# Rewinding Field Coil for American Flyer Steamer



## BrokeCurmudgeon

Has anyone rewound the 24 ga enameled field wire on the magnetic assembly? As I understand it takes 40 feet of wire. The process sounds quite tedious accordingly Barkers Repair Guide. Maybe the best thing is to buy a new assembly. I have one that came broken and I managed to break the second one while putting the chassis on the shell. I am really getting an education with these old toys.:smilie_auslachen:


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## mopac

Oh my gosh !!! you are having problems with those field coils. How deep are they broke.
Must be on top. My point is I would get the good end and resolder. Worth a try. Field coils
rarely go bad. If they really need replaced I would not be afraid of used ones.

No rewinding experience here.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

mopac said:


> Oh my gosh !!! you are having problems with those field coils. How deep are they broke.
> Must be on top. My point is I would get the good end and resolder. Worth a try. Field coils
> rarely go bad. If they really need replaced I would not be afraid of used ones.
> 
> No rewinding experience here.


One, bought online came with the bottom wire broken and the second one I broke while putting the shell back one. Both with bottom wires broken.


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## flyernut

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> Has anyone rewound the 24 ga enameled field wire on the magnetic assembly? As I understand it takes 40 feet of wire. The process sounds quite tedious accordingly Barkers Repair Guide. Maybe the best thing is to buy a new assembly. I have one that came broken and I managed to break the second one while putting the chassis on the shell. I am really getting an education with these old toys.:smilie_auslachen:


I guess I don't understand when you say lower wire..And I also can't see how the wires are being broken during re-assembly.What has happened to me in the past, one of the 2 wires on top of the coil have broken, and what I did was to just un-wind a little bit of wire, and then re-soldering. And forget, you have to scrape the enamel coating away from the wire, or it won't take any solder. Maybe a picture would help?? NOS field coils are cheap, and readily available.


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## teledoc

Rewinding the field coil can be done, but it is very tedious work. I am not a Flyer owner, but I did rewind the field coil on a Lionel 671 turbine. It didn’t look perfect, but it saved an otherwise junk motor when I finished. It runs as good as the other turbine motors I own. The other option is to locate a replacement, as Flyernut has suggested. It comes down to whether you feel confident to rewind your broken coils. I would at least try to do one, as a learning experience. Good luck either way.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

flyernut said:


> I guess I don't understand when you say lower wire..And I also can't see how the wires are being broken during re-assembly.What has happened to me in the past, one of the 2 wires on top of the coil have broken, and what I did was to just un-wind a little bit of wire, and then re-soldering. And forget, you have to scrape the enamel coating away from the wire, or it won't take any solder. Maybe a picture would help?? NOS field coils are cheap, and readily available.


The wire is wound around the laminated core and the bottom wire is found on the lower level of the windings. It is then brought out to the top and passes through a small hole on the top of the assembly,


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## flyernut

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> The wire is wound around the laminated core and the bottom wire is found on the lower level of the windings. It is then brought out to the top and passes through a small hole on the top of the assembly,


Ok, just un-wind a little bit of wire, re-solder, and you should be good to go.


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## mopac

Back in the day when there were slot car tracks around town, we used to take some windings off the motor armature to make them faster. I never burned up a motor. I
know I would try what flyernut is saying. Whats the worst that could happen. It not work? Its not working now. Worth a try. I can't imagine you loosing much wire. It didn't break way down in the coil windings if you can see it is broken.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

mopac said:


> Back in the day when there were slot car tracks around town, we used to take some windings off the motor armature to make them faster. I never burned up a motor. I
> know I would try what flyernut is saying. Whats the worst that could happen. It not work? Its not working now. Worth a try. I can't imagine you loosing much wire. It didn't break way down in the coil windings if you can see it is broken.


Impossible to take of a winding from the bottom of the coil due to all 40 feet of the rest of the wire is on top of the broken bottom wire. Accordingly to the Gilbert American Flyer S Guage Operating and Repair Guide by Thomas B. Barker it is a common problem. So, I have ordered two refurbished magnetic/field assembly from Jeff at The Train Trader. Thanks all! :smilie_daumenpos: I don't think that I have it in me to rewind 40 feet of #26 enameled wire.


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## flyernut

BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> Impossible to take of a winding from the bottom of the coil due to all 40 feet of the rest of the wire is on top of the broken bottom wire. Accordingly to the Gilbert American Flyer S Guage Operating and Repair Guide by Thomas B. Barker it is a common problem. So, I have ordered two refurbished magnetic/field assembly from Jeff at The Train Trader. Thanks all! :smilie_daumenpos: I don't think that I have it in me to rewind 40 feet of #26 enameled wire.


Now you're talking..Can't go wrong with Jeff, or Doug...


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## teledoc

You decided on getting the replacements, but I would at least try to rewind the broken one. Just wait until you have some spare time, and give it a shot. It just takes patience, but can be done. That way you would have a spare.:appl:


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## BrokeCurmudgeon

teledoc said:


> You decided on getting the replacements, but I would at least try to rewind the broken one. Just wait until you have some spare time, and give it a shot. It just takes patience, but can be done. That way you would have a spare.:appl:


I have ordered 100 feet of #24 ga enameled wire to do just that.:hah:


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## teledoc

Great, and take it as a learning experience. As I mentioned, I rewound a 681-100 turbine motor that I bought real cheap. When I got it (off eBay), I found it had multiple breaks. I bought the wire, and slowly rewound the field coil. It was a struggle, but it works as good or better than an original.


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## flyernut

teledoc said:


> Great, and take it as a learning experience. As I mentioned, I rewound a 681-100 turbine motor that I bought real cheap. When I got it (off eBay), I found it had multiple breaks. I bought the wire, and slowly rewound the field coil. It was a struggle, but it works as good or better than an original.


Where there's a will, there's a way. I have yet tried to do that as all my fields have been un-broken...


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## cramden

Never had a bad field either. I would rather buy another as you did BC then to attempt that myself. This way I can save the hair that's left on my head for some other project.


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