Good evening. Looking for advise on an old American Flyer #307 which has not been run in at least 4 years. All I'm getting is a buzzing and clicking from the unit in the tender which I assume controls the forward and reverse movement of the train. Contacts have all been cleaned and polished so juice is flowing. Any tricks or tips would be welcome. Thanks.
How many wires are there between the locomotive and the tender?
Bob Nelson
I do not know how comfortable you are with taking the tender and locomotive apart, but it will be necessary to do some troubleshooting of the electrical system. To start it would be helpful if you had an electrical circuit tester, or a multi-meter, in order to figure out what is going on with this thing.
The fact that your reverse unit buzzes and clicks may mean that it's working. But is the electricity actually getting to the locomotive? You can observe the tender unit in operation with the shell off. Does the drum spin as you turn the power on and off? If so it is functioning normally, and the problem is somewhere north of the reverse unit.
If the drum doesn't spin, try to move the drum by hand so that it makes contact with the electrical leads. If you do that, does the locomotive move now? If so, the reversing unit is defective and needs to be repaired or replaced. Or you can wire around it, the downside being that the locomotive will then only move in one direction permanently.
If you can determine with a circuit tester that there is power getting through the tender connections, then you need to look at the wiring harness where the tender plugs into the back of the locomotive. There may be a broken wire or a broken connector . Place the voltmeter test leads on the motor brushes. It has been many years but I believe that they are accessable from the back of the locomotive without taking the shell off. Is there power? If so, you need to look at the motor itself. It may simply be that you need to clean the commutator and the brushes. But it might also be the case that you have a broken or burnt winding coil.
The good news is that if there is something seriously wrong you don't have to throw the train away. Repair parts for American Flyer equipment is still available through various sources on the Internet.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Chances are the e unit (the reversing mechanism) is sticking. A very common and easy to fix item. Remove the four screws holding on the tender. generously spray contact cleander on the drum and fingers. ensure the lock out lever is positioned so the coil moves the contact, and move the little lever the lock out locks with your finger effectivly cycling the drum by hand. After several cycles apply current to the front and rear rivet, base on one and variable on the other and cycle the power watching the little drum once it cycles, and see if the loco takes off running.
Does yours have a connector panel between the loco and tender or is it hard wired?
Let us know how things go.
Jim
One other possibility here is that one or more contacts isn't touching the drum. If the contacts were removed for cleaning, this is very possible.
Thanks to all for the quick replys. The train is on the workbench and soon to be probed with the multimeter. Hopefully I can breathe some new life into the old beast and have her running around the tree shortly.
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