Hot Running 2343 ??

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Hello All:

Pulled out my Lionel 2343 ,that ran this summer fine, and I noticed some burnt odor from them after 5-6 runs around the xmas tree. Took them apart and greased the gears ( the motors/gears turned freely without noise before I initiated this run) placed a drop of oil on the armature spindle opposite the brushes, and cleaned the commutator and brushes. Placing on the track again, without the shell, I noticed this front motor was hotter than the rear one by far and after ten trips around my little track the copper windings on the top of the motor were extremely hot ( can’t hold your finger on it) . It ran fine without any noise-no hesitation. Are the windings in the motor shot, a short perhaps?? I can not believe it is binding in the gears or armature as they spin freely by hand. Any insight or similar experiences out there? Thanks beforehand for your ideas!

Mickey Demian

2

Do you have or can you improvise a DC supply for a test? Your hot field winding suggests a shorted turn. If so, it should run much cooler on DC. You could use a bridge rectifier like this one: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062583&numProdsPerPage=60 (Take out the horn battery to keep the horn quiet.)

3

I sent my 2344 motors to a man who rewinds and repairs Lionel and other make motors. He told me over time those motors get cracked windings on the armature coils inside where you can’t see them. Maybe yours is too?

Make sure none of your wheels are rubbing the truck blocks and the horizontal worm gears are not pushing forward against the truck blocks when you push the trucks forward. Sometimes you need to shim them a bit.

Roger