I’m having trouble figuring out how to mount/secure this unit. I looked up a Dalee 400 and to me that seems the way to go? Would that board replace the bridge rectifier that is currently in this paticular engine if he is interested in going that route?
Lionel e-units are usually mounted to a metal tab with one or two sheet-metal screws through clearance holes in the tab and into the small holes in one side plate of the e-unit just below the coil, like this: http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/cd/locos/loc2328b.pdf
It is easy to make a simple L-shaped tab like this and screw its base to the GG1’s floor.
I don’t know anything about the Dallee parts, except that the web site confirms what I wrote about resetting, in about 6 seconds.
i have done 2 of these in the last year. inside the top of the shell you will see the slot that is partially filled in. When Jerry had the shell made in Korea, they copied the Lionel shell perfectly except for the slot. just drill 2 small holes at each end of the slot and then file it open Then follow Mr Nelson’s advice for wiring. And just for fun here is a tidbit, when Williams when belly up the 1st time, Lionel bought the GG1 dies from Jerry rather then rework the original Lionel Corp dies. they were simply wore out!
Awesome, thanks for the info!
But, if you do keep the e-unit’s on-off switch, remember that you have to insulate the handle from the shell casting and insulate the e-unit frame from the locomotive frame.
There is a way to wire it so that the e-unit coil is powered by AC voltage upstream of the rectifier. That way, the switch and e-unit frame do not need to be insulated; but then the e-unit is likely to buzz like any postwar locomotive.
A further possibility is to go ahead and wire it that way, with the coil upstream of the rectifier, but to add a small separate bridge rectifier just for the e-unit coil, to take care of the buzzing.
It’s a lot less trouble just to add the separate on-off switch.
I know you are really far into this project but I was wondering why you just don’t purchase a Williams electronic reverse board?
The Postwar Lionel shell had a battery holder cast inside. I haven’t looked at the insides of a Williams shell. I have read that they did not include the battery holder.
My buddy purchased it from someone that provided him with the Lionel e-unit. He doesn’t want to put anymore money into it.
I was looking through the Greenberg book on Williams earlier. According to the book, the TCA anniversary GG-1 came with instructions for installing a Lionel e-unit. The instructions show a standard Lionel e-unit being installed on a bracket that is already there. If the e-unit lever points up, the instructions call for the lever to be bent over. If the e-unit lever points down, the instructions call for the lever to be cut off. Following these directions would result in the e-unit always beng on, with no way to turn it off.
For the wiring, the instructions show that the e-unit coil is connected to the A.C. power in the usual way. The D.C. output of the bridge rectiifer goes to the e-unit’s contacts.
That wiring is the second alternative that I described above, which has the drawback that the e-unit would be as noisy as any postwar e-unit. The only reason I can see to do that would be to allow the e-unit’s switch lever to be used in the original way; so it’s pointless if the lever has been bent over or cut off anyway.
The SPST switch I recommended was to replace the e-unit’s switch, which would then be disabled in the open-circuit condition.
Bob I’m jumping in at the end of this conversation but wouldn’t it be easier just spend like $ 25 - $ 35 and get a electronic E-unit for DC motors like they use in some of the 70-80 engines and install that? ( not sure what all has been said up to now but know he wants to install a E unit and lionel electronic E units are not that expensive) where for some reason to what I have seen Williams by bauchmann are about double. As you said that would be noisey as the ones prior to 1969 where. just an idea.
I think the difficulty is about the same either way; and he’s already got the e-unit and the rectifier. Noise matters only if he disconnects the coil and wires it upstream of the rectifier. The only reason to do that would be to make it easier to use the original on-off switch. If that were a requirement, then I would recommend the third alternative that I posted above, of adding a small bridge rectifier for the coil alone.
I see it as a disadvantage of the electronic e-units that they can’t remember what state they’re in for very long and will reset. It annoys me when two locomotives in a double-header get out of sync because one of them just timed out and the other didn’t quite.
I’ll stick with my original recommendation–to install the electromechanical e-unit downstream of the rectifier that he has and to replace the original on-off switch with a miniature slide switch.