A few new inquiries for the ever so helpful members of the forum. As mentioned before my knowledge lies mostly with prewar, and with my recent delve into some early postwar pieces, im left clueless. So thanks again in advance for your help.
The engine in question is a 1946 version 671 turbine with the atomic motor. The coil wire is loose from wherever it is supposed to attach, i imagine it goes to one of the tabs on the brushplate but which one? Also the previous owner appears to have unwrapped it 1 winding to get more length to secure it to wherever it is supposed to be. Is this a problem? It now hits the armature where it hangs down on the bottom(clearly a problem). A small piece of varnish has also come off the copper winding(Dont know if thats a problem.). What is the best way to repair this? Also what the hades is the white crystalline crud thats all over the inside of the boiler, motor, and around the rim of the smoke unit? SHould it be cleaned? It has been converted to the non-soke bulb unit. The unit thats in it does not have the cotton-asbestos gauze in it, rather a metal strip of some kind. Never seen a unit like that. although this is one of a handful ive seen. I will try to post some pics, im waiting for my camera batteries to charge. Thanks again gentleman, and if anyone ever has any prewar questions i will be happy to return the favors.
The white stuff is smoke pill residue that spilled out when the loco was warm.
On the coil issue, I’m asuming you are speaking of the field coil on the motor(based on the proximity to the armature as you described), one wire from the coil goes to ground/chassis, the other end to the E-unit to get switched in relation to the motor brushes. If it’s loose, I am also assuming it’s not now running?
A turn off the winding won’t affect performance to any great degree, and some varnish off the exposed windings should not be a problem if they are not disturbed. You could even lightly re-coat them if you want.
I believe that in all the versions of the 671 the field coil is wired to the middle terminal of the brushplate, along with the (possibly green) wire to the e-unit. If the wire is inconveniently long, you can cut it. Any bare spots should be insulated or located where they cannot touch anything conductive. But remove insulation from the end so that you can solder it to the terminal.
IvesBoy, I was wondering if I could take you up on your offer for a prewar question.
I have an old Lionel #8 Red standard gauge engine that needs new wheels and probably some new wiring at the same time. Looking at the underside I can’t see how to remove the shell without having to bend the metal tabs. Any tips on how to remove the shell so that I can pull the wheels? If I have to bend the tabs - I’m worried that they’ll snap off when bending them back. Any wiring issues that I might need to know
at each end should be some slide bars thats how it comes apart if I remember correctly I have the 8E in green . Packed away at moment but being auctioned starting friday evening around 9:30
Thanks for the advice guys, should i trim the coil wire so it fits snug, or try rewrapping it and soldering on a lead to the center brushplate tab? If i dont trim it, im afraid it will continue to hang and hit the armature.
To answer the question about the no. 8… The body is not secured to the frame by any tabs, however the top portion or “motor cradle” is. The body can be removed by two screws, one on each end under the doors. Once these screws are removed you can remove the body. If your model has cast lights as it should you will have to remove the bulbs and gently slide out the fiber tabs inside the shell that lead to the headlights(hard to describe. U will see what i mean when u try it. Then remove the body from the frame and you will see the 4 screws which secure the super motor to the frame. The only wiring issues i can think of are with the wafer reverse. Just make sure you label them all so you replace them correctly during reassembly. Hope this helps. There are no tabs that require bending in any part of this repair. Everything should be removed by screws.
My solution to the problem you’re having is first to stabilize the coil by pulling the windings back together as tightly as possible and then putting a tiny drop of clear 5-minute epoxy to make a thin layer on top of the coil so that it doesn’t continue to unwind. Once it’s stable (give it 30 minutes, despite the name) and then proceed to re-attach the wire. You may have to cut it, but consider leaving enough slack so that the brush plate can come off without unsoldering anything again. This has worked for me, twice. The “mend” is virtually invisible.
Instead of epoxy you might use clear nail polish or actual varnish, if you prefer. After you cut the wire to length, be sure to carefully scrape of off enough of the original varnish, or it simply won’t solder. A quarter inch of bare wire will suffice; a half inch might be better if you want to wrap it once around the solder tab.
Note: in shop class I was taught to first make a solid mechanical connection by wrapping the wire around a tab, or twisting two wires around each other, and then solder soldering. This was many years ago. These days a lot of folks just “tin” the wires and stick them into a small blob of solder with no wrapping or twisting. This technique certainly makes it easier to un-solder them should the need arise.
Edited 11/21 to correct two spelling errors that might have affected the meaning.
Thanks for the advice guys, the turbine runs great! Except the spring in the eunit is weak, but o/w. that smoke unit residue is some nasty stuff to clean up. Anyone know how the smoke pellet turns into that fibrous stuff. Thats a good one for you science guys.
The pellets are made of meta-terphenyl. It is a white, waxy solid that melts at about 350 degrees. After it cools, it hardens again. Use a q tip to push the residue in the stack back into the smoke unit as it is just condensed meta-terphenyl and it can be melted again.