Wiring for a Lionel 2426W Tender Whistle

[Anonymous]

I am trying to put this whistle together. It came to me in pieces. From the diagrams on Olsenstoy.com, I thought I had it but alas, no joy.

My first question is why would the whistle blow without the relay connected? Obviously the circuit is complete without the relay, but I am trying to understand what is going on.

From what I can see, the ground seems to connect through the screws holding the whistle assembly to the car platform. My second question is should the screws be insulated and the ground make contact at the base of the relay?

Thanks for any help.

-michael

[ben10ben]

The first thing I would suggest checking is making sure you don't have any solder bridges across the relay contacts. With as clos as they are together, this is fairly easy to do.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestion but the soldering is clean. I guess I am just surprised that the whistle motor is connected WITHOUT the relay even installed. That is right. The whistle blows without the relay connected. I thought that the relay would be connected in series and acting as the conduit/switch for the motor. This appears to not be the case.

I am at a loss for how this wiring should be done properly.

Thanks.

-mws

[Chris F]

Michael,
You can use the pictorial wiring schematic as shown on page one from this link:
http://pictures.olsenstoy.com/searchcd31.htm?itm=740

I'm not sure how you wired your tender without a relay, but it sounds like the wire from the motor field coil is connected to a ground. If so, the whistle motor will run whenever power is applied to the track. The motor coil should be connected to the relay contact, which completes the ground connection only when the relay is activated.

[Anonymous]

Chris,

Thank you. You were on the money when you suggested that the motor field coil was connected to the ground. I rewired the relay housing to the ground screw and motor field coil to the other end relay switch and "viola!" Many thanks. The kids will be overjoyed later today. The whistle now works great.

Now I just need to figure out how the couplings work. But that is for another time and discussion thread.

Michael