Lionel 2023 Diesel Horn Operation

[rrswede]

I recently obtained a 1950 2023 that needed help. The only thing left to get operating is the horn. I placed a new 1.5V battery in the battery chamber which had never been corroded, placed the engine on the track, and attempted to operate the horn. The horn relay functions when the whistle control is activated on the transformer but there is no sound from the horn. I removed the engine from the track and am reading 1.55V when measuring between the outside top of the battery chamber and the outside of the battery cover. I removed the horn from the chassis, leaving the wire connection in place, ran a jumper from its terminal on the relay to the + side of a different 1.5V battery, connected another wire to the - side of the battery and then touched that wire to the side frame of the horn. The horn operated just fine. I then refastened the horn to the chassis, gently cleaned the surfaces of the relay contacts, and placed a wad of cotton under the bottom contact of the relay forcing it to make contact with with the top contact. No sound was produced. I do not know what to try next. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks, Swede 

[jwse30]

Sounds like either dirty contacts, or a bad ground connection at the buzzer. Since you cleaned the contacts, I'd try polishing the frame a bit and the horn bracket.

Hope this helps,

J White

[rrswede]

Thank you for the response. After rechecking to make sure all hard wire connections were solid and that the contacts in the relay were clean, I tried the horn again and did not get any sound. I then removed the two screws securing the relay and upper portion of the battery chamber to the chassis and checked each wire for an open or short. I discovered that the wire held in position by one of the two screws was shorted to the brass piece just above the upper contact. The horn is now working like it is supposed to. Sure wish it was more pleasant sounding.

 

Thank you,

Swede

[tjl0824]

Glad you got it working, but they never sound good LOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enTOlzNpzrg

Neither of mine do

Trevor

[jwse30]

There's only so much that can be done, but there is an adjustment screw on them to vary the  sound in case you weren't aware.

Glad you got yours working. When I was working on mine, I had to pry the lid off the horn and sand the flapper to get a good contact surface. They sure weren't meant to be taken apart.

J White

[rrswede]

Thanks for the responses, Trevor and J White, and thanks for posting the video, Trevor. My horn sounds somewhat like one of the sounds on the video and I did adjust the tuning screw to get what I considered to be the best possible sound. I had seen a really good video demonstrating the disassembly and cleaning of the horn, itself, and that's why I tested the horn with a separate battery. I did not want to break any of the locking tabs off. If the horn had not operated, I would have opened it up.

Swede

[TRAINCAT]

If you are VERY careful taking the horn apart it is feasible. The trick I found, was to not lift those tabs all the way vertical. Use a very slim pair of side cutters like sprue cutters, and lift them only enough to barely slide the horn cap off.

Roger