2020 E Unit Troubleshooting?

[Anonymous]

Darn. The E unit in my recently overhauled 2020 seems to have gone south... Before I return it for more service, does anyone have any handy E unit troubleshooting tips and tricks? (Yeah, I've jiggled the lever... [:)] )

[msacco]

whew, e-unit stuff.
1) Hit it with t.v tuner spray. Cleans and can solve some problems. Doesn't work go to step two.
2) Get new parts. Upper fingers and lower fingers, and of course the drum. If you're going in you might as well replace it all.
3) Using needlenose pliers pry the sides of the unit apart carefully. Remove fingers and drum.
4) Slightly bend all fingers towards the drum so gpod contact is made.
5) Wi***hat you had two more hands as you reassemble the unit.
6) Resolder the leads to the proper spots. Of course assuming you took notice of these small details.

Putting an eunit back together can be truly annoying. Takes a bit of practice. Now, there is a chance that the original parts can be used again with a good cleaning and slight bending of the fingers towards the drum. If the finger's tips are cracked off, it 's usually hopeless.

Good luck,
Mike S.

[Anonymous]

One thing i just did to my 2020 that helped 300% was take a ear wax swab, and dab it in rubbing alcohol and then scrub the drum and the fingers clean. Also lubricat the drum just a tiny bit with some light weight oil...

[Anonymous]

Great Tips - Thanks! The ever-popular remove shell, remove part, move part through range of motion and re-assemble actually fixed it. (for now). I Tell ya' - if this wasn't my Dad's loco, the Williams S2 looks like an awfully nice replacement "part" for a defective 2020 E unit...[:)][:)]

[msacco]

Glad it's working. But probably not for long. When eunits start to operate sporadic, it's usually downhill from there.
Don't go for the Williams.E unit repair is not really that big a deal and will last many, many years. Athough individual mileage will vary.
That is a postwar locos only weakest link. Everything else is pretty bulletproof.

Mike S.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, you should probably send that 2020 to me.. i'll take it off your hands...