# need to rewire a 2025 Lionel engine



## KRUSHGE (Apr 19, 2013)

I'm new to this forum, but here goes:

I got zinged on ebay; the 2025 I bought worked great, but only in reverse. Then, as I was wiggling the wires it started working in forward direction. Then, as I was wiggling the wires the wires fell off. It was a lousy solder job, so I figure I have to start from scratch and rewire it. I saw a thread regarding rewiring a Lionel engine, but can't find it.

Please advise. thanks

George


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

KRUSHGE said:


> I'm new to this forum, but here goes:
> 
> I got zinged on ebay; the 2025 I bought worked great, but only in reverse. Then, as I was wiggling the wires it started working in forward direction. Then, as I was wiggling the wires the wires fell off. It was a lousy solder job, so I figure I have to start from scratch and rewire it. I saw a thread regarding rewiring a Lionel engine, but can't find it.
> 
> ...


Here start with this, I will look for more.

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=6748

Something as easy as rewiring you might not have got zinged.
All depends on what you paid for it.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Post #20 here, http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=3040

Has a good video explaining e unit repair that you might find interesting.

Welcome to the site by the way.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Welcome to the forum, George.

The fact that the motor ran is a good sign. It sounds like you're looking at an easy solder fix. Or maybe a little e-unit finger tweak.

Good threads links from Ed, above. (T-Man is our resident fix-it guru.) The two-part e-unit video in the second link (post #20) is excellent.

Can you post some pics of the motor (with the shell removed) so that we can see the wiring? We can coach you where the problem might be.

Do you know which version of the 2025 you have? 1947-1949, or the 1952 version?

Here's a wiring diagram for the 1952 version (though likely similar for the earlier version) ...

http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/locos/loc2035a.pdf

Current goes from the center rail to the e-unit. The e-unit sends current to the armature, with a flip of direction for fwd or reverse. From there, current goes downstream to the field coil, then to the motor frame / drive wheels to ground and outer rails.

Regards,

TJ


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Tj, the wiring looks to be the same from what I can tell, I'm only an amateur though. The greenbergs book didn't have a wiring diagram for the earlier versions. In the pictures it showed some wires. They looked to be the same as the later version.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I suspect you're right ... same basic wiring for old/new versions.


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## KRUSHGE (Apr 19, 2013)

Thanks to all who replied/helped.

I'll check the info tomorrow (after golf) and snap a few fotos. then I'll figure out how to send them. Is there an instruction on this site for attachments? oops, just found the attachment button; I'll fool around with that.

thanks again to all; you've been very kind with your time.

George


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## KRUSHGE (Apr 19, 2013)

forgot to mention that the bulb would not light, but when I tested it independently the bulb was very bright. So I assumed there was power to the E unit and an intermittent open after that.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

How to post pictures ... give Method 1 a shot ...

http://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?t=2595

IMPORTANT -- If the pics are too big, the upload won't work. Keep then under around 1200 x 1000 pixels or so. A bit bigger is OK, but not by much.

TJ


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## Wowak (May 30, 2012)

The lead for the bulb should be soldered to the same tab on the e-unit as the wire from the center rail pickups.

If you want to wire it for forward running only (i.e. if you find the e-unit faulty/damaged) then you just connect both the headlamp wire and the wire from the forward-most motor brush to the 3rd rail pickup, and the wire from the rear-most motor brush directly to the coil lead. One of my 2025s had a damaged e-unit and I wired it like this until I could get a new e-unit... I got it months ago but haven't bothered installing it since it's just so reliable in FWD only on my floor loop.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Just a reminder that the lamp socket shell needs to be grounded back to the outer rail (or motor frame) to complete the circuit for the light to work. Power lead goes through the lamp socket, to the little nub-washer that touches the bulb screw-in tip.

TJ


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## KRUSHGE (Apr 19, 2013)

*Talking need to rewire a 2025 Lionel engine*

here are two photos of the motor and E unit


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

The bottom e-unit plate has two fingers, electrically connected. A wire from here goes to one motor brush ... that's your intact brown wire.

The top e-unit plate has 4 fingers (the middle two connected electrically). Power from the motor center-rail pickup should go to one of the outer fingers, with an in-parallel connection to the e-unit solenoid. They MIGHT both be there ... hard to tell from the photo. The middle-two fingers need a brown wire running to the other motor brush .. I can see one end is connected to the e-unit, but the other end has broken away from the brush holder. Finally, the opposite outer finger needs a wire running to the motor's field-coil ... the "input" (ungrounded) side of the field coil. I don't think I see this existant in your photo.

Regards,

TJ


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

You should have that up and running in no time. ! Looks pretty clean except for the wires.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

What is with the tape? Your going to put new wires in?

It looks like someone painted the motor black?


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

I'm with ed on this one, some types of duct tape can conduct electricity. I don't know if that applies to low voltage electricity though.


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## KRUSHGE (Apr 19, 2013)

thanks again for the input.

I found out that the wires were bare of insulation in the spots which were taped.

still working to get it running again

George


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

One brush holder is pretty well bent. You might want to fix that and get the brush spring where it belongs.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Good eye on the brush holder, Bruce!


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