Lazy arm on 2306 Ice Depot

I think your ice station is built the same as the postwar 352.

IMHO, oil is a bad idea, it attracts dirt and can get gummy.
In my experience, the problem you are having is likely caused by friction between the figure lever and the ice transport lever. (dirt /oil could be the culprit)

Were your piece on my bench, I would disassemble the levers and carefully clean and polish the surfaces that slide over each other. I'd likely use Simichrome polish, but I do have some other polishes on hand.

All appears dry underneath but there are friction/scuff/scratch marks on the facing surfaces of the levers. 

I will remove the plate with the levers and solenoid and take off the e ring and give the parts a cleaning and the levers a good coat of wax and hope for the best. 

Do you mean car wax?

I think that Zymol would be good. Also, Johnstons Paste wax.

Just be certain to buff away as much as possible.

I don't think the Fastrack can get close enough to the accessory for the ice to drop in reliably.

Also, the action is supposed to be lazy & slow if the dashpot is functioning properly. A quick snapping action indicates a broken or dry dashpot diaphragm.

Don't have one to look at, but are the rivets for the pivots tight? I think slop there would use up much of the motion.

quote:

Also, the action is supposed to be lazy & slow if the dashpot is functioning properly. A quick snapping action indicates a broken or dry dashpot diaphragm.

The figure lever is attached to the solenoid. The ice transport lever is attached to the figure lever via a toggle spring. As Rob wrote, the figure lever should move out smoothly, and somewhat slowly. As I recall, the ice transport lever should move along with the figure lever until the end of the figure lever's travel. Then the toggle spring makes the ice transport lever snap out a bit further.

"O" gauge milk cars, #3662 /#3672 have a similar arrangement.

Thanks all. I can report that :

1) Waxed the levers.  Some dirt was removed and possibly some improvement.

The ice man now moves (smoothly to very fast) when a range of voltages from 7~8V on up are applied (Z 1000 transformer using track power to test and inexpensive multimeter.) 

3) the issue has been the ability of the ice lever to open the hatch - the lever does not seem to have the force behind it to always push open the hatch at all voltages.  This happens whether the car is immediately beside the ice depot (bench test) or the proper distance away.  In regular use, the depot is shimmed vertically which also allows closer positioning to the outer rail. 

HOWEVER, I AM EXPERIMENTING FURTHER WITH THE HEIGHT OF THE DEPOT AND AM HAVING SOME POSITIVE RESULTS.  I GUESS LESS FORCE IS REQUIRED TO PUSH OPEN THE HATCH IF THE TAB ON THE ICE LEVER CATCHES THE HATCH HIGHER UP. 

I will continue down this road. 

For Rob ADCX and C.W.Burfle - if you have a moment, could you reply to the following for my future reference.  Again, thank you both for the valuable info and the time taken to initially respond.

4) for Rob ADCX - is the dashpot diaphram part of the solenoid and is it replaceable?  The quick snapping action is only at high voltages

4) For C.W.Burfle.  Only one small V spring is visible on ice lever at the opposite end where the shaft runs through lever.  Is that the toggle spring you refer to?  Its' current movement seems to preclude any real compression.

Read this service manual page on the 3662 milk car for information on the dash pot. They are easily rebuilt. If you put too much stuff on the edge of the piston, the mechanism might not move much at all. (Been there, done that). The good news is that it is easy to clean off the excess and try again.

Look at the first service manual page on the 352 to identify the spring. I see that the information on rebuilding the dashpot appears on this page as well.

Right on.  Thank you again.