# For you guys with a lower broken coil wire



## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I finally got time to work on my broken coil wire. Bottom coil wire. 282 is running and as good as before coil wire broke. It
really is not a bad repair. You can do it. You have to unwind all the wire from coil. Feed your bottom wire through the tiny hole in coil frame and leave plenty of wire to get to the female plug. Notice which way original wire was wound.
Then rewind your wire. Trying to lay each wire next to the last.
You won't be able to but try. I even used the old wire. I am right
handed so if you are left handed reverse the hands. I rewound the wire with my right hand turning the coil frame and holding the wire fairly tight with my left hand. Using the old wire, it had some small kinks in it but holding the wire tight took most of them out. Holding the coil frame in right hand, I smoothed the wire some by running the wire through my left hand fingers. I
got all the wire back on, but that will probably not work. Why, because you can not wind as neat as Gilbert did and my armature
was hitting the coil of wire. If my original wire was 40 feet long, it is about 30 feet now. I have armature clearance. It doesn't seem to matter. 282 reverses and really does run good. If you have any questions, please ask. I am a little proud right now. LOL.

When you go to solder wires to the female plug you will have to scrape the enamel off the end of wires. I used a razor blade.
Laid wire on a finger and scrapped towards end of wire. I did not cut a finger. I leaned razor blade towards end of wire.


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

mopac said:


> I finally got time to work on my broken coil wire. Bottom coil wire. 282 is running and as good as before coil wire broke. It
> really is not a bad repair. You can do it. You have to unwind all the wire from coil. Feed your bottom wire through the tiny hole in coil frame and leave plenty of wire to get to the female plug.
> Then rewind your wire. Trying to lay each wire next to the last.
> You won't be able to but try. I even used the old wire. I am right
> ...


Good job Mopac! I'm glad that it worked out for you. However I don't think that I have the patience to try it. But this is what our interest in rebuilding old junkers is all about!:laugh:


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

I forgot to show a pic of my field coil after I rewound it. Its not as pretty as Gilberts but it works.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Broke, you should try it sometime. I am serious, it was not bad. LOL, no frustration at all. 
And these old flyers have frustrated me before. I do not like frustration either.

Nice thing is I sat it down a couple times and came back to it. Go at your pace. I really
did not know if being 10 feet shorter would work but it does.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

:appl: Way to go!!!


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

:smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos::smilie_daumenpos:


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

Nice job mopac. Looks don't matter in this case, the fact that you fixed it is the important part.:appl:


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## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Good job Mopac. I did the same with the same first results, too much wire in the middle. You have given me the incentive to try it again.


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Stay with it dooper, you will get it. Just keep unwinding wire till you get armature clearance. Like I said I lost 10 feet of wire, but it works fine.


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## TimmyD (Dec 6, 2021)

mopac said:


> I forgot to show a pic of my field coil after I rewound it. Its not as pretty as Gilberts but it works.
> 
> View attachment 364785





mopac said:


> Broke, you should try it sometime. I am serious, it was not bad. LOL, no frustration at all.
> And these old flyers have frustrated me before. I do not like frustration either.
> 
> Nice thing is I sat it down a couple times and came back to it. Go at your pace. I really
> did not know if being 10 feet shorter would work but it does.


Hiy MoPac, dealing with this on a train right now. I am intending to just replace the coil since I have a few available. Congrats on getting it unwound and rewound! Is the train still running well on the reduced wraps? This seems like a fairly likely failure point on all of these trains when working on them. Considering in the future a dab of epoxy before work begins to support an unbroken (intact) wire, and also wondering if folks have other methods to fix other than a re-wind or field replacement.
Thanks and cheers!
Tim


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Tim, that is really one of my best running locomotives to this day. Where my wire broke it was rewind or replace. No ill effects with the rewind., There is no way to get all the wire back on , I was worried about so much wire left. No longer. I really did not have a spare. So no choice. Gilbert used a machine to wind the wire. so it was much neater and used more wire. I do not think it needed all the wire back on. I was proud of myself that I got my train to run so well. If you do a rewind, Keep wire tight and lay the winds as close to the last wind as possible.
I put all the wire back on but the armature would not spin. Undo your wire till armature will spin and not hit the wire.
If you have a spare go that route. Unless you just want to try the rewind. And yes, a broken wire is common.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

mopac said:


> Tim, that is really one of my best running locomotives to this day. Where my wire broke it was rewind or replace. No ill effects with the rewind., There is no way to get all the wire back on , I was worried about so much wire left. No longer. I really did not have a spare. So no choice. Gilbert used a machine to wind the wire. so it was much neater and used more wire. I do not think it needed all the wire back on. I was proud of myself that I got my train to run so well. If you do a rewind, Keep wire tight and lay the winds as close to the last wind as possible.
> I put all the wire back on but the armature would not spin. Undo your wire till armature will spin and not hit the wire.
> If you have a spare go that route. Unless you just want to try the rewind. And yes, a broken wire is common.


