I think I found my problem with my lionel F3 locomotive being so sluggish. I beleive the full motor current runs thru the "E" unit, am I correct? Somtimes I switch directions and it is REAL strong and pulls hard, other times it will be ultra weak and can hardly pull itself. Switching directions just a few times fixes it for a while.
I already tore it completely down this mornign and got all the nasty cake grease out and re lubed it all. What a difference. Now if I could just learn more about the operation of the "E" unit.
The E drum is discolored and I cant get in there too good to clean the copper or to re tension the fingers. The unit looks to not be servicable as it is spot welded together. Any tips?
Spray the E unit with WD-40. It is the best contact cleaner you can get, much better than the so called "contact cleaners," IMHO. I have extensive experience with contact problems here in Florida due to the humidity, and WD-40 works better than anything else I have tried. It also leaves an oil film on the part which will inhibit corrosion in the future.
Be very careful trying to clean the drum. The fingers are very fragile and are easily damaged. Don't ask me how I know this. Using WD-40 will clean both the fingers and the drum.
The two side plates are not welded. They can be pulled apart and then snapped back together. It is not necessary to peen them when reassembling. The biggest problem is simultaneously realigning the two circuit boards and the drum. Of course, these three items can in principle be aligned one after the other, but it is still a very tricky operation.
If you open it up, cleaning the drum with an eraser and bending the fingers to a reasonable position are easy. Make sure that the fingers are not twisted, so that they make contact with the drum across the entire edge of the curved tip. You may encounter fingers which have worn to the point that half the curved tip is gone or about to go. These can actually be rehabilitated by half-straightening the bend between the straight part and the remaining half circle, from a 90-degree angle to 45 degrees. Also examine the drum for notches at the crotches between teeth. These can catch the pawl and prevent the slug from falling. You can remove the notches by slightly shaving the adjacent teeth with a sharp knife.
But you can do a lot of repair without opening the e-unit. A sharpened eraser stick, like this
http://www.wetpaintart.com/closeup.asp?cid=136&pid=61308&offset=0
can get to the drum. And you can retension a finger by holding it against its circuit board with a small hook made from a paper clip while bending it toward the drum with a small screwdriver right next to the hook.
Bob Nelson
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