repairing post war 397 coal loader

[Anonymous]

hi everyone,
i have a post war 397 coal loader that needs a little love and some repairs. does anyone know where i can find a repair diagram or perhaps repair instructions foir it? i have a pretty good idea what i need to do with it but i thought i'd do a little research first.

[msacco]

Well, you could get a copy of greenberg's Lionel Postwar repair manual. This is really indispenable for Lionel postwar repairs. This book has copies of original Lionel repair info including diagrams. A real must have.
CTT also did many years ago (maye the 90s) a good article on tuning up one of these. It's probably in a book from Kalmbach now, but I'm not sure.
IN any event it's not too tough. Clean the commutator, brushwells, install new brushes, lube the gearbox, etc. Installing a new belt isn't really that tough either, but you need to remove the red tray and pull the shaft with the cams out. My cams were frozen from years of oxidation. Took a good soaking in WD40 to release them.
If you need help just ask some specifics. These puppies are pretty indestructable.

Mike S.

[Anonymous]

I agree with everything msacco says. Just one more thing: Prior to disassembly, be certain to mark the position of the cams on the square shaft. It is very easy to re-assemble the cams out-of-phase. with each other. This won't work properly.

In the correct orientation, both cams reach their high points simultaneously, so that the spring snaps the tray back evenly. It should move perfectly parallel to the sides of the base.

When operating correctly, the sound that it emits should be a distinct

TAT ------TAT ------TAT etc,.

and NOT

TaTat ---TaTat ---TaTat.

This is more easily checked at low speed than high.

Feel free to pose more questions.

wolverine49

[Anonymous]

wolverine, you nailed the problem i'm having right on the head! i was suspicious that the cams were wrong because the coal wasnt moving up the tray and the tap sound wasn't what i thought it should be. the cams are stuck on the shaft so i will give them a wd40 soak and position them correctly.
other than that the motor and the belt seem to be working execlent. i will repost when i have some results.
thanks again!

[Anonymous]

i adjusted the position of the cams on the square shaft and now it it working just fine!
thanks for the help[:)]