I have a Lionel 1666 Steam Loco. She was loosing contact from the center rail pick-ups and tripping the e-unit or just stopping all together. The e-unit was working so I thought it was just a bad connection to the pick up shoe. I removed the boiler and the valve gear to get down to the engine chassis. The wiring is old, but it looks to be OK. I buffed up the slide shoes with 600 grit sand paper and cleaned them with isopropyl alcohol. I put her back on the track and she ran well. But I seam to have lost the e-unit, regardless of the e-unit lever setting. She will not go into reve
Steve,
Here’s info. on the engine, only, go through the info. prompts:
Take Care,
Ralph
Hi, Steve
I have 2 of these locomotives. They are nicely scaled for O-27 and run well. The 224E is an O gauge locomotive and uses the same boiler casting as the 1666E. It uses the same motor as the larger 225E and 226E. The 2026 is a postwar version of the 1666 with smoke.
Question: Does the E-unit cycle into stop (neutral)? I assume no.
It is possible that a wire to the solenoid coil on the E-unit came loose. The wires for the coil are soldered at either end of the lockout lever. One end is connected to the headlight wire and the wire from the collector plate. the other end is soldered to the lockout lever ground. You can see them without removing the E-unit.
The “chassis” you are looking at is the motor and normally doesn’t need to be taken apart. The E unit is situated between the motor frames and is held in by a single screw on the side of the motor. The E-unit will slide out once you have removed the screw. Pay attention to the wires since they will crack or come loose. You need to remember how it all goes back together or the wires may short to the boiler or the motor. You will need to turn the E-unit 1/2 a turn to see the plunger and rotating drum. I would expect that the E-unit is dirty or clogged with old oil.
I clean the whole E-unit with mineral spirits and a small artists brush. Look at the e-unit. You should see a round drum with teeth and 2 sets of copper fingers touching the drum. Be really careful around the fingers. Don’t bend or break them. They are a bear to replace . If the drum is still stuck, It needs to be replaced. That is a whole other problem. Check the plunger in the solenoid. It must move up freely & drop quickly w/o sticking. Don’t oil anything in the E-unit. It operates dry
The collector plate can be removed & replaced by spreading the motor frames sl
Byron- Thanks for the reply
The e-unit is in forward regardless of the e-unit lever setting - there is no buzz from the e-unit, so maybe from what you are saying, I might try to see if I can pull the e-unit and clean it as you suggest . The wire looks to be very old and brittle - I worry that taking this approach - I might wind up having to replace all the wiring, but - what the heck - I’ll take her apart again and see what I can do.
Steve
Steve, It sounds like the coil is not being energized. With the shell off, make sure the e-unit lever is not loose and not making contact with the solder-filled contact. If the lever is tight and making good contact, check the contact itself. It should have a very thin wire from the e-unit coil soldered into it, as well as the wire from the pick-up shoe. Gently touch the coil wire to make sure it is indeed still soldered in, and not broken off. Also check that the screw holding the e-unit to the frame is not loose, and that there is no dirt or corrosion between the e-unit and the frame, as this is what makes the ground connection for the coil. If it still does not work, take the transformer wires out of the lockon, turn the transformer on halfway, touch one wire to the soldered lug on the e-unit where the coil wire goes into, and touch the other wire to the e-unit frame. The e-unit should pull up the plunger. If it does not, the coil is bad. Let us know your progress. Larry