I have close to 30 coils, some original and working, some are new re-winds, and some are bare.I experienced the same things as Al, (MOPAC), and there's no problems running the engine.


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## TimmyD (Dec 6, 2021)

flyernut said:


> I have close to 30 coils, some original and working, some are new re-winds, and some are bare. I experienced the same things as Al, (MOPAC), and there's no problems running the engine.


Good morning all, Flyernut, do you rewind coils when needed or just opt for a 'new' one? I should have spares available on hand, but am a little intrigued by the idea of a rewind... thinking of of a fixture that would hold and let the armature unwind so that I can temporarily wind onto a spool, then rewind from spool to field after adding a little length... On this engine (K325) I should have an extra field, but if I have to rewind the big motor that should arrive today, I would prefer to have a dry run on a common part first... 
Thank you for your help Mopac and Flyernut!
Tim


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## Yard King (4 mo ago)

When I rewind field coils or armatures I always use new enamelled wire. It makes winding coils neater and you get more on. I believe Tom Barker mentioned that if you can get 85% of the original length back on then you are OK. 

Below is one of my spare rewound field coils. When I start the initial coil I will thread the first few inches through the holes in the fibre ends. This way it prevents any future breakage right in the corner which you can’t get at because there is zero flexing. If at some point this leg of the coil breaks it will be near the hole in the fibre board which makes life easy to splice in a new bit and saves the rest of the coil.

It can also be a good idea to thread this initial coil through the fibre boards on engines when they are stripped down to prevent any breakages in the future.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

TimmyD said:


> Good morning all, Flyernut, do you rewind coils when needed or just opt for a 'new' one? I should have spares available on hand, but am a little intrigued by the idea of a rewind... thinking of of a fixture that would hold and let the armature unwind so that I can temporarily wind onto a spool, then rewind from spool to field after adding a little length... On this engine (K325) I should have an extra field, but if I have to rewind the big motor that should arrive today, I would prefer to have a dry run on a common part first...
> Thank you for your help Mopac and Flyernut!
> Tim


If you want to practise on a field coil, I can send you a good bare one. You'll need to purchased the wire,24 gauge enameled wire. And don't forget to scrape off the enamel coating. I use a piece of sand-paper to take it off.. I like your idea about putting the required length of wire on a spool..When I have downtime from any repairs I do things like rewinding coils and such, keeps me busy..


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## TimmyD (Dec 6, 2021)

flyernut said:


> If you want to practise on a field coil, I can send you a good bare one. You'll need to purchased the wire,24 gauge enameled wire. And don't forget to scrape off the enamel coating. I use a piece of sand-paper to take it off.. I like your idea about putting the required length of wire on a spool..When I have downtime from any repairs I do things like rewinding coils and such, keeps me busy..


Thanks for the offer Flyernut, I have one on hand I can practice with, shipping is expensive these days! I will likely be seeing if I can buy a few things from you soon, 336 didn't show today, hoping to have it in hand and assess on Monday. Have a great weekend! Oh, putting together a jig that will allow the coil to rotate and be wound... If it works well, I will post a few pics. Have a wonderful weekend!
Tim


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## mopac (Feb 24, 2011)

Tim, Did the 336 show up yet?


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

We are all waiting!


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## TimmyD (Dec 6, 2021)

Yes it did, and I am very pleased. It will need the coil re-wrapped, and a full wiring with jack panel and new wick. Insulators re-attached, new brush holder and grease pan, a couple of cotter pins for the handrails, and some screw/screw hole work, and of course one new driver. The commutator should clean up nicely and is within spec, axles appear to be straight, and all linkage and model specific components appear to be there and serviceable. I have a proper grease cover and brush cover in my parts bin, as well as the tender wire and jack panel, so aside from a few fasteners my only added parts expense should be magnet wire and and a driver wheel... I will call that a win! Lots of work to do though, so I hope to have it running by march... 
Cheers and thanks!
Tim


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