E-Unit on a Lionel 681

@oldpirate posted:

Question I have may I use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner on a finicky e- unit without damaging it, also what is the difference between the CRC  QD electronic cleaner vs the CRC lectra motive electrical parts cleaner, both state plastic safe, I prefer to not dismantle the e-unit, engine is running fine, every part cleaned, just looking for a fix. Thank You,

Spray away. You can use either of those safely. While you are at it peek at the teeth on the e-unit drum if they are damaged it won't work without replacing it.

@iguanaman3 posted:

Spray away. You can use either of those safely. While you are at it peek at the teeth on the e-unit drum if they are damaged it won't work without replacing it.

teeth look very good as well as the drum, Thanks,

I just did this for the first time on the same engine. I simply removed the eunit mounting screw, moved the e-unit off to the side, and gave it a good shot of CRC. I then manually operated the e-unit several times by hand and hit it with a little more CRC. Let it all air dry (only takes a minute) then powered it up. It was slightly sticky at first, but after about a dozen cycles it loosened up and now works flawlessly and cycles quickly.

@PRRick posted:

I just did this for the first time on the same engine. I simply removed the eunit mounting screw, moved the e-unit off to the side, and gave it a good shot of CRC. I then manually operated the e-unit several times by hand and hit it with a little more CRC. Let it all air dry (only takes a minute) then powered it up. It was slightly sticky at first, but after about a dozen cycles it loosened up and now works flawlessly and cycles quickly.

Yes, I did remove it as you mentioned, will try to give it a shot of cleaner hopefully that would solve the problem,

@oldpirate posted:

Yes, I did remove it as you mentioned, will try to give it a shot of cleaner hopefully that would solve the problem,

How's the fingers look? any burn marks or melting from the fingers on your drum? Good luck those are fine engines have 4. Mark

@Sitka posted:

How's the fingers look? any burn marks or melting from the fingers on your drum? Good luck those are fine engines have 4. Mark

Mark, everything looks very good, I see no damage to the unit, I did give it a few small blasts of CRC QD electronic cleaner as PRRick suggested, seems like the plunger is smoother, if not I may try some De- Oxit D5 cleaner as it may work a little better. Thank You,Frank

I have a little PW 2037 Adriatic that blew a smoke unit yesterday; looked like a little arc welder going off in there. After I fixed that, she began exhibiting "delayed action" on the e-unit (probably due to all the cursing done during the smoke unit repair; a real PITA). I pulled it (more cursing) and, with the plunger in the "down" position, applied a tiny drop of light mineral oil with a needle oiler on the plunger at the base of the coil. Slid it up and down manually a few times and reinstalled the e-unit. Operation went back to normal subsequently (no more cursing, only .). I suspect this e-unit had been untouched for the 62 or so years this little lady has been around and my "manipulations" removing the smoke unit likely affected the e-unit. She's smoking away and pulling a 14 car 027 freight train around my layout at 22 scale mph at 7.5V on my Z-1000 as I'm typing this. I guess she forgave me for the cursing. Probably the best running "PullMor" loco I've got...

@oldpirate posted:

Question I have may I use CRC QD Electronic Cleaner on a finicky e- unit without damaging it, also what is the difference between the CRC  QD electronic cleaner vs the CRC lectra motive electrical parts cleaner, both state plastic safe, I prefer to not dismantle the e-unit, engine is running fine, every part cleaned, just looking for a fix. Thank You,

They also make CRC with a lube as well. I clean first with the (cleaner) than spray very lightly with the CRC and lube; works all the time.