Hi, My Lionel S-2 Turbine 681 runs a lot slower than my other engines off my RW’s B-U post at 15 volts it likes the A-U 19 volt setting much better. I have new Lionel 027 42"R switches 6-65167 and 6-65168. When the 681 is crossing them slowly it wants to stop on the switch. I have also seen this with my Lionel 1666. If I set the transformer to 19 volts it is going fast enough to cross. Any ideas what is causing this? Tks, Kev
Hi,
My Lionel S-2 Turbine 681 runs a lot slower than my other engines off my RW’s B-U post at 15 volts it likes the A-U 19 volt setting much better. I have new Lionel 027 42"R switches 6-65167 and 6-65168. When the 681 is crossing them slowly it wants to stop on the switch. I have also seen this with my Lionel 1666. If I set the transformer to 19 volts it is going fast enough to cross.
Any ideas what is causing this?
Tks,
Kev
Joined 1-21-2011 TCA 13-68614
Kev, From The North Bluff Above Marseilles IL.
If it stops on switches, first thing I'd check is make sure the pickups are all connected, sometimes one will have a bad connection. As far as needing more voltage, I'd be thinking lubrication and possible binding of the rods somewhere.
Thanks John,
It has been lubed and the pick-ups are fine. I have checked. to me it seems to be more related to the switches. Maybe the spacing of the pickups or something like that
I've been experiencing the same with Lionel and Williams diesels and a Lionel PW 2055. I'm using 022 switches. At really low speeds they stall but at slightly faster speeds they hesitate/buck and at higher speeds (12+ V) there is no noticable effect.
Let the engine go across a switch and leave the engine on the track where it stops. Look at the rollers and make sure one of the rollers is on a powered section of the switch. If neither roller is on a powered portion of the switch, the problem is roller spacing. If one of the rollers is on a powered section of the track, the electrical connection to that roller is bad. It may be corrosion between the pin and the roller. You said the roller is fine, but did you put a multimeter and check the resistance between the rollers? You should move the roller to check the resistance in all positions of the roller.
Earl
EIS2 Let the engine go across a switch and leave the engine on the track where it stops. Look at the rollers and make sure one of the rollers is on a powered section of the switch. If neither roller is on a powered portion of the switch, the problem is roller spacing. If one of the rollers is on a powered section of the track, the electrical connection to that roller is bad. It may be corrosion between the pin and the roller. You said the roller is fine, but did you put a multimeter and check the resistance between the rollers? You should move the roller to check the resistance in all positions of the roller. Earl
Earl, Very good tip I will do exactly that. Thanks, Kev
Earl,
Very good tip I will do exactly that.
Thanks,
Once in a while, that sort of thing will happen with one of my PW steamers. When it does, I clean both rollers thoroughly with contact cleaner, making sure to spray it inside, where the pin goes through. After things dry thoroughly, it's never failed to cure the problem.
srguy I've been experiencing the same with Lionel and Williams diesels and a Lionel PW 2055. I'm using 022 switches. At really low speeds they stall but at slightly faster speeds they hesitate/buck and at higher speeds (12+ V) there is no noticable effect.
I have cleaned everything, track, rollers pins and I oiled the wheels on all of the PW cars it is pulling. That helped the slow speed but when I do try to go across the switch slow it will trip the E-unit into N then if I press the button to make it go it will move less than a ½" and short the transformer. It higher power levels it acts like srguy describes above.
On some postwar steamers, the collector arm is held together where it pivots with a "horseshoe" clip. Sometimes the tabs on the open end of this clip will end up pointing down, and brush against a grounded rail as the engine passes thru the turnout, causing a short. This happened with a 2035 I had. Also, the points on modern O27 switches are pretty floppy--when weight is applied to one side, the other side lifts up and might actually touch something hot on the underside of the engine and cause a short that way.
Mine behave differently ... the lights go out and the engine stalls. No shorts, e unit action etc. Just stops .... a little push and the lights go back on but the engine is in neutral. That said I try to keep the trains moving at a reasonably realistic pace..... just can't crawl through the switches.
nickaix Also, the points on modern O27 switches are pretty floppy--when weight is applied to one side, the other side lifts up and might actually touch something hot on the underside of the engine and cause a short that way.
Also, the points on modern O27 switches are pretty floppy--when weight is applied to one side, the other side lifts up and might actually touch something hot on the underside of the engine and cause a short that way.
nickaix,
That looks like it may be the case on thos. The points rock a lot. It only happens like this on one switch where it goes into a short I can tell it is shorting because the # 260 bumpers dim.
Kev.
I've had really good luck with DeoxIT D5 http://store.caig.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.188/.f to help rollers that have poor connections to the pin or hinge.
You can put some electrical tape on the points and see if the problem goes away. If so, you can "paint" the offending part with something (nail polish works pretty well) for a more durable fix.
Possibly the slowing (without a short) is simply due to poor electrical connection through the track pins. The O27 profile turnouts I have chronic problems with this because of the way the rail is attached to the baseplate. It gets out of shape and the pins get loose. Especially since mine are on carpet and connected back-to-back.
nickaix You can put some electrical tape on the points and see if the problem goes away. If so, you can "paint" the offending part with something (nail polish works pretty well) for a more durable fix.
i will try this tonight Thanks,
Kev,
Whenever, I ran a Lionel locomotive slowly, with it's three position E-Unit activated, over both an automatic, or manual Lionel switch, the engine would stop on the switches diamond shaped frog. The same would happen withe a two position E-Unit, as the engine reached the frog, it would reverse itself.
Thank goodness, I found out while the engines were going slow and not fast!My temporary fix was to put electrical tape on the diamond of the frog, then I was able to run the engines, without any problems, at all speeds.
I hope, this helps.
Take Care,
Ralph
srguy, if you bend the end of the fat rail up very slightly, you may solve the problem. If you have cars or locos with slider shoes for electromagnetic couplers, and you bend the fat rail up too far, the coupler may open when the slider shoe crosses the end of the fat rail.
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