Lubing a 6-8368 Alaska Railroad Industrial Switcher

@coach joe posted:

The performance of my little 2-B-2 leaves a lot to be desired.  This little coffee grinder has the Pullmor motor.  I've lubed it as per directions, even removing the set screw and putting 2-3 drops of Hob-E-Lube lite oil HL662 in the top of the motor.  Performance hasn't improved much.  Is there any where else I should lubing, old grease to removed, etc?

Did you pull the armature and check the worm gear at the bottom?

how would i do that?  I was trying to find an exploded view on Lionel Support with no luck.

Well..... I've never looked at this engine but on other pullmors, once you remove the brush plate, the armature should lift up and out of the field magnets.

So for the first time ever I've pulled a brush plate.  That left the brushes and a ball bearing sitting on top of the armature.  Luckily I didn't lose any while pulling the armature.  I Red-N-Tackyed the worm.  I believe I've got it seated again I now I have to re-assemble.  I know where the brushes have to go.  Any hints how to achieve that.  The springs look like they will push the brushes out while trying to re-position the brush plate.  Does the ball bearing go under the set screw?

Joe, I attached an old supplement that shows parts for that engine - see below.

When reassembling, hold the brush plate upside-down in your left hand. Insert the bearing and the two brushes into their respective holes. The drawing shows the narrower end of the brushes facing the brush plate, but I have found them inserted both ways on various Lionel engines. If you remember which way they were oriented when you took it apart, just use that way to reassemble.

Note that nothing will fall out at this point since the brush plate is upside-down. Pick up the frame/motor assembly in your right hand - now the tricky part - use your right forefinger to hold the armature in place as you tip the frame/motor assembly upside-down. Now align the two mounting studs into the two holes in the brush plate, and with your right finger, gently position the end of the armature to go into its hole in the brush plate. When all 3 points are aligned, push everything together and add screws!

Oddly, there is no set screw shown in the parts diagram, at least not any that I saw. The brush plate looks like it was meant to have one, so the drawing may just be incomplete.

Be sure you clean the armature slots with a toothpick or a toothbrush with isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits. You may also want to give the copper commutator a cleanup with the same toothbrush and solvent combo. There is PLENTY written on the topic of motor cleaning/refurbishing alone, so feel free to research it until your brain swells up! 

Also don't forget to reinstall the armature spacer washer on the bottom shaft of the armature (item #23 on the attached parts list, p/n is 350-122) when inserting the armature into the frame assembly. This is a critical step in keeping the wires on the bottom side of the armature from rubbing themselves in half on the frame!

I would also test the brush springs to make sure they both have approximately the same amount of tension. If there's a big difference, that can cause some crappy operation. I usually like to replace them with new parts whenever the situation allows.

Lastly, check for a minimum of vertical play in the armature. If there's too much, you either left out the bottom armature spacer or if there's really a set screw on the top of the brush plate, it needs to be tweaked down to have almost no play - if you tighten it too far, the motor will bind up. You can manually check this and get good results with the use of that same index finger!!

George

@coach joe posted:

I know where the brushes have to go.  Any hints how to achieve that...

Does the ball bearing go under the set screw?

Use Red N Tacky(small dollop) on the top of the armature shaft(this will provide a lifetime-lube). set the ball on top, held in place with the R 'N T. Set the brush plate in place and fasten, omitting the brushes. No upside-down maneuvers here.

Now using a small piece(24-22 ga) of wire with a J-hook in the end, pull up each brush spring with the hook and pull it slightly to the side to clear the brush tube, drop the brushes in and release the spring. Done.

Keep it up Joe and we will have you doing ERR and PS 3 upgrades in no time......

Sorry- I didn't know you had never taken a motor apart. The advice above from both George, and Rob will get it back together.

Bob

@ADCX Rob posted:

Use Red N Tacky(small dollop) on the top of the armature(this will provide a lifetime-lube). set the ball on top, held in place with the R 'N T. Set the brush plate in place and fasten, omitting the brushes. No upside-down maneuvers here.

Now using a small piece(24-22 ga) of wire with a J-hook in the end, pull up each brush spring with the hook and pull it slightly to the side to clear the brush tube, drop the brushes in and release the spring. Done.

Wow! Just when you think you know it all, somebody comes up with a better way! Love it! And I don't really think I know it all - I know that I don't know it all by a long shot, you know? Thanks for that Rob.

George

Thank you gentlemen.  Being impatient I reassembled the motor before I got your responses.  I now wish I had waited.  The ball bearing was laying on top of the armature, not the shaft, so I reassembled it that way.  I was able to stand the brushes atop the armature and line them up so no upside down theatrics were necessary.  there was no improvement after lubing, but I guess that's because the ball bearing is in the wrong place.  A redo is in order.  Not looking forward to it.

So I got lucky and didn't lose the ball bearing after re-assembling the motor incorrectly.  I used @ADCX Rob suggestions and have the motor back together and properly lubed.  It's still a coffee grinder on wheels and performance doesn't appear to have improved at all.  I believe the e-unit is sticking a little but I'm not touching that at this time.  The headlight was working but now it's not.  A preliminary check didn't reveal any lose wires or connections.  Since I don't have a replacement on hand that will have to wait for another time.  I've been adjusting the set screw for a while to see if it will run any better but when I think I may have it adjusted just right a new batch of beans gets thrown in the grinder.  I was going to make a shield to hide the motor from view and add glazing to the open windows but now I don't know if I want to expend the energy since I don't see this little guy getting much run time the way it's performing.  It may be time to button it back up and put it onthe shelf.