I purchased a Lionel 165 Crane recently, everything functions alright, except the magnet, when power is applied, it's a dead short. Anyone know where to start looking to correct this problem?
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Do you mean when you turn on the magnet it causes a short, or it doesn’t work? There might be some bad wire to the magnet if it’s the former, or the latter might be the magnet burned itself out from being left in the on position.
This may help
For example 182 shows wiring controller
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MIKADO 4501: As soon as power is applied to use the magnet by turning the knob on the controller, there is a dead short. All the other functions work alright.
Rusty
Check the light wire insulation at the floor of the cab, see that no insulation has dry rotted away and the bare wire feeding the light in the cab that goes on the same time the magnet does is not touching the die cast cab floor.
Chuck, I'll check that out, thank you for the information, it's very much appreciated!
Rusty
Give this a look over and trace out your wiring:
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I'd like to thank everyone that has replied to this point, it is greatly appreciated! Rob, thank you for the wiring diagram. One thing I did remember is the light inside the cab didn't light when the magnet was energized. I guess it might be blown out from the short? I was under the idea it was suppose to light up when the magnet was energized. I'll have to check it out after work, if it's not to late. Have a good day everyone.
Rusty
I tested the red bulb, it lights up. The wire and connections appear to be in good shape. I removed the housing from around the magnet. There was black electrical tape holding the wires to the center section of the magnet. When the tape was partially removed the wires are not affixed in any way to the magnet. Is this normal?
I'm asking because I've never messed with anything such as this. I still get a dead short when the knob on the controller is turned to energize the magnet. Could the problem be inside the controller? All the other crane functions work alright. Could it be in the area where the boom fastens to the front of the cab?
The person I purchased this from said everything worked fine, I suppose something went afoul during shipping, or could the magnet indeed be bad and need replacing?
Rusty
One thing to check is the contact on the spool in the cab. It must be centered over the shaft otherwise it will short to the spool. Likewise, there is a contact under the base of the crane that must be centered on the shaft of the pivot gear. On the magnet, the wires are soldered to the lacquered magnet wires and separated by tape so that they don't touch
" When the tape was partially removed the wires are not affixed in any way to the magnet. Is this normal?"
Are you saying the wires end---are not connected to the magnet?
The problem could be the controller. It's been years since I've had my cab open, but if you can find where the ends of the wires from the magnet come into the cab, unsolder one, and then see if applying power to the two ends of the magnet, you could isolate the problem.
