I have been trying to fix this tender I got with the matching locomotive. I have torn it down and did all the normal clean up that I would do on a postwar. Tested armature for continuity and it is good. Shaft is isolated as it should be.
this is a banana whistle I believe. See picture. I never worked on one. Didn’t know it existed until I read about it yesterday.
I have the motor spinning freely without energizing it. But when powering it up bypassing the relay it doesn’t move unless I help it. And then only to the next segment. Obviously binding but don’t know why. Could it be hitting the field laminations?
my next step is I painted the armature lamination so I could see if there was contact and where. I used a marker earlier and it gave hints of contact. Waiting for paint to dry. But why hit only when powered up? And if it’s hitting what is the fix?
any ideas or further diagnostic tests would be appreciated.