American Flyer 282 and 302

The switch should be on one side or the other and not in the middle. I have an AF 295 steam engine and the tender picks up the power from its wheels, so the tender's wheels need to be clean. The reverse units are similar to Lionel's E units but just a little smaller, the small cogs on the side of the reverse wheel might be worn from use.

On the 302 do you have the tether from the tender plugged in all the way at the back of the engine? Another thing about the 302 does it have DC after the 302 as in 302DC?

If so that s a DC powered engine and may need repair if you have used AC power with it.

Have you cleaned the engine's motor area & brushes? That too may keep it from running. My AF 295 is very picky about having good spring tension in the motor and armature area.

As for using a CW-80 I have no experience with a CW-80 and AF trains. However I think the CW-80 should work with the AF trains if use another transformer like the KW or ZW or MTH Z-1000. 

Lee Fritz

302 was not made on DC only version.

Both locos have smoke systems.

Often with a Flyer steamer that has been in storage, you have to clean the commutator face and the brushes.

Sometimes the smoke piston sticks and sometimes the oil on the drive wheel axles hardens and jams the wheels.

The CW-80 is not the best choice, but there seem to be a lot of them out there. It will run these locos, so the source of the problem is not the transformer.

Start with the 282. Remove the boiler shell. Oil the drive wheel axles and shoot some WD-40 into the cylinder holding the smoke piston. If these things get the loco running, then you can clean the old oil out of the drive axles and clean the surface that the smoke piston rides in.

The tenders can be swapped for purposes of troubleshooting. If you get one loco running, then you can swap its tender to the non-running loco. See if the problem follows the tender or the loco.

Make sure that the tender wheels are clean. Make sure that the pickup wheels on one truck are on the opposite side as the wheels on the other truck. make sure that the rear truck with the coupler is not turned around backwards. Make sure that all four wires in the tether and not broken.

if you have a 302 and not a 302AC they came in several variations. The 1953 version has a 5 wire connection between the engine and tender, the 5th wire is soldered to the connector that plugs into the back of the engine which makes it more complicated to swap tenders. The factory service manual shows all 282's with a 5 wire connection as well, but I think some were made with 4 wires. all the engines use the 4 position reverse unit. The lever under the tender just locks the reverse unit in one position. 

Follow the advice above. In my experience a shot of contact cleaner, or WD40 if you must, on the commutator and gears will frequently get these running. If not then the brushes could be worn out or contact fingers on the reverse unit could be worn. I have also seen wires break in the 4 conductor cable between the engine and tender. It is extremely rare that a motor winding fails. 

Tom Barker's repair video is a good primer on some of the basics of getting power to a Gilbert steamer. Worth a watch:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaT4osktxOg

Take both loco's and tenders apart and give them a good cleaning. Pay attention to the brushes and commutator in the motors and be sure to remove hardened grease from the gears. Take the E-Units apart and clean the drums and contacts. 

I re watched Tom Barker's video as Craig suggested. It is well done and helpful for anyone who does not routinely do these repairs. His books and videos are invaluable. It might seem intimidating at first but the most common things are not. The commutator can be cleaned and the brushes replaced without removing the engine shell. The reverse unit can be accessed by removing 4 screws in the bottom corners of the tender floor, then lifting off the shell. Simple and quick. 

With the OP's engines, the 282 is likely a 5 wire connection so the light illuminates and the smoke unit heats with track power. Check lubrication, cleaning, brushes, reverse unit fingers per the video. The 302 likely is a 4 wire connection so the light and smoke unit will not get power if the wheels are dirty or the reverse unit contacts are bad. 

In 40 years of repairing Gilbert engines these maintenance and repairs have fixed all but 3 steam engines; two had broken wires, one a bad armature. Of course many needed smoke unit rebuilds but only after they were running well.

Thank you everyone for the suggestions and insight.  The video will definitely help.

@AmFlyer said - The commutator can be cleaned and the brushes replaced without removing the engine shell.  How do I do this without removing the shell?

What can I use to clean the commutator, brushes and wheels?

