My American Flyer oil drum loader refuses to work. Specifically, the drums will not properly load into the cart. They start to slide but instead of tipping upright they stay more towards horizontal and fall out of the cart forcing me to quickly shut the accessory down so the car doesn't jam into the fallen drum. It's hooked up to a Lionel accessory transformer and I spent the better part of an hour fiddling with the voltage with no success. Any ideas?
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SeattleSUP: Mine is still boxed up from my recent move, but is the cart operating arm coming all the way towards the barrel chute so that the cart is close enough before the barrel drops into it? Sounds like the arm travel is impeded for whatever reason. You may have to remove the shed and look at the mechanism for anything binding the arm travel as it approaches the barrel storage ramp.
I found I had to run mine at 6 volts. Plus I put a few strips of electrical tape to improve sliding. Check the drums for burrs or rough spots too. It is a fun gizmo if working right.
Where did you apply the electrical tape? The drums seem to be fine. Is there a way to disengage the arms from the motor? Hard to tell if there is any binding when you can't freely move the mechanism. It seems like the car might not be going right up the very end where the barrels drop onto the cart.
It's NOT voltage related. I've tried everything from 6-16 volts and it makes no difference.
Mine did the same thing you describe until I adjusted the arm - as I recall it required a slight bending.
Problem solved. I added a shim to the triangular shaped lever the cart pushes against to lift the drum dumping tray effectively increasing the lift the further the lever is pushed. This causes the drums to drop in a more vertical manner. The shim is nothing more than a small piece of styrene sheet held in place with super glue. Did need to slightly widen the slot with an razor blade. Seems to be working and the accessory has now run through 24 drums without dropping one.
Your Oil Drum Loader is not adjusted properly. There is an adjustment in the motor mount. Look for the slotted screw hole. I had to open up the slot a little to get the car to properly engage the ramp. It works fine now.
Hope this helps...
Earl
Very inventive mod. I've had to adjust several accessories so they would reliably work with all the current equipment.
On that oil drum loader (the original AF one) I had to adjust the shed so the awnings on the newer diesel cabs wouldn't hit it. I had to modify the Ice Loader for the same reason. The TMCC Culvert Loader/Unloader needed several mods so steam engine pilots and linkage would clear everything (the only place I use 027 on my 0 layout).
There are some others, but they all work now.
I just experienced the exact problem with the barrels sliding out of the drum loading bracket and not tipping into the truck loader. After much trial and error, this was my solution: Take a piece of black electric tape that has a rubberized backing (not smooth plastic) and place it directly on the bracket that holds the barrel that is to be tipped. There will be enough friction to hold the barrel from premature sliding until the truck loader gets close at which time it will tumble right into the truck. Make sure that the edges of the tape do not impede the bracket pivot or else the bracket will not slide back to allow the next barrel to go into it. The tape I used was a bit thicker than usual, too. Experiment with this, trying different tapes if you like. The tape I had was rubberized rather than plastic, though. This is an easy and inexpensive fix. On my accessory which was a Lionel re-make, there was no slotted screw for adjustment that I could see. Do not bend any part or else you might disturb the movement of the truck as it spins around. Also, any bending can cause a distortion in the arm movement, causing it to be blocked by the bottom of the building as it travels. I had to remedy this problem after trying such a solution without success.
With reference to Seattle SUP's remedy for the problem, if that is the direction you want to go, you can easily find a shim from index tabs used on notebook dividers or (more preferably) from the clear tabs used on file dividers for vertical file cabinets. One of the advantages is that after trimming to fit the bracket as Seattle SUP had done, the plastic tab can be separated to allow it to slip on both sides of the bracket with the bracket between the plastic and allowing it to be glued on both sides. If you want to experiment before gluing it in place, use some of the sticky stuff (like LeMax) that comes in a small tub that is used to adhere figures on displays. An interesting point is that the edge of the tab has a small rounded bulge on the outside (if you are familiar with index tabs, you know what I mean) that will provide a wider target when the truck comes into contact with it and is additional reinforcement at the stress point where the truck comes into contact. While these mechanical accessories can prove to be frustrating at times, it is always personally rewarding to use applied physics in an elementary fashion to find a remedy. Congrats to Seattle SUP for his innovative approach.
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