ROGER1 posted:Update on this engine. I got a call from The Motor Doctor yesterday that my engine is repaired and ready to ship. They rewound the armature and gave me 20% more turns for greater pulling power. And.....they added traction tires to two wheels. I asked Albert what the armature looked like when he had it apart and whether the added weight burned out the wiring. Turns out, he found some bad, loose wraps inside and one of more apparently mechanically broke. Good to know.
When I get it back I'll report how it runs.
Roger
Very interesting stuff, to me at least.
First, I wonder how much more pulling power the added "20% more turns" actually creates? My gut tells me it may not be much, but if the armature lamination 'stack' was built thicker, the added 20% might be quite noticeable. Of course that's just theory and there's probably not room, etc. Any knowledgeable motor engineers listening????
Secondly, I just checked my 1937 Lionel 265E and the brush plate is the same as yours, upside down! Now correct me if I'm wrong, but in this configuration, wouldn't the brush holder spring retaining tabs now serve a different purpose, and maybe not a useful one at that? It looks like as the brushes wear down, at some point the springs would hit these tabs and very quickly the engine would lose power and finally stop because there is no longer any tension on the brush springs???
Just curious...
And BTW Roger, my engine will pull the 3 prewar cars it came with (613, 614 and 615) plus tender, around the old circle quite easily - it accelerates quickly, so I assume there is little wheel slip. I have never tried anything longer because I didn't have any other cars … but I do now, and the next trip out of the box, the testing will begin!
That is a nice clean, rust free engine you have, a real beauty!
