Icing Station Adjustment??

I ran into the same issue on mine.  The newer ones with the dc motors have so much play in the shaft it doesn't go all the way to each end of travel.  There is a fix.  I found this out because I bought another icing station (ammo loader version) and that one worked prefect.  When I compared them I noticed Lionel added a black plastic tie that went around the shaft to prevent it from moving too far.  It looks like it was a Lionel service or factory quick fix to the issue.  I tried it on my icing station and it worked perfect although I had my doubts.  It requires a plastic tie(small size) and a drill to drill a small hole on the flange on the motor housing so you have something to run the plastic tie through.  Now the mechanism runs its full length of travel.  An Unfortunate result of cheap plastic parts, but the fix does work.  I'll post a pic of it so you can see where to run the tie strap

Here is the pic.  Basically you drill the hole in the flange in the casing next to the main shaft.  Then run a tie strap through it and put just a little tension on it.  That keeps the shaft from moving back and forth and keeps the length of travel the same.  You have to take out the motor assembly to be able to do it but it works and this is from a sealed unit I bought so I know its from the factory.  So this was their fix.

Thanks Sean, I'll give that a shot!!  

 

Photo sure helps a lot!

 

Just wondering, did you try tying something thru that tube on the gear box (vis in your photo) before you drilled the hole? 

 

Thanks again,

Mike

No I just followed what lionel did.  I think if you used that tube it would make the opposite result and make the adjustment short.  The direction of the way you make the shaft lean makes a difference.  To to the right make the mechanism travel it's full length, to the left makes it travel short and start on the return to early.

Hi Sean,

 

Thanks again for the idea!  I tried it both ways and both greatly improved operation.  On this particular unit the gear box tubes gave greater/better return travel which this unit needed to clear the "cube in waiting".  I've attached a shot (not the easiest thing to photo...)

 

Thanks again, I'd still be stuck with out your help!

Mike

The photo got rotated 90 degrees when I attached/uploaded it...not sure why...

 

Thanks again,

Mike

I thought mine was just worn out. Bought it used with a no armed ice man. Fixed it with repo arms and then thought I had a piece of junk. Original solenoid version was a better design. But this looks like it is worth the try. What's to loose, except a wire tie and a few minutes. Thanks for the tip. FMH

The dc motor design is nice , quiet and smooth, unfortunately they used cheap materials and sloppy tolerances.  That was the downfall.  The tie strap fixed it for me and it runs perfect now, never misses a cube.  I thought the same thing on the first station I bought used.  Then after buying the new one sealed in box I realized they were all that way.  Hope it helps yours.  Most people make the mistake of trying to bend the linkage to make it work.