Basic Disassembly And Maintenance - Lionel Plastic "Scout" Motors - It CAN Be Done!
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2020
- Lionel's plastic-case motors that were developed for the Scout line in 1948 and continued through the 1950s have a reputation as being "disposable" motors - unreliable and nearly impossible to work on.
Having purchased my first such motor recently, a #1110 2-4-2, I decided to disassemble, clean, and lube one to see how difficult it actually is.
Armed with a few parts diagrams, I found the task not nearly as daunting as I was told. Follow along with me step-by-step!
*An interesting tidbit I did not mention in the video is this locomotive is a bit of a "Frankenstein". I established in a previous video that the shell in a 1951-52 model with the outline of the #6110 smoke hole clearly visible. However, this motor is a 1001-M, which was only made in 1948-49. Somewhere along the line, the motor was swapped out.*
Lionel Trains Pocket Price Guide 1901 - 2023 [Affiliate Link]: amzn.to/3LEAxK8
Great video Mike, I’ve had mine since 1963. Finally cleaned out 60 years of carbon and grime. I have all the low speeds back without hesitation. 🚂
Thanks!!
Thank you for taking the time to film all of this, edit, and share. Great content!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi.
Thank you so much was given my Lionel Scout in the year
1954 I’m am now 76 years old.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for watching. I enjoy making these very much!
I hope u still have it
Great tutorial video Mike. I have a Korean period plastic motor (metal rollers for center rail) #246 I got as a kid. I’m 69 now and my interest in trains has returned. Fun hobby for sure. Appreciate your time to share this video with us out here in TH-cam land. You have saved my first train so I can pass along to the next generation. 👍👏
Great to hear! Thanks for watching!
I have been collecting 1110, 1120, 1130 and 6110 for quite some time. Your brush holder and reversing lever explanation was excellent. Helped me on my niece's unit.
Happy to help!
Great video. I managed to crack open a non-running, non-humming scout motor and get it running with spare parts and your video. Thanks so much.
WONDERFUL! I'm happy to be of assistance!
Excellent video Mike. You did a fine job on getting this Scout motor serviced. These motors can be a bit temperamental. I’ve worked on quite a few myself over the years. That K-Line book is an excellent tool and guide. I’ve had mine for 20 years, and it still comes in handy. Just 1 quick note. On some of these Scout motors, there’s an oil wick that goes into the motor housing on an angle near the brush plate. This was a modification Lionel did to the later Scout motors. This helps with lubricating the motor, and It should be wet with oil. It’s not very easy to see with the shell on it, but you have to look up from underneath the shell to see if that particular Scout motor has one, and if it does, soak it with some light sewing machine oil. This will help keep the armature shaft lubricated on that side of the motor. The other side you have access to the motor bearing, and that should be lubricated as required. Excellent video, well explained. Tom
Thanks for the tip!!
Great video. Thank you so much. I took mine apart and cleaned up the brushes and it works a lot better. The little reversing "gears" in mine were really pretty clean, though not as clean as yours, but mine were black instead of green. I know mine is original because it was my Dad's--hadn't been run probably since the 80s.
Great! I'm glad it helped!
Great Instructional video! I do some tune ups on basic motors on American Flyer and Lionels. I have several of these scouts I just might be able to save! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching!
This video is outstanding. Great tips and description about the brushes and positioning.
Thank you!!
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks I got the Scout set in 1952. It has never been apart or cleaned.
Now it keeps the Grandkids happy😄😄
Very useful. I just came across my 1966 train set that's been in storage since 1973. This is good information for repairs. FYI. The wheels pull apart with some effort by hand, but when putting them back on you need to be particularly careful with the orientation. They have to go back onto the spline position exactly as they came off. Ask me how I know. Lol.
Thanks for the tip! That may save someone a big headache later!
Were able to duplicate all you did. our locomotive is working fine. Thank You.
Wonderful!!!
Thanks for the video. Oncleaning wheels I use LGB smoke fluid. Pticey, but plastic compatible and it does a nice job. If the gunk is really bad AND the wheels are metal (not nylon or plastic) I use a small swab of NEVR DULL (a silver polish available at most hardware stores) to clean the gunk. My first train was a Lionel Scout #6110. No headlight, but it does smoke. I never knew how to take these apart. I do have the K Line book you referenced, but never had the courage tondo it! Thanks!
Thanks for the tip!
Just got a set for about $25 at a swap meet. It's a lionel 245 but same motor design. Ran like crap and sometimes didn't want to run at all. Cleaned it up good and now it runs extremely fast and powerful
Wonderful!
Excellent presentation. Thank you!!
You're very welcome!
Hello, I watched the scout service video . I have purchased several that needed repair, it seems that it is a common problem to have that broken spud that centers and secures the rear of the motor with the long screw. The way I repaired it was o grind the broken spud so you have a level surface . Now I use a a bic pen remove the gold portion that holds the brass tip and discard that ,now remove the black or blue portion from the white barrel of the pen and use the colored part of the pen to make a spacer, look into the loco to get a rough idea of the size of the spacer you will require, use a razor saw or knife to cut the colored portion to size. Install it by holding it with needle nose pliers in place and starting the screw through the boiler,, now the spacer ,through the motor and finish by tightening the screw. It doesn’t need to be glued , and when you install it put the wide side of the spacer against the ground off spud. Hope you can use this idea. MG
Good tip. Thanks!
