SignalTraffic Forums

by **TacomaJoe** on Tue Jun 04, 2013 12:38 pm

Contact tension plays a role as well. You might just pull the cam and compare all the contact pressures. Crank on the 1/4" nut to increase the tension. Another spot to check is the back of the contact where it rides on the panel. Sometimes arcing back there will keep the contact from moving freely.

by **3Mfanatic** on Tue Jun 18, 2013 11:17 pm

Okay, gang! Here's a video I just snapped of the cross phase yellow contact sparking like the 4th of July. As you can see, it appears to be coming from underneath the contact and there's an occasional grumbling that emanates from the rear of the box but creates no sparking. I managed to capture this on a sound clip and will find a way to let you listen but for now, I'd like your opinions on this. :hello:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3-uv5GA6o

by **2070** on Wed Jun 19, 2013 4:16 am

The stationay contact seems loose/durty where it is screwed into the buss bar.

Turn the controller OFF!

Take the fingers out and remove the stationay contact.

Clean the buss bar and the stationary contact.

Replace it and also tighten all the others

by **3Mfanatic** on Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:08 pm

Thank you, Phil!!!! :hello:

The stationary contact was indeed loose and there was also the mother lode of corrosion under there on the buss bar and on the contact. Tightening the remaining contacts has also solved my flicker in between changes and has lead me to believe this poor little EF-20 was not maintained all that well in its final years on the street. No more yellow flicker, no more electrical crackling! :clapping:

by **3Mfanatic** on Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:10 pm

That being said, I will probably eventually do a full tear-down and cleaning of all the stationary contacts, fingers and the buss bar this summer and then oil all the parts that need it. After that, she should be good for many more years. :grin:

by **3Mfanatic** on Thu Jun 27, 2013 10:31 pm

Well that fix only lasted a week. :Phil:

Looks like I'm going to do my tear down a bit earlier than expected. :rob:

by **3Mfanatic** on Sun Aug 18, 2013 4:27 pm

As my free time will go to virtually nil when I start my new job tomorrow, I finally did the full cleaning overhaul on the EF-20 today and it solved all my problems! As it turns out it was more than just the stationary contact and the buss bar that were to blame for my indication flickering and stutter when the hammer would rise and fall. Almost all of the contact fingers were super-corroded and there was even some corrosion on the buss bar itself. It took me about an hour and a half (and 60s music courtesy of Pandora) to do a full tear-down, cleaning and reassembly with careful documentation (photos and a hand-written chart) to ensure it went back together as I took it apart.

All in all, I'm very happy with the result and the thing works better than it has the entire time it's been with me. :clapping:

by **Canuck_in_TX** on Sun Aug 18, 2013 11:49 pm

Glad to hear you solved your flickering problem. It's a good feeling when you can check one off your list. :good:

by **mcha9797** on Mon Aug 19, 2013 6:18 am

Good deal Andrew, glad you got it fixed!! :thumbsup:

Don't let your new job take ALL of your time.

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