Restoring An American Flyer Engine

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abby - 15 Nov 2008 04:00 GMT

Hi,

I am restoring my American Flyer 282 engine. Whatever that is in
the coal car isn't responding. Voltage gets to it but nothing
happens.
What is that thing? It looks like a motor that turns a cylinder
(electromechanical commutator?). I think it has something to do with
reversing the train. What is the proper way of fixing this mechanism?

Is it safe to put voltage directly on the engine motor to see it
works?

Thanks,
Gary

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Len - 15 Nov 2008 09:57 GMT

: Hi,
:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
: Thanks,
: Gary

The device in the tender is the reversing unit. The most common
problems with it are the mechanism that rotates the drum gets dirty
and sticks, or the contact fingers that ride on the drum wear out.
Worst case is the operating coil is burned out and the entire unit
will have to be replaced.

There should be a direction locking lever sticking out of the bottom
of the tender. You can use it to manually operate the drum and see if
the operating pawl is sticking. If it is, usually a shot of contact
cleaner will free it up. If it works manually, but not with power
connected to the tender pick-ups, check that none of the wiring has
broken loose. I've seen some where the wire was broken, but the cloth
insulation was holding it in place so it looked okay until you
touched it.

If you need parts, the numbers are:

XA9612CRP - Top Fingers
XA9612BRP - Bottom Fingers
XA8716 - Drum

Parts can be obtained from Train Repair Parts
http://www.trainrepairparts.com/trainrepairparts.htm or RFG Co.
http://www.rfgco.com . Both have exploded view diagrams and wiring
diagrams, but the TRP diagrams are easier to navigate. The diagram
for you loco can be found at:

http://www.hobbysurplus.com/xviews/280spacHSS.asp

If your loco has the four-pin jack panel, you can test the motor
directly by connecting the the lower jack to the one above it on each
side of the jack panel with a jumper wire. A heavy paper clip will do
in a pinch. Then connect a power lead to each jumper. Like this:

+-------------------------+

| o o |
| / -Jumper- / |
| o o |

+-------------------------+

Len

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Abby - 19 Nov 2008 05:10 GMT

> : I am restoring my American Flyer 282 engine. Whatever that is in
> : the coal car isn't responding. Voltage gets to it but nothing

> The device in the tender is the reversing unit. The most common
> problems with it are the mechanism that rotates the drum gets dirty

I polished the drum and fingers. The reverser now works.

The engine is missing the wires to the motor winding. (My nephew
had possession of the train for a while and reportedly tried to "fix"
it.) I found a wiring diagrams on the 'net but it isn't clear where
the wires connect to the winding. Where? It might be moot -
it looks like the winding is broken.

Gary

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Len - 21 Nov 2008 19:13 GMT

> > : I am restoring my American Flyer 282 engine. Whatever that is in
> > : the coal car isn't responding. Voltage gets to it but nothing
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Gary

The winding connects to the two bottom jacks, and the motor brushes
connect to the two top jacks of the jack panel.

If the winding is completely shot you can get a Timko can motor
conversion kit for about $30.00 or so. You can check them out at:

http://www.portlines.com/canmotorconvkits.htm

Len

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J. B. Wood - 17 Nov 2008 11:31 GMT

Well, it's about time someone posted something to do with s-gauge on the
ng ;-). Long live 1/64! Sincerely, from a fan of all things made by A.C.
Gilbert before 1960,

John Wood (Code 5550) e-mail: wood@itd.nrl.navy.mil
Naval Research Laboratory
4555 Overlook Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20375-5337

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Model Forum / General / Railroads / November 2008

Restoring An American Flyer Engine