1955 AF 303. Turns on and smokes but will not run. Is this an e-unit problem or motor problem... put new brushes and springs in and cleaned everything. Any ideas?
When cycling the power on and off do you hear anything? You may be stuck in neutral
Jim
Sorry I meant to say that the e unit clicks and the barrel moves every time
Check the tabs on the reverse unit to insure they are in fact touching the drum. Also sometimes a brush becomes stuck and may not actually touch the comutator. I had this problem today with a 312 K-5. Make sure no wires are broken from the reverse unit to the motor.
I think the shoes on top of the e Unit are worn. I can get it running sporadically if I use pressure to push on them
Here are detailed instructions on servicing the American Flyer reverse unit.
A good video on servicing American Flyer steam locomotives is here, with tips on servicing the Reverse Unit starting at the 6:30 mark.
Larry
If the reversing unit fingers have holes in them where they have rubbed against the drum than they should be replaced. You can also do a temporary fix by filling the hole with solder. However the fingers must be removed from the unit prior to soldering. Also when the fingers are removed you can ever so slightly bend them down to make better contact on the drum. When you are doing this it is a good idea to also clean the drum and lightly oil the hinge on the rotating arm so it is less likely to stick.
There is a trick for getting a new life out of a worn finger. The end of the finger is a semicircle, with a 90-degree bend connecting it to the finger. Eventually, the metal wears through and half the semicircle falls off. You can flatten that 90-degree bend to 45 degrees, thus rotating a new part of the remaining quarter-circle into contact with the drum and not too far from the position where the semicircle was.
Bob Nelson
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