# 302 tender/e-unit rebuild.



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

This is the tender/chassis I received with the 302, asking for a rebuild. The task is to make 1 good unit from these parts and pieces.. Here we go..


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Both chassis had their plus and minuses, mainly rust and bent chassis. One chassis had the draw bar














messed up, and trucks were also rusty.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I decided














to remove all the trucks, and straightened out as best I could, the better chassis. As I checked the trucks before removing them, 2 were loose on the chassis I was going to use, and as it turned out, the bushings were bad.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I removed as much as I could from the chassis and the trucks, but they were pretty bad.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Bushing kit....


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

All parts necessary for attaching the tender trucks to the chassis. My rivet setting tool is the economy kind that you wack with a hammer... I love it!


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Now to the wheels. A few wheels needed to be replaced, but I had the extra parts...Cleaned up and installed. Wheel gauging checked...Copper pick-up strips were also polished for better contact, as well as the wheel axles.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Now for the reverse unit. First, let's get rid of all that junk wire.. Rainbow wire used for flyer turn-outs














,lol..


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I always polish the inside of the reverse unit where the drum rotates, and I also always adjust the small brass pawl on the linkage that moves the drum. I also take a fine jewelers file and remove and polish any nicks I find. I then polish the drum axle holes with a piece of 2000 wet/dry paper. I very, very rarely have a e-unit that does not cycle 100% of the time using these methods.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Dirty drum, also a little corrosion on the drum's axles.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

The upper and lower fingers were actually is near new condition, so I just cleaned the arching off of them, and re-adjusted.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Added some new wiring inside the tender. I was having trouble with my soldering gun, as seen in the photos, but they held..


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

A little re-assembly


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Getting rid of that rainbow wire in the jack plug.. I heat out the metal ends and pull out the old wire.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Forgot the pictures


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

What I do before adding new wire is to fill the jack panel with new solder by inserting a length of solder into the hole.. On this particular engine, I used 4 pieces of 22 gauge super flex stranded wire instead of a woven harness, of which I do have on hand. The wire inside the woven harness seems to be on the smaller side, so I didn't use it.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Finished !! This little beauty runs great, lights, smokes, and the e-unit cycles 100%!! And it's quick!!. I bench-tested it before putting it on the layout.. On the layout I ran it in forward 360', and reverse 360', through 2 turn-outs, and it never missed a beat.. Maybe I'll keep it??? Just fooling Joe.....


----------



## Kelpieflyer (Jan 9, 2012)

Nice job. I like the details on how you renewed the e-unit.


----------



## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Great work! I am curious why you removed the rainbow wire since it was likely original. were the leads to short? The wire gauge was definitely heavier than what is in the woven harness.
My original 322AC needs a new harness and my original 370 developed a short somewhere while it was running. I have been putting off those repairs because the new layout is taking my time for now.


----------



## Tinstar (Dec 28, 2016)

I am so impressed with your skills, nice job! it looks great and I can't wait to see it.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

AmFlyer said:


> Great work! I am curious why you removed the rainbow wire since it was likely original. were the leads to short? The wire gauge was definitely heavier than what is in the woven harness.
> My original 322AC needs a new harness and my original 370 developed a short somewhere while it was running. I have been putting off those repairs because the new layout is taking my time for now.


The rainbow wire was not original to this unit. The reasons I removed it was it was buggered up quite a bit, and I've found that if one uses a stiffer wire, the tender will sometimes de-rail, as the stiff wire won't allow the tender to track right.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Tinstar said:


> I am so impressed with your skills, nice job! it looks great and I can't wait to see it.


I sent you an email my friend....


----------



## AmFlyer (Mar 16, 2012)

Thanks, removing it then makes perfect sense and results in more reliable operation.


----------



## Aflyer (Nov 10, 2010)

flyernut said:


> Finished !! This little beauty runs great, lights, smokes, and the e-unit cycles 100%!! And it's quick!!. I bench-tested it before putting it on the layout.. On the layout I ran it in forward 360', and reverse 360', through 2 turn-outs, and it never missed a beat.. Maybe I'll keep it??? Just fooling Joe.....
> View attachment 264770
> 
> 
> View attachment 264778


Flyernut,
Another outstanding rebuild completed. Is that record time, including taking and posting all those photos?

I have a hudson that I need to completely disassemble and rebuild the E-Unit. I have cleaned it but it still sticks, I think the pawl is bent.

Thanks for sharing,
Aflyer


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Aflyer said:


> Flyernut,
> Another outstanding rebuild completed. Is that record time, including taking and posting all those photos?
> 
> I have a hudson that I need to completely disassemble and rebuild the E-Unit. I have cleaned it but it still sticks, I think the pawl is bent.
> ...


Follow what I did on my unit. That little pawl does get ever so lightly bent over the course of 60+ years, and I always adjust each and every one I do. I've found on some very rare circumstances that when you put the fingers on, they compress the ends of the unit, causing the drum to bind.


----------



## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

*pawls*

Hi Flyernut, Dooper here. I am an old codger who started messing with AF for about four years, and have rebuilt and cleaned many engines and tenders, with decent success - trial and error and the help of the black AF manual. I have encountered issues which I have attributed to the pawl. Do you have nay pictures of a bent pawl and what one should look like?
Thanks, Al


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

dooper said:


> Hi Flyernut, Dooper here. I am an old codger who started messing with AF for about four years, and have rebuilt and cleaned many engines and tenders, with decent success - trial and error and the help of the black AF manual. I have encountered issues which I have attributed to the pawl. Do you have nay pictures of a bent pawl and what one should look like?
> Thanks, Al


Sorry, I don't have any pictures. What I look for is to have that little pawl at a 90 degree angle to the reverse unit side. That should get you in the ballpark.


----------



## dooper (Nov 9, 2015)

Thanks! I will try that.


----------



## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

Nice rebuild as usual Flyernut! Regarding the reverse unit. Have you ever demagnetized the contact under the coil? Or I guess I should ask have you ever known that to be a problem as far as the operation of the unit is concerned?


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

upsman55 said:


> Nice rebuild as usual Flyernut! Regarding the reverse unit. Have you ever demagnetized the contact under the coil? Or I guess I should ask have you ever known that to be a problem as far as the operation of the unit is concerned?


I've never experienced that.


----------



## upsman55 (Jan 11, 2013)

I was just curious. Read something about that recently. (Outside this forum) And I have yet another 303 that requires the lightest of taps on the top of the tender to get the reverse unit to rotate. Guess I was hoping for an easier out!😊


----------

