I've been trying to do maintenance on seven Gilbert era engines. These engines all have good brushes and good or new fingers. The models are 350, 353, 312, 322, 336, a T&P GP7, and a Franklin. The drums are all cleaned and cycle properly. The rods are set properly and the armatures move freely with minimal effort. I'm not sure about the spacers, some have one or more on both sides of the commutator, some only on the front side. I just try to keep as much of the commutator travel within the field in forward and reverse with about an eighth of an inch travel. I've wired them all in accordance with the Port Lines wiring diagram relative to the engines basically for consistency, as no two seemed to be wired the same way. The tender pickup wheels and or pickups are all clean. I run them on a small 702 loop and the track was cleaned with contact cleaner. With all this in mind, here are my questions:
1. What would cause an engine to gradually slow down and eventually stall after running about 15 minutes? When this occurs the armature is hot to the touch. Again, the drivers do not bind and the armature moves effortlessly.
2. Why would an engine step thru the reverse unit cycles, but only jerk forward or reverse (accordingly) and stall? After some continued cycling, the engine will run until the next time it stops, then the behavior is repeated.
Someone suggested to use a square wave transformer to run them a bit cooler, so I am using a Lionel CW-80 rather than AF.
The wiring and soldier joints are neat and tight. I've even replace any original frayed harnesses where needed. I've gone thru a significant amount time and expense, so this is pretty frustrating. Are all these issues common with old flyer? I should add the 312, Franklin, and GP7 (gets a little hot in a short amount of time) run smoothly.
I do not have a volt/amp meter to give you that information. I have a multi-tester, but unsure how to take those measurements.
Rich
