1938 American flyer HO scale locomotive help

[SOU_RY_modeler]

Hi,

I just got an American Flyer HO scale 4 car train set from 1938. It is one of the ones from the early years of American Flyer HO scale that uses AC current for power. The 4-6-4 has no smoke or headlight only the motor gets power sent to it... The E-unit hums and the switch locks sometimes... But the motor moves freely when the E-unit rotates to the correct position. The wheels turn when the locomotive is upside down and the E-unit is in the correct position but they won't move without the locomotive being pushed when it is setting on the track... Does anyone know anything that can help me make it run or convert the  E-unit to DC... Also does anyone know where to find the forward/reverse switch for the prewar HO scale?

thanks for any help!!!

[stebbycentral]

You need to start with a thourough cleaning and lubrication.  Especially the gearbox, the grease used in that period tends to solidify over time.  If the motor spins with no load on it, then it's likely accumlated dirt and grime in the drivetrain that is the culprit.

 

[SOU_RY_modeler]

I cleaned and lubricated it the day after I got it and that didn't help solve my problem any

[stebbycentral]

Then you need to carefully remove the side rods and see if that allows the wheels to turn freely.  If it does then something is wrong with the side rods that is causing the mechanism to bind.  Possibly the wheels are out of "quarter", which means the two sets of rods are actually working against each other.  Fixing this condition requires a special tool called a quartering jig.  If removing the side rods does not help, then you need to dig deeper into the mechanism.  I do not know if this locomtive is a worm drive or not.  But if it is the worm gear is held in position by thrust bearings (spacers) on each end of the worm.  A missing spacer will cause the worm gear to move back and forth under load, and the mechanism will bind up as well.  I would start by taking the load off of the motor entirely and see if the motor runs OK.  Basically it is just a process of elimination, removing one part at a time until you get to the root of the problem. 

 

[Banks]

Hello there,

I am a collector of Gilbert HO but I've not gotten to the prewar stuff. If I'm not mistaken yours is spur drive so there is no worm gear.   If it coasts freely with no power I'm guessing there are no gear / driveline issues. Have you cleaned the brushes and commutator?  Or it may be wired incorrectly, the e unit is screwed up. Just as a test you could eliminate the e unit and wire the motor direct. power to one brush and one end of the field or winding and a connection from the other brush to the other end of the winding. Give it some power and see what happens.

PS it will run on dc with no issues but it will get warm quickerso keep the voltage down. Also changing polarity will not change the direction. You will still need the e unit

[lionelsoni]

You can replace the reversing unit with a bridge rectifier, which can be wired upstream of either the armature or the field winding (but not both!) to get reversing by changing polarity.

It's necessary only that drivers that lack their own drive from the motor be quartered, and then only that they be approximately quartered.  In any case, the crank angles need to be the same on all drivers, but not necessarily 90 degrees.  The Lionel "Generals", for example, have a zero crank angle.

[SOU_RY_modeler]

The cylinder in the e-unit that spins is loose on one end so it might not be getting a good connection... Any idea how I could fix it?