The reverse buttion on the transformer simply interupts the current flow to cycle the reverse unit.
The reverse unit on the Franklin is in the tender. It is a two cycle as it has no neutral. The silver bracket that goes across the bottom with two small "wings" pushes up and down. Up is locked in the current direction and down is allowing it to cycle.
Jim
McMike The RC switch: in one position, it responds to stopping the throttle, for each "stop:, it goes: it goes forward, then rolls forward a few inches and stops, then goes backwards, then rolls backwards a few icnhes and stops, then repeat cycle. When the RC switch is the otherway, it only goes forward. Ok. (When people say four position, are they referring to the function, not the swtich?)
The RC switch: in one position, it responds to stopping the throttle, for each "stop:, it goes: it goes forward, then rolls forward a few inches and stops, then goes backwards, then rolls backwards a few icnhes and stops, then repeat cycle. When the RC switch is the otherway, it only goes forward. Ok. (When people say four position, are they referring to the function, not the swtich?)
It may be that the cam action on your reverse unit is not working properly. Ordinarily when the reverse unit cycles to neutral, there should be no electrical contact and the engine should not move at all. It sounds like your unit is not fully cycling, leading to a situation where the electrical contacts are still partially touching when the drum stops rotating. They only fully disengage when the engine lurches forward or back. You could have a weak soleniod, or a wornout drum assembly. Otherwise the operation you describe is normal. With the RC switch set to disengage the solenoid, the engine only moves in one direction, no matter how many times you cycle the power.
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Timboy Hi! 4-8-4: The switch is a lever. It is used to either lock or unlock the mechanical reverse unit in the tender in the desired position - usually forward. The lever can be moved from side to side for that function. I think you will just have to play with it to discover how it works. It sends a voltage from the track to the motor and controls the direction that the loco travels. It is a four-position reverse unit, so when you press the reversing button on the transformer or move the transformer throttle from running-speed voltage to 0 volts, it will cycle as follows: neutral-forward-neutral-reverse. Neutral means the loco is not moving. Attaching alligatoor clips directly to the loco wheels will not do a thing. The voltage from the track is taken up through the metal wheels on the tender. Notice that there is one pair of metal wheels on one side and one pair on the other. The front pair usually take up the voltage from the variable post of the transformer connected to that rail and the rear set then returns a theoretcial 0 volts back through the other rail to the base post of the transformer. Make sure the tender wheels are bright and shiny clean by cleaning with an ink eraser or a little lighter fluid or acetone on a cloth or Q-tip. Don't get any of that cleaner on the plastic wheels paint or it will harm them. A Dremel tool with a wire wheel can be used to clean tender wheels, but do it away from the track so pieces of the wire wheel don't find themselves getting picked up by the electro-magnet in the loco open-frame motor. Clean the track with a cloth the same way as you may have cleaned the wheels. The original factory method of track cleaning was with kerosene, but most any solvent - except gasoline - will do. Only use a very fine grit Emory cloth if there is actual corrosion. Franklin: That "module" may be the 2-position reverse unit. I think some of them had those located there and some had them on the back of their open-frame motor on the loco. It works basically the same as the 4-8-4 reverse unit, but instead of neutral-forward-neutral-reverse, the Franklin is forward-reverse. The smoke box is always hard-wired, so you can not turn it off. Contact Doug Peck at Portlines Hobbies and he can send you a bottle of smoke fluid. You may get other responses from this list and I hope you do. Someone else may have already responded while I was composing this response. Others may have other pet ways to care and feed their trains. Good luck!
Hi!
4-8-4: The switch is a lever. It is used to either lock or unlock the mechanical reverse unit in the tender in the desired position - usually forward. The lever can be moved from side to side for that function. I think you will just have to play with it to discover how it works. It sends a voltage from the track to the motor and controls the direction that the loco travels. It is a four-position reverse unit, so when you press the reversing button on the transformer or move the transformer throttle from running-speed voltage to 0 volts, it will cycle as follows: neutral-forward-neutral-reverse. Neutral means the loco is not moving.
Attaching alligatoor clips directly to the loco wheels will not do a thing. The voltage from the track is taken up through the metal wheels on the tender. Notice that there is one pair of metal wheels on one side and one pair on the other. The front pair usually take up the voltage from the variable post of the transformer connected to that rail and the rear set then returns a theoretcial 0 volts back through the other rail to the base post of the transformer. Make sure the tender wheels are bright and shiny clean by cleaning with an ink eraser or a little lighter fluid or acetone on a cloth or Q-tip. Don't get any of that cleaner on the plastic wheels paint or it will harm them. A Dremel tool with a wire wheel can be used to clean tender wheels, but do it away from the track so pieces of the wire wheel don't find themselves getting picked up by the electro-magnet in the loco open-frame motor.