If you pull the two metal brackets off you can get inside further. I love my scouts! I've got two 1001's.
The design of the Floating armature arms are very loud. But still a cool train.
Have pulled one 'all the way apart". It IS a bit of a pain, but also it's not as bad as I was expecting with all the bad press that these motors get for their serviceability. So long as wobbly wheels don't bother you, and you're very careful, you can gently pry the wheels off with a flat head screwdriver and then open the motor up all the way. There are parts that can use a cleaning, and it gives you a chance to really scrub all the gunk out of the plastic housing.
The hard part, is to get everything lined up inside the housing when you put the two halves back together. It may take a few tries but it's not impossible. Use a vice to press the wheels back onto the axles- ideally you'd use wheel cups and a press, but I don't own one currently and the wheel wobble left behind isn't enough to cause problems for me.
The only reason you'd need to go that far, might be to improve the behavior of the reversing mechanism, or more reasonably, to remove debris like hair or other gunk that has gotten caught up inside the mechanism somehow. Cleaning the contacts inside is another reason you might want to get in there. One of the harder tasks to undertake, but it wouldn't be so bad imho if it weren't for needing to pull the wheels to get anything done inside the motor housing.
Removing the 2 screws holding the oval plate on side will access to brushes and, with a q tip and mineral spirits, allow a lot of armature commutator cleaning.
Be sure to leave the 2 contact plastic gears in original relationship to each other.
Thanks for the tip!
Back in the mid 50s I got a Lionel train for Christmas it was a scout I have three cars left of it a Condola the cruise and a crane
I had one. Noisy as hell. Did a great job on it!
Thanks for watching!!
Love the schematic
Many years a go I took one of these apart and after some hit and miss re-assembly I got it together and working. Now here is a weird thing. I'll let you know for sure in a few months if I remember and get to my older trains and find it, but the one I have has a smoke unit and magna-traction. Yes it is the plastic motor with the two part field movement type reversing.
Oh, sorry, but reversing units of the older type are not electronic, they are electric. Yes the term has been handed down that way, E-unit, but the modern ones are accurately electronic, so it is best to not confuse the two types. I thought it interesting, today I was working on a 8303 I just got in the mail. That part for the piston area along with the front wheels is the same part as the scout you were working on. The rear wheel are pretty close as well. I important thing to realize as soon as possible, always reverse turn you screw till it clicks in place and then turn it in the hole. Many things with plastic parts the screws are self threading cutter type screws. This means if you simply screw things back together without finding the right groove, your screw will cut another thread into that hole. Enough times and you will have drilled out the hole and that screw no longer grips.
The #233 was a plastic motored Scout with smoke and Magnatraction. Like most manufacturers, Lionel standardized parts on many items - especially the cheaper, mass produced items. A 1946 side rod is the same part as a 1976 side rod for the 2-4-2 locomotives.
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!!
Thanks I have a couple of these motors in my parts drawers
Thanks for watching!
Hello. If that contact cleaner gets anywhere else in the motor, will it damage it? I have a train that has a can motor which I can’t take apart, so would it be wise to spray that cleaner into the motor and let it sit overnight? Please let me know. Thank you
Not that hard to fix.I take them apart,make as friction free as possible,lube with grease and put em back together.They run great and fast.The only problem child is the 6110.I think the smoker adds so much resistance , they take more juice to pull light loads.The others will easily pull 11 cars with minor wheel slippage.I repaint them add details such as jewels grab rails bell and horn.I also change the rollers to copper if they are the steel ones from the Korean War vintage motors..copper is a much better conductor.They also tend to move the drums where they will not move forward or reverse.Easy fix is use the skeleton drum cover.This way you can use a toothpick to reach thru the body hole on the side to move the drums
Thanks for the additional information!
All learned by doing and much cussing.lol
I took my exact duplicate engine apart and fixed the lever on top as it was disconnected inside. Took several attempts to get the cover on without the springs jumping off, but finally got that.
One thing. The light bulb. Put a new one in, put the train on the track, and the light works, but not a lot of light.
I dont have any clear glass/crystal in the front hole. Does having it make a difference in light? Don't know if there was one originally.
I thought about using small mirrors inside the train to reflect more of the light through the hole. It seems wasted with the bulb further from the hole.
The original Scout locomotives did not have a headlight lens. I "borrowed" one from a basketcase 1970's version (perfect fit). Your headlight intensity will vary based on track voltage (train speed) and transformer wattage. I
Modern locomotives achieve a very bright headlight with the use of LEDs instead of bulbs. If you really want the brighter light, swapping an LED (with a proper resistor for the voltage) for the traditional bulb is the best option.
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks thx. If my mirror trick works...
Great video, fun fact 👏 one of these was given to me when i was like 2. It was given to me broken but it said lionel so i loved it lol 🤣. It has sentimental value so i had it repaired however now its showing its age again, if i maintain mine like you did, will it prolong its life span.
