# lionel o gauge e unit problems



## Nebraska (May 7, 2011)

You people I am new to the train repair hobby, but think I am up to the task. So far have repair 1 "50" loco with great results and am working on a "50" ERIE 2032. Have replace brushes and springs , cleaned armature, check continuity, rebuilt e unit. Here lies the problem, the e unit shifts fine with plunger going up and down freely when asked , but only neutral and forward. Have very painstakenly check and made sure the 4 finger and 2 finger contacts are touching. I'm sure it's fine , but lack of experience doesn't allow me the ability to trouble shoot other possible causes of this aggrevating circumstance. It seems like my e unit repairs are have trouble finding either forward or reverse. Can you help this newbe.?????? Should I be doing something with the track?????


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

They have to be clean and touching. Obviously they are not so why look elsewhere.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

T, don't be too hasty to assume it is the E unit. If the motor has dual field windings, it could be an open winding or a wire broken off of the winding. I don't know which motor is in this loco, but I would check that first.

Nebraska, if the field coil has two colors of wired, one color is used for reverse and one for forward. They are wound in opposite directions to make the motor reverse. check that you have continuity between the E unit and each winding. If you have a single field winding, the problem is most likely in the E unit. Does it buzz when it is in reverse? If so, you may have a problem in the motor. The vertical motors sometimes have a problem running one direction but will run fine the other direction.

Bruce Baker


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I have been fooled with the fingers. They look good but they are not. Start there. Naturaly something else may be the culprit but that is train biz. 

From his discription I am not sure what he even has!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I have to go with T-Man here, the E-unit would be by far the top suspect. Even when the fingers are touching, they're not necessarily making good contact. I've only ever seen one open winding on a motor, but I've seen lots of flaky E-units.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

Speaking of E units, I was going to pass on a tip on how I fixed one. Not having any of the special tools, and not wanting to completely disassemble the unit, I merely bent the side plates until I could get the drum out. The drum had been hot and the plastic was distorted. I took a pair of pliers and squeezed the plastic back into shape. This is a tip from Dave Jones on the trains.com forum. The drum had been hot because of a poor contact. I bent the contacts back into shape, put the drum back in place and then bent the side plates back straight. This avoids the problem of needing 3 hands to put the unit together. The two finger contact piece came out, but the 4 contact piece and the slider for the solenoid all stayed in place. 

Bruce Baker


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

My 249 postwar Scout has a dual-winding field coil, and a TWO position e-unit to go with it. But if Nebraska has the standard 4-position e-unit (f-n-r-n) with the conventional e-unit drum, then it'll be a single-winding field coil.

I've had some finicky e-units. At any visual inspection, they can look super clean and mechanically fine. But it doesn't take much "gap" at all for a contact finger to get bent away from the drum.

I usually pull the e-unit up in the motor frame a bit, but still leave the e-unit sideplate touching the motor frame, so that it can complete its ground circuit. Then, carefully, with power to the loco, I'll poke each of the e-unit contact fingers with a toothpick. Quite often, the culprit will reveal itself. A gentle toothpick push, and a loco can go from no-go to go-go-go. Once identified, with luck, one can bend/coax the finger back into position without full e-unit disassembly, but often, that's not easily done. More often than not, I'l open the e-unit up, pull the drum out, bend the fingers all into alignment, then reassemble.

Also (I've mentioned this in other recent posts) ...

E-unit drums work with an 8-position cycle for one full revolution of the drum. So, as one cycles through the settings, if you see that one "forward" works, but the next one doesn't, that will help identify the culprit finger and/or drum contact surface.

Regards,

TJ


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Oh ... one other thing ...

T-Man had posted a thread with a great "how to" e-unit service video that he found. This video was enormously helpful to me, and gave me the understanding / confidence to jump head first into e-unit repair. Well worth a watch, in my opinion. (Thanks again, T!)

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=6131

TJ


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## x_doug_x (Jun 21, 2010)

I'm voting on his wiring.

That was really hard to read though and i'm thinking he only has 2 directions.

or put the fingers on backwards.


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## Nebraska (May 7, 2011)

*Thanks*

Thanks for help, I guess I need to learn more on how to check my work, anyway the culpruit,is a 1664, neat little engine , but am having trouble , with this advice will keep trying, will try the tooth pick trick. Again thanks guys , for the help. That T-man guy kinda, made me out a fool. Glad some of you are more patient with new-bees.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think T-Man was just trying to point you in the right direction. He's really not trying to make you look like a fool, honest.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

You are right on with the e unit. Can't make a fool from that.

Now a 1664, maybe has two coils. Does it?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Nebraska,

1664? I thought you initially said a 2032?

The 1664 is a prewar steamer. Early ones had the Lionel Jr. motor. Later ones had the motor with the rectangular black plastic base. I don't think either type used a 2-coil field.

TJ


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I think we just changed horses midstream!


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## Nebraska (May 7, 2011)

Sorry, fella , your right changed horses, first post was the 2032, forgot, having issues with 1664, same issues, sorry, please forgive the confusion and yes the 1664 has only 1 coil. Sorry, buddies for the error and confusion. Am in process of tearing down the 2032 again, and again checking the e unit contact fingers, to make sure the are all making contact. Will probably completely disassemble, and rebuild. thanks Nebraska


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Remember, you need 23 fingers to rebuild an E-Unit. :laugh:


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

The 2032, I had to look that up. Fancy, Highly desireable if the decals are in good condition. Postwar Library. The decal comment was on another library.

Ahh the Tandem Library.

Check your loco again I see no listing for a 1664 a 1654 maybe?


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

T-Man,

1664 (and 1664E) was a prewar 2-4-2 Lionel steamer, 1938 - 1942.

Interestingly, it shared the same loco shell casting as your beloved 1666 (which was a 2-6-2).

TJ


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I did find it. A plastic frame with slider shoes and the big L on the bottom. An e unit too! I thought the shell looked familiar.


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