Clean the track with a cloth the same way as you may have cleaned the wheels. The original factory method of track cleaning was with kerosene, but most any solvent - except gasoline - will do. Only use a very fine grit Emory cloth if there is actual corrosion.
Franklin: That "module" may be the 2-position reverse unit. I think some of them had those located there and some had them on the back of their open-frame motor on the loco. It works basically the same as the 4-8-4 reverse unit, but instead of neutral-forward-neutral-reverse, the Franklin is forward-reverse.
The smoke box is always hard-wired, so you can not turn it off. Contact Doug Peck at Portlines Hobbies and he can send you a bottle of smoke fluid.
You may get other responses from this list and I hope you do. Someone else may have already responded while I was composing this response. Others may have other pet ways to care and feed their trains.
Good luck!
Thanks. I am getting the hang of the reverse on the Northern. But it is not true neutral, it actually rolls a few inches, then stops when in neutral mode
I think the Franklin is not working. I was attaching the clips to the contact wheels and got nothing.
If the unit under the Frankling tender is an RC switch, there is no apparent toggle sticking out to move, maybe it is broken off? I can see a rocker looking thing that I could maybe poke a small screwdriver in to change postion.
I also think the reverse buttton on the transformer is broken. Is that likely to be the switch itself or something else in the guts? Do you know where I can get a replacement switch?
I'm getting closer.....
stebbycentral It sounds to me like you are dealing with the classic "malfunctioning reverse unit" syndrome. Scroll down a bit and read the thread entitled American Flyer - E Unit Problem and you will find a comprehsive discussion of many of the same issues you are describing. Including a description of how to build a jumper device that allows you to bypass the tender unit and test the motor directly. The switch under the tender is a mechanical linkage that allows you to disengage the soleniod in the reverse unit, forcing the loco to run in only one direction. It doesn't actually bypass the unit however, so it won't do you any good if the electrical contacts are shot.
It sounds to me like you are dealing with the classic "malfunctioning reverse unit" syndrome. Scroll down a bit and read the thread entitled American Flyer - E Unit Problem and you will find a comprehsive discussion of many of the same issues you are describing. Including a description of how to build a jumper device that allows you to bypass the tender unit and test the motor directly.
The switch under the tender is a mechanical linkage that allows you to disengage the soleniod in the reverse unit, forcing the loco to run in only one direction. It doesn't actually bypass the unit however, so it won't do you any good if the electrical contacts are shot.
Thank you, I read that thread once and it kind of went over my head, I will re-read it now that I am getting the hang of the reverse unit.
Ok, the 4-8-4 runs fine now. Not sure what was the issue Here's my question on that:
What does the reverse switch on the 12B transformer do? I canot see that mine does anything, maybe it broken.
The franklin still is inoperative. I may need to go back to the repair guy. Am I missing something, is it DC powered? Is there a switch on it I am missing?
Hello, I have inherited some American Flyer gear and need help getting it running. I have a 4-8-4 #336 and a 4-4-0 Franklin #21088. I have a 12B transformer. The locos are freshly cleaned, lubed, and tested by a pro. The transformer is putting out variable 0 to 15 AC volts and the voltage is reaching the track. The 4-4-0 does not work at all, no hint of juice being received. The 4-8-4 is mostly not working in a random-appearing way. By "mostly working" I mean the #336 clicks once in a while, and even ran for a moment once, I have been pressing the reverse button on the transformer, and that seems to illicit the response, sometimes.
A couple questions:
- The 4-8-4 has a lever in the tender that appears to be an RC switch. It feels like two-position as opposed to four. There is no indication which way is "on" for the switch. How does this thing work?
- I still need to clean the rails for sure, but like I said, good juice is getting to the rails, and I tried attaching alligator clips direclty to the loco wheels and that did not work. Should I clean the rails with fine grit sandpaper on a dremel at modest speeds, is that acceptible?
A couple other questions:
- The Franklin appears to have no remote control switch, is that correct? Although there is some electronics module hanging down below the tender bottom, but no switch apparent.
- Neither unit has any way to turn the smoke unit "off." I read somewhere you should turn it off if running without smoke fluid, but I see no way to do that.
Thanks in advance for your help. I have two preschool boys hanging over my shoulder asking when the train will run.
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