lionel repair help

Welcome aboard !  I use mostly 20ga and 22ga  super flex wire for locos and tenders. A good lube and oil is required for top performance and a good cleaning of the wheels and the rollers is also a good idea.

Welcome to the forum, and the world of toy train service and repair. Train Tender is one of the internet parts dealers. Scroll down on the left to 'Lionel Alpha Parts', and check the link for 'wire'. There is any and every kind of wire you may need there for repairs. Generally you would use the 22 gauge super flex or single conductor wire, depending on the application.

  For overhauling the engines, take the motors apart, and clean everything with naptha, available at your hardware store. Clean the wheels, pickup rollers, gears, motor armature commutator (the copper on top of the armature), brushes, springs, brush holder-clean everything you see with the naptha. Replace worn brushes and springs. Reassemble the motor and oil the armature bearings at the bottom, and the top where it comes through the brushplate. Oil the axle bearings, and grease the gears. Do the same for the whistle tenders.

  The e-units need to be serviced, and need to be cleaned with naptha also. The copper fingers need to be clean and have proper tension on the drum. Overhauling e-units is another topic.

  After the overhaul, your trains should run like new.

Larry

Hi

the most people use is the 20ga super flex wire.

 we do sell it at Henning's Trains. 

I don't recmend that you use outher wire tends to derail things.

also a welcome to this forum.  My recommendation is to use wire similar to what was on the engine in the first place.  On the really early pre-war trains, the manufacturers used solid wire of 18 to 22 gauge, where the wire was not meant to flex regularly.  Modern day insulations are far better than the stuff used 80 years ago and will not dry out and become brittle.

Wire that must flex as part of it's operation, such as wiring to pick up rollers or to pivoting power trucks,  connections to accessories,  even to tracks, are generally better if stranded wire is used.   In the really old days, they used a lot of cloth or thread bound insulation.  You will have some trouble buying this type of wire, although some manufacturers offer it specifically for accurate restoratons of older products.  Expensive, though, but might be worth while depencing on what you're working on.

Paul Fischer

thanks everyone for all the advise on what to use and where to get it. i have another question? what should i use to clean the tender and locomotive shells? i don't want to use something that will hurt the finish.   

Hi

to clean the shell and all the outher parts.

wash them with soft brisle brush and dish washing liquid like polmolive.

I like to use hot water and then blow them off with air gun.

if you dont have air just shake them off and let drie.

hope this helps.