# reverse unit contacts on RB



## AFnew2 (Aug 28, 2016)

Polished the drum and replaced the finger contacts on a Royal Blue engine. Fingers were not quite making contact so I bent them down and added some solder. Got better but still intermittent. Looks like the fingers may be a tad long and over reach. Should I try to bend or shape them or is there a better solution?


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Some of the replacement reverse unit finger assemblies are too long. I just bent mine to fit and make solid contact. They have been working perfectly for over 10 years. I am not a fan of adding solder because solder is not a good conductor of electricity. It will work but new fingers are better.


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## AFnew2 (Aug 28, 2016)

*fingers*

bent the finger to fit a little better. Working fine now.
Thanks


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## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

AmFlyer said:


> Some of the replacement reverse unit finger assemblies are too long. I just bent mine to fit and make solid contact. They have been working perfectly for over 10 years. I am not a fan of adding solder because solder is not a good conductor of electricity. It will work but new fingers are better.


Thank you Tom, I have always thought that new fingers were too long. Does anyone know why?
Al


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## Kelpieflyer (Jan 9, 2012)

I have found that the new ones are almost always too long. I have no idea why.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

I do not know why they are long, but they work. From this perspective too long is better than too short.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Just a wild throw out here; were the fingers that were too long on WHITE fiber-board.??.. I 've found that white fiber-board fingers were always a little longer than needed, and were in fact pretty stiff. Fingers on the brown fiber-board seem to me, at least, to be better...:dunno:


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## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Just an FYI, mine have always been on the brown fiber board


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Same, brown fiberboard. The size difference is small, easily fixable with a slight bending of the contact arm. I have never seen any on white fiberboard.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AmFlyer said:


> Same, brown fiberboard. The size difference is small, easily fixable with a slight bending of the contact arm. I have never seen any on white fiberboard.


There's 5 items on ebay right now that are the white fiber-board type.


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## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Ahh, EBAY, that is how I missed them. I make it a point to stay off that site. 
Years ago I purchased a wide selection of Flyer repair parts from Ron Leventon in Washington. They are proving to be more than a lifetime's worth of parts. Once in a while I will need something very specialized, PortLines usually is a good source for those.
EBAY is a good resource on availability and pricing when I look for new cars but that is an entirely different issue.


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## cramden (Oct 13, 2015)

+1 on EBAY other to check what's listed, but mostly to check sold prices. I like to see what I'm buying and make my own determination on condition. That is why I have found a few good sources that I make purchases with. Never made it to York yet, but I've had no problem emptying my wallet at Allentown.


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## AFnew2 (Aug 28, 2016)

*fingers*

Mine were brown...I was just reluctant to bend them too much and over doing it.


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## AFnew2 (Aug 28, 2016)

*portlines*

Portlines is great and I get a lot of parts from them but when he is closed for a show then I look elsewhere if I want something in a hurry.


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## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AFnew2 said:


> Portlines is great and I get a lot of parts from them but when he is closed for a show then I look elsewhere if I want something in a hurry.


Jeff Kane at the Train Tender is THE man..:smilie_daumenpos:


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