lionel e unit rebuild part 2

[@davidnerge9792]

Very nice job: give yourself a gold star! I always wondered how that worked, especially in the era of no electronics.

[@stylusfantasticus]

YOU ...Master of the Universe. Thanks

[@tmackinator]

Thanks for the nice comment

[@rzrpap]

Thanks for a great video, you took the fear out of tearing into one of these for me. I know it can be a challenge but everyone always told me to forget about trying to repair one of these and just go buy another one that works.

[@tmackinator]

Glad I could help-TM

[@tmackinator]

@CarGuyZM10 Many times the angle on the pawl needs to be adjusted to allow the pawl to fall off the ratchet wheel. Sometimes there are also burrs on the edge of the pawl. When adjusting the angle of the pawl you have to be sure you still have correct geometry to allow the pawl to index the ratchet wheel far enough to engage the contacts. There is also a spring from the early Lionel 726 with horizontal e unit that can be installed in the plunger bore to positively return the plunger.

[@sharonhuggins993]

Your video was very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to video the process

[@tmackinator]

+Larry Huggins Thanks for your nice words-TM

[@dbtech7914]

Great video, very helpful. Thanks.

[@tc228888]

Well done....I've not touched Lionel stuff for years...I currently have a set that was donated to my Club that I will eventually sell but for now , I am trying to get to run! ....this type info is very helpful ...Thank you

[@tmackinator]

Glad to help!

[@frankbullitt4556]

good video.

[@tmackinator]

@xbristles13x If you can get the wheels off without damaging anything, it is sometimes possible to use loctite threadlocker to repair a wheel that has jumped position. This depends on proper reassembly. The splines cut small grooves in the wheel axle bore so if the wheels were on their original axles, by choosing the proper spline position the wheel should go back to it's original quartering.Often only one wheel looses position so it may only be necessary to play with one wheel on a side.

[@tmackinator]

Thanks,It was harder to do than I thought as I filmed,narrated and repaired alone!

[@tmackinator]

@MatthewLeeFranklin Swap the connections to the brushes, if it now goes only forward, then you have a bad e unit contact finger or the drum and contact fingers are still dirty. The finger connections in the e units can run hot and over time loose thier temper and go loose. The material of the contacts also can oxidize or lose thier conductivity from excessive arcing. The e unt may just need more cleaning.-TM

[@tmackinator]

@xbristles13x Put on one side rod at a time to determine which side is binds. Wheels are splined to the axles on this engine.The wheels on any side should be oriented in the same positions relative to each other,use the counter weights to visually inspect the relative position. If wheels have moved then they have stripped on the splines. You may be able to reposition. best to remove the offending wheel and carefully reinstall. relative positioning is more important than quartering on this engine

[@tmackinator]

You can if you want, generally I find that the thing hold togeter fine without peening. Having done literally 100's I never had one come apart-TM

[@tmackinator]

@MatthewLeeFranklin The Greenberg repair giude for lionel trains is good. For parts vendors try the train tender or Olsens toy train parts who have an excellt library section with tons of info on lionel trains and more-TM

[@WestCeltPPK]

if you had one of these units in a diesel, is there anyway to wire this so that when you switch from forward to reverse you could have you headlights vary from front to rear headlights?

[@MLFranklin]

Excellent video! My e-unit looks clean inside. It cycles nicely. My problem is that my Lionel 2018 has lost its ability to go forward. 1) When the lever (a little loose) is toward the right it cycles through each of the 4 steps very repeatably. Brushes get 15-20 Vac at Fwd and Rev (and very low in neutrals), but it only moves in Rev. In Fwd it buzzes lightly as if it were in neutral, no motion, though. When the switch it to the left, nothing moves. Any ideas?

[@tmackinator]

@xbristles13x Quartering means the drivers on one side of the engine are 90 deg advanced or retarded in relations to the opposites side rod position. This insured a loco would always be able to start on a power stroke.Few O trains ( except lionel berkshire and turbines) actually need quartered as all drivers are driven by gears and the side rods are just along for the ride. Factory used quartering fixture for wheel assembly. At home quartering requires assembly using wheel cups for alignment

[@tmackinator]

There are different ways the e unit hooks up depending on the application. Some motors have a grounded field and some have a grounded brush connection for example. It is pointless to show wiring hookup as it depends on the application. There are plenty of sources for particular schematics for any engine you are working on. Perhaps you can take the time and effort to make a video showing all the different ways to hook up an e unit!-TM

[@CarGuyZM10]

@tmackinator Okay, thank you!

[@MLFranklin]

@tmackinator -- OK, I'll try that this evening. Are there sources you recommend for parts or reference/troubleshooting books? Thanks!

[@jamelectronics]

Great video, very well done! Where would I find some of those Spreading Pliers?

[@tmackinator]

Most auto supplies have them for retaining rings or search out heavy duty retaining ring pliers on the web

[@CarGuyZM10]

I have two where the paw does not always drop. Is their any extra steps I need to do to fix this?

[@bigjohn4535]

Great Job. I was just going to buy another one . After watching your videos I'll try to repair mine. Just one question....how many volts are you testing it with ? I just getting started...kinda Green to all this. Thanks

[@tmackinator]

I probably use around 12vac from a transformer. It will probably pull in as low as 6v but higher is better for testing. 6-18vac is no problem for the coils. It is a constant duty coil,

[@Patrick94GSR]

Have to like this video, also, after Part 1 as I was able to get the E unit in my dad's 2057 Prairie Steamer back together again. One interesting thing to note is that I don't have to touch the switch on top of the locomotive to make it reverse. I just move the throttle lever on the transformer back to off, move it slightly on and then off again (train will buzz), and then move it on again and the train will reverse. Repeat again to make it go forward again. Is this something that is built into the transformer itself?

[@tmackinator]

The switch (lever) on the loco only turns the e unit on or off. When the lever is such that the e unit is on, interrupting the power to the loco either by turning the transformer lever off then on or by activating the transformer direction button if so equipped, will cycle the e unit which goes in a cycle of forward/neutral/reverse/neutral etc. Once the loco is going in the direction you want, if you turn the e unit lever to off, then the loco will remain in the direction that was chosen before the e unit was shut off. Every time the power is interrupted with the e unit turned on it will cycle. With steady power to the loco, moving the e unit lever from off to on will cycle the e unit also but it is really meant to be cycled from the transformer.-TM

[@Patrick94GSR]

Thanks yeah, that's what I figured because you wouldn't always be able to reach the loco to change its direction.