What should I use to clean the shell of the locomotive and tender?

Thank you, Ron.

The contact cleaner shown in the video, Archer, was a Radio Shack item. Other brands are available at supply stores. This can be used to clean the wheels, contacts and commutator. I use Gumout carefully to soften and clean the hardened grease on gears. 

The Barker video shows how to access the brush springs, take out the brushes and take out the commutator. remove the screw that holds the trailing truck on the engine and unplug the 4 pin connector; remove the two screws that fasten the connector in the engine cab. The two long screws that fasten the brush holder to the motor can then be accessed and removed. It works the same as in the the video, the clearances are just tighter. The only reason to remove the engine chassis is to repair the smoke unit. 

Thanks Tom for the clarification, I appreciate it.  I wasn't sure if the cleaner should be sprayed on all the items that need cleaning.

I will try this over the next couple of days and see how it goes.

Thank you everyone for helping me out.

Ron.

Thank you for the help everyone. 

I was was able to get the 302AC running consistently in forward after doing the recommended cleanings. 

The 282 worked in reverse a little bit but now will not move again. I think it needs new wiring because I jiggled one of the wires and it moved a little.  

Is is there a video on how do do the rewiring?

@RepairTechnician thank you for the link for the wires on eBay.  I seen he has some instructions also. 

Thanks, Ron. 

The wires in the 4 conductor cables are very fine stranded conductors with flexible insulation. They can break but it is uncommon. The more common problem is one or more of the wires break where they are soldered to the plug pins at the engine connector or at the fingers on the fibre strips in the tender. I would carefully check these first. if the conductor really is broken you need to buy a replacement one from one of the vendors. Swap and re solder the the new for old one connection at a time. all the wiring diagrams are posted online but they can be confusing, it is easier to just take your time and do this one connection at a time. You will need an Ohm meter to make sure you have both ends of the same conductor identified. 

Although I do agree, there is somebody out there (and I don't remember who;hopefully, they'll chime in here) who posted the wiring diagrams that are color-coded,so it's really easy to follow. I had to re-wire my #302, and having that schematic made it a much easier task. And now the engine works just fine!

Mark in Oregon

Port Lines Hobby Supplies has a website where you can order all the parts you could ever need plus online repair clinics.  Go to this link to get the repair information you need.  You can also call Doug Peck there and ask for information on parts.

http://www.portlines.com/afrepairclinics.htm 

I have the original factory service manual instruction sheets and while accurate they can be confusing for first timers to use. I have never seen color coded diagrams, that would be a tremendous help. 

I have not looked at the tutorials at the Pirtlines website, I need to do do that to be familiar with all the resources available. 

Thanks for the topic Ron, this has been an interesting and helpful discussion. 

Thanks again everyone for the help.

@RoundhouseBill - that link is awesome!

@Gary - you are welcome for the topic being introduced.  It is my pleasure.

It was great hearing the 302AC "Choo-Choo" around the track.

Someday soon the 282 will be going also.

Clear loco and tender schematics for the 282.

Steve

Thank you Steve for the diagram, I am sure it will help.

AF wiring diagrams for 4 wire and 5 wire locomotives in color.

Larry

Thank you Larry, the colors make it stand out more which will make it easier.

That's the one!!!  

Mark in Oregon

My 302AC needs a headlight.  Does the boiler come off or do I need to take off the shell to replace it?

The 1948 version of the 302 (the only one with wire handrails) has a boiler front that comes off revealing the headlight. If yours actually is marked 302AC I assume it is one of the later versions with either a 1-piece die cast or plastic boiler. On those versions there is a small metal bracket that holds the headlamp. It is affixed to the underside of the pilot ("cowcatcher") with a single screw. You should be able to access the bulb by simply removing that single screw.

The following link shows a crude diagram of the 1-piece 302. The small bulb bracket is item 4 in the diagram. In reality, it will be connected to wiring for the bulb (not shown), but you should still be able to wiggle it out after removing the screw.

http://myflyertrains.org/gallery/album209/302_5

Thank you for the information Craig.

Mine is not a 1948 version.  

