nickaix posted:Re: the balky e-unit. I have one of these, and it also had this problem. I found that the drum did not rotate easily, which meant a higher than intended voltage was needed to cycle it, because the finger contacts were putting too much pressure on the drum. I just bent them back a little, until the drum was loose enough to move at 6 volts. Didn't even have to take the e-unit apart. There was still enough pressure on the drum for good electrical contact.
Nick, I remember diddling with the e-unit for a couple of days back when the loco was new. It is working as smooth as it possibly can. Remember this e-unit uses a spring to move it's armature back to the rest position in place of gravity and it does take a little more voltage to cycle it. Add to this that the higher gear ratio from 14:1 to well over 20:1 allows the motor to spin much more freely. It starts at a lower voltage and pulls less current. I added lead to the boiler to make use of the extra torque at the wheels and when I install the LCRU I hope I can find some new places to pack in some lead as the LCRU will take up the space where my block of lead was. J
