Lionel Burk 726 RR Pullmor Question

[Smoke Stack Lightnin']

Thanks for all the information. I will be taking it in for service by a professional.

Stack

[Mimbrogno]

The fact that it has completely stopped running and the smoke coming out of the cab tells me one thing: your burned out your armature field coils. Lionel Berkshires put a lot of strain on their motors, more than any other classic engine I've had experiance with. They draw alot of amperage, and if you load it down with a heavy train you can easily exceed the motors rated capacity. The smoke is from burned varnesh insulation on the winding coils. With the insulation burned off, you'll have a short in that coil which will prevent it from generating the magnetic field the makes it turn. This type of failure is not repairable without unwinding the entire coil and replacing it with new windings. This is expensive and difficult to do. You're better off getting a replacement armature from Lionel or a repair/service center, or a parts dealer.

The Berkshire's drive train is one of the biggest factors I claim for the Berkshires running issues, it has a lot of friction especially where the worm and drive gears mesh. A big problem is the use of the siderods to transmit power to the other wheels. Lionel's thin siderods are not stout enough to operate well after a long time of running. The crankpins on the wheels literally chew out the bearings in the siderods when they are new and snug, so that they become loose and slack, and won't transmit power very well. Another thing is the rod sections between the 3rd and 4th drives get bent from the pushing and pulling forces of motor on the 4th wheel, causing the rods to bind up.

I have four Berkshires myself, all of them with the later style of drive train (the inclined motor and single worm gear). I really want to find a nice early version of the 726 which has a far superior drive train with double reduction gears and a horizontal motor. All of my units have a rough and jerky running motion because of the slack in the side rods. I've fin tuned the motors  and the gear meshes on all of them, but none of the operate smoothly for the various problems outlined above.

What I really want is some REAL driverods and crankpins, with bronze bushings and a sturdy I-beam cross section. That's the only way I can see of getting the slack out of those classic Berkshires.

[jchase1970]

here's a link to lionels diagram for the pullmor motor

http://www.lionel.com/Products/ProductNavigator/_ServiceDocuments/4893_combo.pdf

John 

[Smoke Stack Lightnin']

Well, I'm missing lots of parts!  It seems the worm gear will not pass through the motor field, unless it needs some gentle persuasion.  I am missing everything on the armature side.  It's a wonder the engine ever ran at all.  Bought it used, seems like someone in it's history has some leftover parts!

Thanks,

Rich 

[lionel2]

from the motor there are 4 washers total and 2 bearings total first thing you put onto the armature shaft is a washer, then a bearing, then a washer...then slide the shaft through the motor field and then put on a washer, then bearing, then washer, then last the horse shoe clip...this is common...might wanna check the wiring...to see if the wiring on the motor is touching and metal parts like the shell....i had this problem a few times...i just test the engine with no shell on it and make sure it works and then put the shell on and hope it all works...double check wiring...that seems to be the most common problem or the brushes are binded up..thanks

[Smoke Stack Lightnin']

My Burk quit running and I noticed some smoke from the cab.  Brushes seem fine, but the armature shaft seems to have quite a bit of play, approx. an eighth inch front to back.  The worm gear is followed by a horseshoe clip, a flat washer, a bearing, then it passes through the housing.  On the other side is the armature winding assembly.  On the armature side, there is nothing in front of the windings, should there be?  How is the worm gear removed from the shaft, does it require a special tool?  Although the armature wire looks like it is far enough forward to rub against the housing, there is no drag or wear on the wire itself.  The armature wire does not look or smell burnt.  I guess all I really need to know if this is the nature of the motor (front to back play) or should I take it for repair?

Thanks,

Stack.