I looked and I can see the screw underneath.

Thank you for your time.

The link Craig provided is to an excellent AF resource site. I recommend you scan through some of the other material on that site.

If the headlight still does not work with a replacement bulb it is possible the center conductor on the replacement bulb is slightly short. I got quite a few of those from suppliers. The fix I use is to clip off a very short piece of solid conductor wire(1/16") and drop it on the center conductor in the socket. Screw in the bulb, it will hold the wire in place and complete the connection. I have several engines running with this fix. I hope you do not have this problem. 

I got the 282 running, my son and I worked on it last night. The problem now is I no  longer am receiving track power so the headlight and smoke unit are not working and the locomotive only goes in reverse now.  When I put the switch on the tender to go forward it just hums.  I think it is because it doesn't know the words. 

Two steps forwards and one step back. 

We will need to get a volt meter and do some testing. 

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your time, Ron. 

It seems you have 2 problems.

You seem to have a wiring problem to the headlight and smoke unit. Check the wiring to the motor brushes, as this is where they get their power from.

The reverse only problem is a symptom of a faulty reverse unit in the tender. The finger contacts and drum of the reverse unit need to be checked to see that they are not worn, dirty, bent or burned through.

Larry

It's important to note that the 5-wire locomotives (typical for the 282) connect their "5th wire" directly to the rivet  on the fiber panel that screws to the back of the locomotive cab. That wire is the one that keeps power to the headlamp and the smoke unit. It does not connect via the removable jack panel. I think it is indicated by the green wire in the diagram that TrainLarry provided. If you changed around any wiring or disconnected that wire that's soldered directly to the rivet you may have caused the loss of power to the smoke/light.

You mentioned that the 282 goes only in reverse. Can you rear the reverse unit cycle ("click") at all when the switch under the tender is in either position? It sounds like the reverse drum is not rotating, but it's hard to tell without seeing the locomotive operate in person. The first few minutes of the Tom Barker video posted above will give you an idea of what I mean when I ask if you can hear the reverse unit cycle/click.

As suggested, Tom Barker's video should be helpful. Keep in mind the lever under the tender is simply a mechanical lock for the reversing unit. If you move the lever to the lock position while power is applied to the tender it locks in the current position (if it was moving in reverse it will keep moving in reverse even when the transformer is turned off and on). If the lever is moved to the lock position after power is turned off it will lock in the next sequence position (neutral) if the reverse unit sequencer is working. (The metal lever that moves the plastic pawl in the video).

So that we are all on the same page electrically, do you have a 4 wire or 5 wire locomotive?

You definitely need to observe if the reverse unit is cycling or not. If it cycles, you have one problem, if it does not cycle, you have a different problem.

Larry

I have the 5 wire.

I used the black and white diagram for reference. It is for a 4 wire 282 because I compared it to the color 4 wire and it is the same. My fault.

That is what the issue is.

I will have to rewire it again.  More bonding time with my son, so all is well.

As far as the e unit, it was hanging up a little bit, but it appears to be working correctly now that I sprayed some contact cleaner on it.

I will let you guys know what happens after the re-wiring.

Thanks you for your time, Ron.

Finally had some time to rewire the 282 and it is working well now.

The 302AC was running well after it was rewired, but now will no longer move.  It was slowing down and then stopped and has not moved any more.  Not sure what is going on?

Any ideas?

Thank you for your time, Ron.

Is the loco headlight receiving power?

Is the reverse unit sequencing?

Take out the armature and make sure the wheels turn freely and are not binding.

Remove the plug from the tender to isolate the motor and hardwire the motor to run directly from the transformer. See the color diagrams attached.

For a 4 or 5 wire plug, jump the yellow and blue wires on the motor.

Add transformer wires to the red and black wires and turn up the power a bit. The motor should run.

If not, there is a problem with the motor.

If it runs, disconnect the wires and plug the tender wire back in and check again. If it does not run, you have a wiring or reverse unit issue in the tender.

Make sure the track and wheels, especially on the tender, are clean, and the copper axle wipers are making contact on the axles of the tender.

Larry