How do I repair the pickup roller assemby on an 8632 whistle tender? The roller makes uninterrupted contact with the hot rail, making the whistle sound continuously. When pushed into/onto the protruding copper contact, the opposite happens: it remains in that position. Is there a parts diagram or video someone can point me to? Or should I just replace the whole assemby?
Many thanks
It was a little tricky to figure out what exactly you were describing, but I'll give you the low down:The roller is supposed to always contact the center rail when the tender is on the track. So that much is correct. It should not contact the copper contacts that touch the axles. This will cause a short circuit between the middle 'hot' rail, and outside 'ground' rails.As for why the whistle is sounding continuously....that, I don't intuitively know, because I believe by the time they made this whistle tender, they had stopped using the old school postwar relay to activate the whistle. Instead, it's probably some sort of solid state/electronic equivilent.You used to be able to easily find lionel service documents, for free, on the lionel website, from the '70s up to the present day. But for some reason they removed them. It is possible, if not likely, that someone else here has the documents regarding this whistle tender, and may be willing/able to help.I have one more question though, which might simplify the way to resolve the issue- what kind of transformer are you using?Is it outputting AC, or DC? Alterntively, if you can't tell, what is the make and model of it?I ask, because Lionel's method for making their steam engines whistle used a small bit of DC to activate the whistle- normally the trains ran on AC. However, this means if you try running the train with a DC transformer... the whistle will sound continously for as long as the tender is getting power from the track.Hope this helps!-Ellie
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
This happened to me with a modern Lionel (DC motor, circuit board controlled) whistle tender. The whistle began sounding as soon as I powered up the track and wouldn't stop. Bad circuit board. It can happen and does.
The part # for the complete board and harness assembly is 8633-010, available from www.traindoctor.com for $12. However first check under the circuit board in your tender to make sure the foam mounting pad hasn't deteriorated, if it has it can cause the board to short to the tender frame. 3M two-sided mounting tape makes a good substitute.
I hope this helps!
You were already advised which parts were the most likely culprit on the other forum....
What's wrong with him asking here for other opinons?
Exactly. Experience and knowledge don't necessarily flow down only one river.
Same me, different spelling!
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