Great! Thanks for watching!
What is your favorite Scout Locomotive and why? My favorite is the 233 because it has magnatraction. Thanks for the great repair video.
I am a sucker for the MPC era plastic ones - mainly because that's what I grew up with. Good smokers. Good pullers with the traction tire. Low center of gravity so they hug the O27 curves well.
Mine is a 233 also.Mostly because I got it for Christmas in 1962,I believe.I rarely got to play with it cause it was only out at Christmas and Dad was mostly the engineer.I’ve still got the set because of that I’m sure
I feel the same about my 8141 from Christmas 1972. I still have it and still run it. th-cam.com/video/n4W-uRiVTWs/w-d-xo.html
Lionel press and riveter can help
Great video, I have struggled with these motor units before. I picked up a plastic body 242 with slope back tender at a swap meet for $10. I took it apart for a cleaning and there is a stray bare wire coming out of the motor unit with an eye connector soldiered to it. It is electrically connected to the wheels (Ground). Do you know what that is for...smoke unit? there is not a smoke unit on this Locomotive.
What is the # on the locomotive?
It is also #242, as well as being a 2-4-2. Thanks for the quick reply.@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks
“They’re hard to work on”
I’m only 14 and I got this motor working perfectly
I was pleasantly surprised myself. I had heard for years to avoid the plastic motored Scout engines because of the difficulty servicing them. The metal motor version, by contrast, is a piece of cake. I must assume that people have difficulty with the rotating brush holders and springs.
For example, Lioneltrainforum.com says, "Servicing equipment is fun and rewarding; however there are a few items, these Scout locomotives included, that even the professionals turn away.
These locomotives were just not designed to be serviced easily, as they were low-end, starter set locomotives. The motor design was never re-used because of the maintenance problems they had."
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks I agree, I did have an issue with the plastic motor because the green gears were misaligned. I think that’s why many throw them away
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks heh, I think he just doesn’t understand you need to align the green gears so the brass part is alternating with the other gear’s plastic part. I only disassembled it and reassembled it for it to work within 1 hour 30 minutes or so
On this video you skipped over the repair of the 2 broken spacers ( stand offs ) on the rear of the motor . I have developed a quick and easy repair. this is a very common problem I have 3 scout engines and all of them have broken stand offs. If you are interested drop me a line in your comments area.
Be certain to notice that the rotating drums are not the same
Are all Scout motor brushes the same? How do I know if I am buying the correct brushes for a 1060 steam locomotive engine?
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks My Scout is a 2-4-2 wheel configuration. No Mag-n-Traction, and runs Forward directional, no reverse. Is the part numbers 246-211 brushes and 246-211 springs acceptable? And the paper diagram shows:1001-46 motor brushes and 1001-47 motor springs. Because 622-121 has different springs. And the ends of those brushes are notched.
@@mdeange3 According to my Lionel service documents, the 246-211/246-212 are the original brushes and springs for the 1050 and 1060 locomotives.
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks Thank you for your assistance. Can you direct me where to find these brushes and springs?
@@mdeange3 Here's a reputable dealer. hennings-trains.shoplightspeed.com/copy-of-2020-motor-brushes-springs-1-pair.html
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks You are fantastic. Thank you very much for your assistance.
this motors need to taken all the down dirt collects on the axles makes for poor running i found the problem on the case body as they wear causing for poor electric contact repaired the area and they run great i used to be a lionel repair man for 30 years
Thanks for the information!
Do you have anything against lithium grease Sir.
Not really. I just prefer to use products designed for model on my models when possible. I really like Labelle products (not a paid plug!).
That's cool. Dad used it alot. He always said it would stick and not drip. Guess I just part of him with me. Thanks for replying. And ill try it.
How do you open the version with rivets on the commutator plate instead of screws?
Hmm.... I've never seen one like that. If you're ABSOLUTELY sure the rivets are the only thing holding it on, you can SLOWLY and CAREFULLY bend the rivet edges up until the plate clears for removal, then CARFEULLY peen the rivet back into place when finished. But again, I have never seen a Lionel assembled this way.
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks I just did it! It was incredibly time consuming but it works. There was a bit of string stuck in the motor that I had to pull out. After servicing it, I managed to stick it all back together. Thanks!
I talked to soon
Lionel should have left the bottom end of the market to March trains. They were much better than Lionel's cheap Scout series which did nothing but harm to the firm's reputation for quality.
That's Marx trains. Marx made a wide array of good value toys.
I would like to apprentice sir.
Show me how to fix my mechanical bowl unit. I need a teacher
i have the same train but it numbered 666 lol
Actually, the 666 is slightly different and it's the subject of my next video!
you're looking at a marx 666 not the train here
Get a new screwdriver!!!!!
Gee, it took this guy 18:35 to just get the motor housing out of the outside shell! Get too the point!
Well, you know us old geezers go on and on sometimes...I've learned a lot in the 2+ years I've been making these videos. I'm sure you'll find the newer releases to be more to your liking. Thanks for the feedback!
@@ToyTrainTipsAndTricks I’m 62!