I have 6 NYC passenger cars. Four of them bought new 25 years ago (6-16087,88,89,90) but stored for the last 20, and two purchased as NOS this month (6-16066, 67).
Looking at the contacts of the older 4 (see pictures), they came shipped with grease/lubricant on the axle where the copper contact is. You can see the grease has hardened. But I also noticed on these 4 older ones the copper contacts are both "over" the axle, and in most cases only one side is contacting the axle. Its clear from bench testing that the source of the flicker is poor contact from the copper pickup on the axle.
On the two NOS, the copper contacts still have grease (not hardened), and the copper contacts are "over" one axle and "under" the other axle. This configuration seems to provide better tension and therefore contact on the axle. They do not flicker nearly as much as the older 4.
Two questions for the more experienced forum members:
1) Do I need lubricant on this axle where the copper contact point is? Is this to reduce friction? Protect the electrical connection/copper? I do not feel it is critical but thought I would ask.
2) Should I just reposition the copper pickups on the older four to be over and under like the other two? I have a flat spring adjust tool, but before I go deforming this thin copper strip I thought I would ask to see if others have faced the same issue and see what they did.
