I have a vintage 2026 steam engine (2-6-4 wheel arrangement) which runs fine except for the fact that the e-unit sticks badly, meaning the engine keeps wanting to go in one direction regardless of whether the e-unit ground lever is turned on or off.
I took the shell off and removed the e-unit from the motor assembly. After separating the coil wires at both ends, I tested for coil continuity and found 0 resistance. I tried moving the solenoid plunger by hand and it seemed to move freely, but just in case I squirted TV tuner cleaner into its receptacle cylinder and moved it up and down by hand several more times.
Then I tried applying power directly to the coil (while still disconnected from the motor). At first I got a hum but no movement, but after a while the plunger began getting sucked up into the cylinder, yet only at high (16 v) voltage. I then cleaned the drum and fingers as best I could without taking the whole e-unit apart, and squirted more TV tuner cleaner into every area with a moving part.
I've begun to suspect that there may be mechanical resistance in the movement of the drum. I can turn it by hand but it is a bit stiff. Do I dare apply a drop of oil to the drum axle (from the outside of the e-unit frame)?
Any other thoughts about unsticking this unit will be appreciated.
John Gottcent
I have fixed this problem by oiling the stub shafts on the ends of the drum. I use 5/10W-20/30 motor. Never dries out or gets sticky or gummy. I recommend it for lubing everything. It lasts for decades.
Do not use oil on the e-unit. Use the tuner cleaner to clean the entire e-unit, including the drum and contacts. Pay special attention to the drum pivots on the ends. You should be able to lift the plunger and cycle the drum with little resistance, and the plunger should drop down right away when released. If this does not happen, suspect a bad drum, and replace it.
Larry
Two drops of oil is a lot easier than replacing the drum. I haven't had any problems with the E units I oiled.
There are several common reasons for an e-unit drum to be difficult to turn.
Sometimes there is too much pressure being exerted by the e-unit fingers.
Sometimes the metal sides of the e-unit are bent in a bit.
Sometimes the plastic part of the e-unit drum swells. I have no idea as to the cause, other than the swollen drums I've seen were made of out of a plastic material that looks different from other drums.
I belong to the "never oil an e-unit" school.
I am of the school that says minimize the amount of work and maximize the play time. For example, I don't clean used track with a wire wheel any more. I use the train to polish the rails, and it is easy and a lot more fun than using a ScotchBrite pad or wire wheel.
I think the swelling of the drum is caused by overheating. A few years ago, I had an E unit on a 2056 steamer fail. The drum had gotten hot and was swelled up. So, since it was Sat night, and there were no drums available, I used one of Dave Smith's tricks. I reshaped the drum with a pair of pliers and put it all back together. So far it is working. Furthermore, when I take the drum out of an E unit, I don't pop the rivets. I bend the side plates slightly to get the drum & the lower contact assembly out. This allows me to reassemble the unit quite easily.
Furthermore, when I take the drum out of an E unit, I don't pop the rivets. I bend the side plates slightly to get the drum & the lower contact assembly out. This allows me to reassemble the unit quite easily.
To each their own. I cannot imagine bending and straightening the e-unit side plates being less work than popping an e-unit apart with an E-unit spreader (Lionel service station tool), and then putting it back together again. I keep common service parts like brushes, e-unit drums, and e-unit contacts (fingers) on hand. Goes back to the days when I did a lot more repairs.
When I bend the side plates, I leave the 4 finger assembly in place. Then I don't need three hands to reassemble the E unit.
When an E-unit spreader is used, the four finger contact stays in place too. Nothing goes flying, and nothing gets bent. I highly recommend it.It seems that there are a lot of people who are either unfamiliar with the tool, or simply choose not to use it (as is their right) Reproduction spreaders, which work just fine, can be purchased for less than four dollars. Isn't that less than the cost of a drum these days?
Thanks, guys, for all your comments. I've opted to avoid oil and keep using TV tuner cleaner, but so far, no permanent results. Does anyone know where you can purchase an E-unit spreader? Ebay, I suppose?
John
IMHO, Ebay is absolutely the worst place to buy parts or your e-unit spreader. Its not that the Ebay parts guys are bad, but they have to charge more to cover Ebay expenses.
The Train Tender has them for $3.50, look under the tools category, the item number is ST-303.The owner is a great guy, and always willing to help his customers.
http://www.ttender.com/partslist.html
There are a number of other very good parts dealers. They don't all have the same parts.
I know this might sound dumb and obvious, but I have a 2-6-4 whose E unit stuck a lot in the beginning, turned out it was dirty track (my other trains ran fine), had to work on the inside of the rails too, that made a lot of difference, haven't had any problems since.
Olsen's Toy Train Parts has a nice selection of replacement E-Units. Just got done replacing the one in my 1615. Took a couple of tries because of my ineptness but the end result was a nicely working unit.
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