The horn on my 601 diesel switcher stopped working, the relay seems to be operating it accuates when the whistle button is pushed and makes a buzzing sound. I have checked all the wire connections and installed a new battery, still no horn.
Are you using a post war transformer or a modern transformer? Certain post war engines with horns or whistles prefer the older transformers signal output for the horn. Also is the battery installed properly? While mentioning the battery, is it a rechargeable? If so try using a regular type of battery as a rechargeable has a little less voltage output, I first experianced this with a portable radio.
A rechargeable battery in C or D size has 1.25 volts(fully recharged) compared to 1.55 volts(new battery) for a regular style battery in a C or D size. I thought that I would mention this as some people have problems with differant batteries and can't fiquire out what is wrong.
Lee F.
If your transformer is able to operate the relay, then the transformer type is not the problem.
Lee is right about cell voltage.
Try pushing the relay contacts closed with your fingers to see whether they are closing fully and are not dirty.
If all else checks out, the problem could be the horn itself. There is an adjustment screw which you can experiment with. But be very careful to keep track of how much you move it. With 1.5 volts on the horn, move the screw a small amount one way, then back to the starting position, then a small amount the other way. Keep alternating, but never forgetting where the starting point was, while you increase the excursions. Going too far can ruin the horn; so you want to be sure you have covered all possible smaller adjustments before you reach that point.
Bob Nelson
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