Lionel Milk Car Fine Tuning

[Stourbridge Lion]

Dipdog - Welcome to Trains.com!

[Dipdog]

Just wanted to say, I came to this thread with the same problem (milk cans jamming). Mineral spirits worked great!  Thanks. I still get an occasional jam, but probably only once in every ten tries. I did not take apart the c clips near the spring, but may try that as well. Also noticed that making sure the platform was level helped a lot with correcting contact problems between the milk man and the platform

[rjrjr]

Thanks for the guidance. I took it apart again, found another screw and a c clip to undo, and went nuts with mineral spirits. It works!

[cwburfle]

I've seen no change after cleaning and greasing (white grease), so I'm pretty convinced that the problem is a tired spring. Any advice on where to find a replacement, and of what type?

I have serviced a fair number of milk cars over the years. I find that they work best when the mechanisms are carefully cleaned to make them free of all old grease, oil, dust dirt, grime, etc

Other than in the dashpot on the "O" gauge milk cars, I cannot think of anyplace where I would use grease.  Perhaps a  tiny  bit of oil at the pivot points, no more.

Wet lubricants, such as grease & oil attract dirt, can get gummy over time, and actually can retard mechanisms.

[rjrjr]

Sorry, here's a pic url that actually works: 

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/111905809554306688150/MilkCarInnards?authkey=Gv1sRgCNW07J6BhrOw0QE

[rjrjr]

It says 3472 on the car, is that enough to identify? If not, here are some pix:

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/111905809554306688150/albums/5695335831293339057?authkey=CJyn16O7z7D_wAE

[TrainLarry]

  Which car do you have, as there are different mechanisms and springs.

Larry

[rjrjr]

If anyone is still watching this thread, I'm another trying to revive a post war milk car.  The problem here is that the mechanism doesn't retract quite far enough to get the next can firmly in place. Half-staged cans jam everything up. 

I've seen no change after cleaning and greasing (white grease), so I'm pretty convinced that the problem is a tired spring. Any advice on where to find a replacement, and of what type?

[stlouieblues]

Thanks for the response.

Yes I was worried about that so I did the same.  I even placed some tape over the magnet where it is close to the base of the tray.  I think I just had the voltage cranked up too high.  I seems to have gone away now that I reduced the voltage.

[stlouieblues]

Thanks for the quick response.  I'll do a littler more tweeking. 

[dsmith]

Hi Gary, The distance from my 3472 milk car door to the edge of the platform is exactly 3/8".  The door sticks out from the body of the milk car by about 1/16" , so the distance from the car body to the platform edge is 7/16".

[Evil Caesar]

Since you are using Fastrack I have notice metal tabs on the sides after you remove the two pieces to allow it to fit into the milk platform. When i recently installed mine a few weeks ago I covered the metal on the sides with electrical tape so they wouldn't send electrical current to the milk platform. This maybe why your transformer light blinks and you don't get better performance the accessory. Just a thought, may or may not help.

[stlouieblues]

Hi, in reviewing your video it looks like you have the milk platform much closer to the milk car door than mine.  I just measured the distance between the platform edge and the side of the milk car and it is 1/2".  I noticed the man is over the platform on your setup but mine is right on the edge.  I'll push the platform closer to the car and trim the pins on the doors so that they clear the platform.  I'll see if my results improve.  What is the distance between you car and the platform?  Thanks, Gary

[dsmith]

Gary, Several years ago I had the same problem with my 3472 milk cans falling over and also the pegs on the bottom of the doors hitting the platform.  I purchased new milk cans and noticed that the magnets are a lot more powerful compared with the origional postwar cans, so now the cans hardly ever fall over.  I tried raising the track with shims so that the door pins wouldn't hit the platform, but this resulted in the cans frequently falling over so I trimmed the pins at the botttom of the doors and the doors no longer hit the platform.   For several years now I have used this setup with very consistant results.

Here is a video of my 3472 in action.  If you look closely you will see that the pegs on the bottom of the doors has been trimmed slightly.  Since then I have trimmed the pegs almost completely off.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXihu92pqME

[stlouieblues]

Thanks Karl for the quick response and great suggestions.  I misstated about using the A-U terminals, I checked and I am using the B-U terminals, I am a novice.  I have begun adjusting the voltage as you described (now playing with between 50-60 on the handle) and occasionally some cans will stand up and the transformer light no longer blinks.  It looks like less voltage gets better results. I am using metal magnetic cans (they have little square magnets on bottom). I replaced the doors and frame and now they open.  I have set the platform tray at the upper position.  I do notice that there are pegs or nubs on the bottom of these doors and they seem to be hitting the platform tray.  I may trim them to see if this improves the performance. It looks like now the cans are a not getting all the way on the edge of the platform and fall onto the tracks. Thanks again for your help, I'll update my posting with my progress.  Gary

[Firesteel]

In regard to the mechanism having trouble pushing the milk cans out, it could be something binding but it could also be a lack of power from the transformer terminals. The CW80 has a variable accessory output which I believe is factory set to 12 volts, so you may just have to increase the output. The accessory outputs are the B-U terminals. The A-U terminals are for track power. I use track power for my milk platform because I have three different milk cars and each takes a slightly different voltage. I never actually measured the voltage needed for each car, but the scale on the handle of my CW80 reads about "60" when operating my 3472 milk car. Of course if the problem is mechanical, then the solution will depend on the condition of your particular car.

The magnetic cans should stay upright on the platform. This may sound like a silly question, but do you have the proper cans for this car? The non-magnetic cans have a solid base whereas the magnetic cans have a hole in the bottom with a magnet pressed into it. When using Fastrack, the platform should also be set at the upper position-the same as O31 track. Hope this helps.

Karl

[stlouieblues]

Hi, His is my first posting for help and I enjoy reading the other postings.  I've just setup my old lionel train for my grand kids. And I've been buying some operating accesories to enlarge the layout.

I just bought a used Lionel 3472 Milk Car and 3462 Platform. Both are in pretty good shape.  I took the milk car body off and cleaned and lubricated the mechanism.  It now works pretty good with the doors off.  

1. The magnetic milk cans seldom stand upright but I guess that's the nature of them from what I heard and read.  Am I right?  I'm happy that it just kicks the cans out but I am willing to do some fine tuning to get better perfomance.  Any sugestions?

2. When I add the doors back on, the mechanism does not seem to be able to push them open and place the milk can.  The spring on one of the doors is pretty stiff.  I'm thinking of removing the springs and see if this helps.  Also, I think the bottom of the mechanism may be getting caught on the bottom of the door frame.  Any suggestions, like trimming the frame or adjusting the bottom tray on the mechanism?

3.  Lastly, I'm using a Lionel Fastrack Operating Track and it fits nicely on the milk can platform.  I do notice the transformer light blinks once when I operate the car each time.  Also the uncoupler magnet hums when activated.  I have another operating track that does not do this But I haven't placed it on the milk can platform base).  Both are wired the same (to the accessrory a/u outlets on an CW 80 watt transformer.)  This operating track is on a swithced siding.  Any ideas why this happens?  or is it even a problem?

Thank you in advance, Gary