Whistle Relay Wiring ( still have problems!)

[Anonymous]

Hey guys.

I got a modern Electronic relay from olsen's yesterday. The instuctions that came with it are a bit,uh, confusing. Here is the relay....


It also has a lug on the top.
Could somebody that installed this kind of relay before help me?

[Anonymous]

Hey guys. I got a reply from electric norman( the dude who made the relay). I need for someone, like Bob (lionelsoni)to help "decode" this message....

Dear Jerry:
Sorry about getting back to you. We have been on the road sell parts.
The relay you bought should have a set of 4 color wires coming out of case.
They are as follows:
Green = Horn/whistle
Yellow = Outside Rail of track - also know as ( Common)
Red = Center Rail of track - also know as ( Pwr)
Black = Armature
The Green wire is tied to the Normally Open contact of the relay, The Black wire is tied to the Armature Wiper contact of the relay. When the relay is activated the Green wire is attached to the Black wire inside the relay.
The Red wire is feeding the Pwr to the lamp in side the relay case.
The Yellow wire is feeding the Common in side the relay case.
When power is applied to the track the relay should light up from inside the relay case.
In the case of the Tender Whistle we set us the relay to switch on/off the common of the whistle motor circuit. So if you disconnect the Green or the Black wire the whistle should stop running.
EN>

[lionelsoni]

I guess you connect the yellow to the frame, the red to the pickup, and the green and black in series with the whistle. I guess.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I wired it to Bob's recomendation. The realysounds like it is on when power is applied.But when I apply the whistle button, the tone of the relay does not change nor does the whistle sound. I flipped the wires on the lock-on, same scenario. [:(]

[lionelsoni]

You could ask "Electric Norman" for a statement of just what the "whistle relay" is supposed to do and a schematic diagram for connecting it to your tender. However, I would try to get my money back and, in any case, put in a real Lionel relay.

[jwse30]

The way I interpret this very confusing diagram with my limited knowledge of the whole DC over AC circuit that the whistles and bells (pun intended) is supposed to run is:

The yellow wire goes to chassis ground (assuming a metal chassis, wheels, and axles)

Red wire goes to center rail pickup solder tab.

The green goes to either of the above, depending on the "polarity" of your wiring (the switching the wires at the lockon thing)

The black goes to the horn or whistle lead that ISN'T grounded to the chassis.

Provided this is correct, it would be possible (I didn't say practical) to use two of these units in a tender or engine, and have one activate a horn say tying the green and yellow together, and the other activate a bell (or fire a coil coupler) with one tying the red and green together.

I have no idea what the lug on the top would do.

I would also send this entire thread to Olsen's, and kindly suggest that they make their instructions a bit more clear. So far, they have three people commenting on how to hook this gizmo up, plus how ever many looked at your picture, and didn't know.

If my interpretation of the wiring diagram is correct, and two relays could be used to trigger different devices (horns, whistles, bells, or coil couplers), it sounds like they've got a great product on their hands They just need to make the instructions easier for the user to understand.

J White