I have a new 4193 Lionel whistle tender with train sounds that will only chug with speed, but the whistle will not operate using the tab on my ZW transformer. I do not have operational talk either. I register 4 VDC with my ohm meter. The horn on my Lionel 2023 works perfectly. How much DC is required?
Thanks, Cliff
Chuck,
What is a sound activation button?
Cliff
It's a button that has a series of diodes in it that allow you to create a DC spike on the track to trigger horn/whistle/bell functions. Modern diodes can create a nice clean dc spike without sucking up the power the old copper oxide disk rectifiers did inside PW transformers. On many of the higher end transformers a small booster winding was wired into the whistle circuit to compensate for the voltage drop that occured when the button was pressed on the transformer.
The sound activation button is often backed with sound cars (like tenders) in the event the owner's transformer doesn't have bell/whistle buttons. The part number for the button is:
610-5906-001
Instructions on how to wire it in can be found at:
http://www.lionel.com/ForTheHobbyist/GeneralTipsAndFAQs/index.cfm
Thamk for the tip! I'll find one at York.
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