American Flyer 342 No pulling power

[Anonymous]

Hector,

              This should work now.  Glad you got it fixed.

 

[Timboy]

Hector:  You're welcome!  I threw things at you using brute force an one of them was right.  Thanks to all who participated!

Regards,

Timboy

[AF53]

Now that's what makes this site so valuable! I'm sure you're not the only one that benefits from this thread! Great job everyone!

[hectorgonzales]

So Jim...Timboy. Did you watch the video? Like I said I've got it wide open and it has a hard time pulling 3 cars, that's why the searchlight car is just sitting there for now. Are Lionel engines faster with more pulling power?

I'll clean the track and cars again. I'm betting they haven't been cleaned for 50 years.

[Timboy]

Hector:  You're making progress!  Are the wheels spinning?  Sometimes drive wheels get burnished so smoothly that they lose all traction.  I had a steamer like that once that could hardly pull it's own self up a 2% grade!  There was nothing wrong with the motor.  The *** thing just wouldn't grab the tracks.  When - out of exasperation - I took a file and roughed up the rails, it would haul almost anything - for a little while.  You could try a thin - very thin - coating of rubber cement on the rear drive wheels.  If that causes them to grab and pull wallpaper off your walls, then you know the motor is good and the drive wheels need more traction.  Bullfrog Snot is usually the answer to that. 

Keep up the great work!

Timboy

[EIS2]

If the wheels are spinning when you add the extra cars but the train isn't moving, it's a traction problem.  If the wheels aren't spinning, then either the motor is too weak, the cars have excessive rolling resistance, or the motor is not getting enough voltage to pull the cars.

Earl

[hectorgonzales]

I purchased another 283 AF loco on ebay as a spare and to test the track. It's plastic of course so, much lighter. I cleaned and lubed it up and noticed it runs a bit faster/better than the 342. I swapped armatures just for fun and the 342 seemed to pull a bit better, but not much. I then swapped them back, and NOW the 342 runs quite well. ::Scratches head::

Neither engine runs super fast like my Lionels. Maybe a function of American Flyer?

Maybe running, tearing apart 6 times and working the engine in helped. I ordered a new armature from "Train Repair Parts" a division on Hobby Surplus anyway. I hope they are reputable. 

At any point the layout is now complete and will be ready for showcase come Christmas time.

 

[Timboy]

Hector:  Based on what you said, I have to wonder if you previously had over-tightened one of the long screws that seats the motor to the chassis and thereby created a torque or mis-alignment of the field, relative to the armature.  I've done that myself.  You could try tightening/loosening the screws while it's running and see what difference, if any that makes.

Regards,

Timboy

[Briago]

lionelsoni

The specifications for the 342AC are:

"Tested at: 12 volts A.C....using 140"oval of track.

"(A) Motor to be tested with Remote Control Unit at 12 Volts and not to draw more than 1.55 amps.

"(B) Locomotive to run at a minimum of 9 RPM or 9 times forward around 140" oval of track per minute.

"(C) Locomotive to run at a minimum of 8.5 RPM or 8 1/2 times reverse around 140" oval of track per minute.

 

Hector:

The thread seems to have died about a year ago.  However, I am looking it over for testing ideas as my 293 runns a bit slow compared to a 303 that I just purchased (30% difference).  Both engines are Pull-More.

I am curious if you did the electrical tests that were mentioned previously.  You mentioned the unit being slower than Lionel, but I think there are many other factors beyond the engine.  Since you said both of your engines are similarly slow, I wonder if the transformer may be putting out low voltage.  My father (who I picked up the AF hobby from) has told me that is model #15 transformer provided noticibly lower speed (voltage I assume) than his original #2.  He said this was the case when they were brand new in the 50s.  The bottom line is that some transformers may not perform as well as others (possibly more so with age).

I would check the output max voltage, and check it again under load to see if the voltage drops more than expected with load.  If so, you may want to try getting another transformer.

Now I'm off to figure out why my 293 is so slow.

[Briago]

Timboy

Hector:  You're welcome!  I threw things at you using brute force an one of them was right.  Thanks to all who participated!

Regards,

Timboy

I want to thank all of you as well.  Several sites talk about one problem or another.  This thread has explained what seems like every imaginable issue and given a good idea of what to do about each.  Thank you all very much!

FYI, I had the loose rim issue on my 293 (on both leading drive wheels).  I ended up resolving that issue by cleaning out the wheel with the rim pushed to the inside.  Then just applying some super glue and pressing the rim back onto the wheel (evenly).  Until I realized this the engine derailed by submerging between the tracks and would actually fall over on top of the tracks (shorting accross the cast metal engine shell).  Now I'm looking for a #4 transformer with a breaker instead of the #2 without a breaker.