Easily Fix A Floppy Reverse Unit (And How Do They Work?)

Fixing a Floppy Reverse Unit on this episode of Toy Train Tips and Tricks. Hello again, this is Mike and I'd like to express my special thanks to channel members for helping make this video possible. A common problem for Lionel locomotives is a reverse unit lever, or more technically an E-unit lever, that flops back and forth and does not want to remain in a correct position. This of course causes the locomotive to behave erratically if it will run at all. Such was the problem with this custom painted Lionel number 2018 steamer. It was listed on eBay as does not run, but it looked to be in good overall condition in the photos, so I thought I'd take a chance for the $20. What I discovered when the model arrived was that it did run, and it runs very well, but only when the reverse lever was in just the right position. But keeping it there was a challenge, as the lever was sloppy and moved easily on its own while the engine was running. I could, of course, replace the E-unit entirely, adding $40 or $50 to my $20 purchase. Or, as some will undoubtedly say in the video comments, Lionel E-units can be taken apart and rebuilt for years of additional service. However, in my case, I have trivocal eyes and my hands are frequently visited by the Itis brothers. You know, Arthur and his annoying brother Tendon. So undertaking a project with numerous small and delicate parts is not an appealing option. No, I needed an easier option to fix the problem. When I discovered my fix, I also offered the same repair for my father's Lionel number 221 steamer, which had the same problem. But before we get into the repair, what exactly is an E-unit and how does it work? Open-frame universal motors, such as those used by Lionel and most other toy train manufacturers from the beginning of the 20th century until well past World War II, can only change direction by physically changing the orientation of the motor brushes in relation to the electromagnetic motor field. This is true whether the motors are receiving AC or DC power. Early motor reversing mechanisms relied on a physical switch, either operated manually by the user or sometimes activated by a trackside lever. In the early 1920s, a Mr. Harry Sparks, an appropriate name for an electrical engineer, patented an electromechanical device by which a rotating metal drum could change the orientation of the brushes through the motor field. Think of it like a music box, but instead of the nodes on the drum plucking metal fingers to make music, they instead complete various electrical connections to a motor. A small solenoid held a ratchet mechanism. That's that distinctive E-unit hum or buzz that you hear. And when the power was interrupted, the ratchet would drop down and grab the drum so that when power was reapplied, it would rotate the drum to the next position. Thus, a repeating forward-reverse-forward or forward-neutral-reverse-neutral-forward pattern could be created. Ives Trains adopted this device, calling it an R-unit, and began adding it to their toy train locomotives in 1924. While this new ability to change locomotive direction anywhere on the track by remote control was a popular innovation, it was not enough to turn around the financial fortunes of the struggling company. And by 1928, Ives Manufacturing came under the joint control of competitors Lionel and American Flyer, with Flyer eventually bowing out to Lionel's full control and eventual absorption of the firm, giving us, among other things, the Lionel Jr. line of O-27 trains. Lionel wasted no time studying, copying, and improving upon the Ives R-unit design, and added their own distance-control system to locomotives in 1929 with the use of what they called an E-unit, a smaller and somewhat more reliable version of the Ives design. This design remained virtually unchanged until it was fully replaced by all-electronic reverse circuit boards in the 1990s. Lionel used two basic E-unit designs over the years, the three-position unit, which operated much in the same way as the Ives design, with the drum changing the orientation of the brushes through a forward-neutral reverse cycle, and later a cheaper two-position system was introduced, whereby the E-unit selected which of two separate motor fields were used, each in opposition to the other. In both designs, a lockout switch is operated by a lever so that the user can choose to end the E-unit cycling in any of the positions, forward, reverse, or even neutral. Over time, the rivet that holds this lever can become loose, allowing the lever to easily slide into and out of position, making motor operation erratic. A simple solution is to find a way to physically hold the lever in place while still allowing freedom of movement between the on and off positions. I eventually settled on the idea of a horseshoe clip, or more appropriately called an E-clip, much like those used to hold Lionel's post or trucks to car frames. One of these clips could be inserted between the lever and the frame of the reverse unit, holding the lever tight at its position while still allowing for movement. Not knowing what size would be best, I purchased an assortment of 300 various-sized clips from Harbor Freight for around $6. I found the 316th-inch size works best, but now I also have a bunch of extra ¼-inch clips for my Lionel rolling stock as well. I placed the open end of the clip around the lever rivet from the top, and I used a small screwdriver to push it on as tight as it would go. Depending on how loose your lever is, you may or may not be able to push the E-clip completely around your rivet. Check the tension a few times. Make sure that the lever will hold its position but still be I found the lever on the No. 221 to be the looser of the two, and the E-clip was able to be pushed significantly farther onto its rivet. Before reassembling the models, I bench-tested each one to make sure the E-units were cycling properly. I also double-checked all of the wiring and replaced the headlight wire on the 2018. I checked the wiring for the 2018's smoke unit, but unfortunately, I inexplicably did not check the unit's operation. After reassembly, I determined that it is indeed fried, and I will have to order a repair kit for it and disassemble the locomotive one more time. These two 264s are remarkably similar under the hood, although the 221 is easier to assemble and disassemble because of the lack of a smoke unit, and it also lacks the extra steam chest casting of the No. 2018. A bonus tip! After reassembly, it seemed that the headlight bulb on the 221 was loose. You do not need to disassemble the model to fix this. The headlight mounts to a clip underneath the front of the locomotive. Pull out the clip, repair or replace the bulb, and reinsert the clip and you're ready to roll. And now both units operate flawlessly. But what should I do with the blue one? The paint job itself is not well applied. It's very thick, covering up many details, and in spots you can see that it's flaking off. It will need to be completely stripped and redone at some point. I wonder if this was an attempt to create one of the ultra rare boys sets that were planned as companions for the pink Lady Lionel sets. That was more of a royal blue than a baby blue, so likely not. This blue is more akin to a Santa Fe blue goose steamer, although that one was streamlined. Or maybe they were trying to match Lionel's early post-war blue and silver passenger cars that came with the 221 steamer set. I'll just continue to run it as is until I ultimately decide how I want to decorate it. In any case, for $20 it is not a horrible problem. By the way, this thing does take up licking and keep on ticking. At the very end of the video clip, the tenter's coupler let loose and the steamer took off alone at Mach 3, sailing off the table when it reached the next 0-42 curve. Despite the impact on the concrete floor at full velocity, the engine showed no damage whatsoever and resumed running with no ill effects from its unscheduled flight. They don't make them like they used to. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to like it, subscribe, and click that notifications bell to make sure you never miss an episode. Now keep the trains running and we'll catch you next time with more toy train tips and tricks.