239 is now running fine. It was as you suggested the orientation of the brush drums. Good thing, as the only way to test is to completely reassemble --no short cuts that I could find. Anyway, I thank you very much for the excellent and clear advice. Again from forum advice my 218 has a new liquid smoke unit --- so the "plastic"242 will be sitting on the shelf as a spare in case either of the smokers need some attention. My grandson was excited to see two smokers running at the same time........Thanks again.
Thank you for the quick reply. I thought that the contact springs were touching properly, but .. I did not look at the orientation of the drums , so will be sure it is as you described. My thought on the brush spring would be a sporadic contact -- one side solid and the other not so, but I'll also check that the brush is actually contacting the armature.
Thank you again for quick response..... :)
It's probably the orientation of the drums. When they are in properly, a metal segment of one brush will line up with a plastic segment of the other (where they are closest together).Also check the contact leaves that go above and below the drums. Each contact spring should be touching a metal segment on a different drum.
If the above is OK, then I'd suspect the new spring.
I finally got around to taking apart my 239. and back together, but "the light is on but no one is home."
I took some time to swap out a pellet smoke for liquid smoke in another engine and a short vacation to visit family --- . Anyway, using the excellent link for the service manual, I got the 239 engine apart and cleaned and greased and took the brush cover off to clean the armature. As luck would have it, i dropped one of the brush springs and could not find it. The local hobby store had several springs that fit the brush, but seemed slightly shorter, but I carefully stretched to make the same size as the other. --Thought I got the brush drums back as the diagram shows the pointed one is on the right -- and everything back together. The Pawl lever rotates the mechanism as it should. Everything back in place and on the track -- The light is on, but no engine running -- no hum. I tried shifting the pawl lever and using the "direction" arm on the transformer, without results. LI have a light (and even smoke), but no motor.
I looked at literature and saw o "cautions" about how the brush drums should be set in rearguards to one another, but that seems a likely issue, or the shorter spring?. Does anyone have an idea what I did or did not do.?
Thnaks.
My assumption about the mag-trac was because all the wheels are smooth --no groove for traction rubber. I am not sure how to test the voltage that the motor draws.
What I see is that at the same point on the transformer, the plastic engine pulls the cars at a faster speed. Also it is somewhat quieter, as the metal bodied 239 probably needs brushes and contact area cleaned --which I have not done. I should probably tackle that, now that I can at least run the set for my grand son and see if that makes a difference.
According to the Lionel service manual, your 242 should have a traction tire.
There are mistakes here and there in the manual, or the motor in your 242 may have been replaced.
Do the wheels attract a paper clip?
As of 1961, Lionel used four different magnetraction set-ups on those "scout motors":
1 low power magnet
2 low power magnets
1 high power magnet
2 high power magnets
None of the above information answers your question about swapping motors. According to my read of the service manual, you should be OK.Just be aware that if the replacement motor runs at lower voltage, you may not net much smoke.If it runs at significantly higher voltage, you may shorten the life of the smoke unit, perhaps by quite a bit.
Same goes for the headlight bulb that is mounted in the front of the smoke unit,
Well I never got around to taking apart the #239. It works and smokes -- and my grandson loves it. But I found another (ebay)2-4-2 + some rolling stock and caboose -- My log train did not have a caboose --and that "bothered" my grandson -- but this 2-4-2 is plastic #242. It of course runs better than #239 , but no smoke. The 239 has a traction tire, the 242 must have mag-trac, as it pulls the weight of the 4 log cars.
The dilemma -- swap motors and run the metal #239 with the new motor or install smoke in the #242 -- Plastic body and smoke unit??? safe or an accident waiting to happen. (#242 doesn't have the green jewel lights either, but I probably can take care of that..) Other wise it is a better engine quieter and doesn't take as much throttle to come up to and stay running.
no slot --so it's a pin -- I'll take a look at the above references before I start. I don't know if I can reset the loose gear -- the one I see from the bottom, that's the outside of the two drive gears. But I'll do some reading on the links. I have been taking things apart since I was 5 --but it took a few years to figure out how to get them back together again. Thanks for the links.
By the way, your 239 should have a metal body. The "pin" that holds the motor in place may actually be a long screw. If it does, there will be a slot for a very narrow screwdriver in one end of the pin. I do not have one handy to check.
Are you writing about removing the pin that holds the motor to the body? It is OK to remove that pin, in fact you will need to do so to work on the motor. Do not remove the pin on which the gear between the wheels turns. Doing so is likely to ruin the motor.
Most folks do not disassemble the type of motor your 239 has. A major disassembly /reassembly is best done with the proper tools, a wheel puller and a press to reinstall the wheels. Most lubrication can be done without major disassembly. Take a look at the following materials from Olsens. Some of the material is refering to older versions of the mechanism, but is still worth a read:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/6110.htm
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/246.htm
Hello again. After switching transformers -- this engine was causing an old 90 watt to circuit break off -- and finally hearing the engine run with my hearing aids in, I think it sounds like a jar of marbles. I have oiled and greased the obvious areas. Looking at the bottom the small gear between the drive gears is loose --at least 1/16" of play and things certainly sound loose inside. But I have read horror stories about removing the motor. Getting the pin out is not a problem, as I have a nice pin punch set and support mechanism when pushing it out.
Someone posted something about things that might pop out and not get back if I'm not careful. I looked for a "blow up" drawing, but no luck. Any suggestions? Thanks.
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