great job ! I think the next time I have a question about pick up shoes, I may come and ask you !
At least you did not have to replace them. I tried that once, and I am still carrying the scars ! Flaring the rivet without destroying the shoes or fiber board takes great finesse. Once again, great job!
Paul
Ahh, I have some trucks with missing pickup shoes too. I bought the Brakeman's Riveter from Carl's Toy Trains and I have some replacement shoe parts on order. I ordered quite a few extra as I'm expecting to mangle a bunch of them, sounds like a steep learning curve!
I have one strange 3482 milk car with bar end trucks and coil couplers. I wonder if it had broken pickup shoes and the previous owner decided it was easier to just replace the whole coupler and shoe assembly... I'm glad they used coil couplers, since I have the older 1019 remote control sections!
Maybe using the correct tools makes it easier ? Sounds like you may have a better method. The method explained to me was to pound the rivet against a steel block. It's not easy...
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