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Post by curtis on Apr 30, 2023 19:21:36 GMT
Make sure you have true ground coming from wheel sets to frame. Also did this unit have two pickup shoes? One for ground and one for hot? It definitely sounds like a ground problem.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Apr 30, 2023 19:55:58 GMT
I go back to my own experience with a similar, but smaller, coil device, which would not move a similar sort of bar device either. It just won't work without being right on top of the incoming transformer power connections. (FWIW, this is the solenoid in the Lionel US Army missile firing motorised unit, which picks up the power to operate everything including the AC motor via the wheels and center roller from the track, and the solenoid turns a bar that trips the mechanical spring loaded missile firing triggers.) In your case I'd check the connections to the OTC - maybe beef up the gauge of wire you are using to connect it, bearing in mind that most home multimeter readings of voltage are actually very approximate. It seems to me that something might be causing the current reaching the solenoid to lack enough oomph (non-tech term).
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Post by harborbelt70 on Apr 30, 2023 21:32:44 GMT
Make sure you have true ground coming from wheel sets to frame. Also did this unit have two pickup shoes? One for ground and one for hot? It definitely sounds like a ground problem. I wondered about that as well - a ground issue - although I have also wondered whether this problem is specific to the OP's layout or power source/wiring. In any case, these cars have only one shoe, as described in the excerpt from the Lionel Service Manual below; you need to click on it to see it full size. I have posted the whole text of this above in an earlier reply.
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Post by mikepa on Apr 30, 2023 21:46:21 GMT
Make sure you have true ground coming from wheel sets to frame. Also did this unit have two pickup shoes? One for ground and one for hot? It definitely sounds like a ground problem. As harborbelt70 posted, only 1 pickup shoe. Also noob question, where should I look for the ground from the wheel set to frame? The only thing I see is the wire from the pickup to the solenoid. EDIT 1Another test - I used another layout powered by a ZW transformer thinking the corral might need more than 15.7 volts. Nope, 10.7 volts will cause the car doors to open, below 10.7 volts the car just buzzes. Also, if I sit the car on the connector and the shoe is pushed up, then connect a jumper cable from the A terminal on the 1033 to the Center rail, the doors open, otherwise it just buzzes which, I think, means it is not getting enough voltage. EDIT 214 gauge wire used throughout.
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Post by harborbelt70 on Apr 30, 2023 23:34:39 GMT
I’ll defer to someone who knows more about traditional Lionel assembly than I do, but the parts diagram shows that the trucks are held to the metal frame by a couple of posts each held on by a retaining clip.That post will also be metal and the ground path will be from the frame to the truck and the attached wheels - so no separate wire. As the Solenoid is screwed to the metal frame I think it must ground by the same route.
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