Corroded battery wagon help

[Gareth]

Hello again everyone,

I purchased a battery wagon off E bay a while back I got it very cheap but the only problem it very corroded or oxidised ( the copper in it had gone green).

Any way, I removed the red plastic cover and scraped out all the green goo, I also took the whole thing apart and used emery cloth to get the corrosion off the copper terminals and make them nice and shiny again.

I put it all back together and brought new batteries for it wired it all up, turned the switch and nothing.

I can't seem to figure out why it wont work?, all the contacts are touching and the batteries are new the only thing I was not sure about is what it's supposed to look like originally in the inside of the wagon, but I put everything back in the right positions (how I found it). So it should work.

The Battery wagon came off the train '7722' .

Has anyone had the same problems or does anyone possibly know what could be wrong with it?.

Many thanks, Gareth

[lightningtiger]

If the switch is in the battery box I would say the corrosion has set in the switch contacts, now do you have a mulitmeter ?

Every train tech should....so measure the resistance from the last positive terminal in the battery section and the output connector of the battery box, operate the switch to see if the switch is making contact.

Now if there is no current flow you know where the problem is, but if the box is fine then the wiring could be suspect.

I wish you luck and Brick On !

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

I need to see some pictures ...or you can use an electronic tester.

P.S.

Is it easy remove the red cover?

[Gareth]

Ah, mulitmeter thanks lightning tiger, i will have to purchase one of those.

As for the red battery cover it was fairly simple it just slid off with a bit of persuading using a very thin knife, and being very careful not to damage to out side of the box.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Ah, mulitmeter thanks lightning tiger, i will have to purchase one of those.

As for the red battery cover it was fairly simple it just slid off with a bit of persuading using a very thin knife, and being very careful not to damage to out side of the box.

Ok thanks for the tip!

[peterab]

Has anyone had the same problems or does anyone possibly know what could be wrong with it?.

Many thanks, Gareth

I'm assuming from your description you are talking about the old 4.5V battery cars which take 3 C cells.

The circuit for these is really simple, and mostly it relies on joining up the end of each battery, but there are a couple of gotchas. The switch is a reversing switch and should point to either end of the carriage, the middle position is the off position. There is also a little knob underneath the car, which when pushed up will break the circuit and stop the train, that's how the 4.5V signals work, it should spring back down and complete the circuit if not pushed. There is also a contact between the roof and the car which can get bent so it doesn't complete the circuit.

What i suggest is you hook up a battery and a light or motor in series with a wire at each end. When the two wires are touched the circuit should be complete and the motor or light should work. You can then use the two ends to make sure each section of the battery car circuit works. If you have successfully cleaned all the contacts its most likely that one or more of the metal contacts have been bent and theres a break in the circuit somewhere. The three sections I mentioned above are most likely.

[titany]

I was able to fix some stubborn issues with two red battery cars with the following tricks. And without ripping things apart. 

Step 1: Identify battery car as the problem. Check that all batteries have power. Check that cables between engine and battery car have connection and plugs are clean. Check that your motor is not dead. 

Step 2: Check battery & cable connections. Clean all metal parts which connect with batteries and cable sockets.  

Step 3: Check circuits. Check that battery car base’s circuits are ok. When the main switch is to the left, you should have connection from the left socket (a) to the left battery connector (b) and from the right socket (c) to the right battery connector (d). If the main switch is to the right, you should have connection with the left socket to right battery connector and from right socket to left battery connector.

Step 4: Check roof connections. If you have ok circuits on the base, but you can't get current out of the battery wagon, problem is with the roof. Remove dirt & corrosion from metal parts both inside the roof and on the top side of the battery car. Check that no metal parts are missing and they connect with the metal strip on the top side of the battery car.

Step 5: Check semaphore disconnecting switch. Check that circuit is closed between points (e) and (f).  The red button under the battery car should move freely up and down and you should feel slight pressure when pressing the button. The circuit opens when you press the button and closes when you release it. Make sure that the connection is clean and metal touches metal. Spray the connection with cleaner and use finger to move part (f) gently sideways to rub the connection clean. If it does not help, use small patch of fine sanding paper (1000) to clean the metal surfaces, just few passes is sufficient. If the moving metal strip on the bottom of the battery car (f) is bent upwards, bend it slightly back down to add pressure to the connection. Make sure the red button still works & cuts the circuit when pressed.

Step 6: Check main switch connections for corrosion. If you have eliminated all the problems described above, the issue is with the main switch connections. They can get corroded or bent. First clean connections with CRC Oxide Clean & Protect Pro or similar cleaner. Scrape gently the long metal strips on sides & center with a cotton swab, scalpel or other suitable metal tool, if necessary. You need to get your cleaning product also inside the switch, as the problem may be with the connections under the switch. Move the switch several times back and forth to clean the contacts.

Step 7: Fix bent main switch connectors. If the battery car still does not work, the likely culprit is bent main switch contacts. 

Check connections with a multimeter:

Turn the main switch to the right and check that:

-          (h) is in contact with (j)

-          (h) is in contact with (l)

-          (g) is in contact with (k)

-          (g) is in contact with (i)

Then turn the main switch to the left and check that:

-          (h) is in contact with (j)

-          (h) is in contact with (k)

-          (g) is in contact with (i)

-          (g) is in contact with (l)

Small metal strips (g) and (h) are bent under the plastic switch in L shapes towards the centre of the switch and towards outside. If for example main switch is turned right and there is no contact between (j) and (h), but there is contact between (h) and (l), this is means that the inner “L” does not touch the (j). And if there is no contact between (h) and (l), this means that the outer “L” does not touch the (l).

Go easy with the multimeter, you can get false results if you press hard and make the two disconnected metal strips meet.

Check which side of the switch is the issue. Only tamper with the contacts which do not work, leave the working connections alone, as it is easy to press them out of whack. On the right side (g) try to press down the metal strip on the switch or insert small plastic strip in between the plastic switch and the metal connector. On the left side (h) insert small plastic strip into the small slot on the bottom of the battery car (sliding it in between battery car bottom and the metal connector) and another in between the metal connector on the switch and the plastic switch. See drawing below. I used two plastic strips which were 0,3 mm thick and 3 mm wide.  

[PeteM]

Thanks for this! I have a non functional battery wagon that I need to start investigating and this gives a wonderful overview of to be looking for :)