Problem with whistle relay

[Anonymous]

One of my whistle relays has a problem.  The relay does not stay closed when the controller is in the "holding" position. I tested three other tenders under the same conditions and they work properly.  The relay in question also chatters at higher voltages.  Also when it briefly closes, there is a lot of arcing between the contact points.  I cleaned the points, but that did not help.  Any info would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

Jim,

Am I correct in assuming that you are talking about a post-war era air-whistle? Does the whistle operate correctly when you close the relay contacts by hand, or use one of your other relays to try to sound this whistle? (You can do this by unsoldering a couple of connections and using "jumper" wires between the tenders.) Have you cleaned the pickup-rollers and made sure that nothing is shorting out a little around the pick-up roller assembly? Try comparing the little flat copper springy element (the rear of the relay armature on the back of the relay with one that works. Sometimes they, or other parts of the "armature" get bent out of shape. (I presume the air-whistle motor is turning freely and its brushes/brush springs are in good shape and all parts of that assembly are clean.)

That  said, I must admit that I have had less success repairing whistle relays than any other part of  post-war trains. In my worst case, being unable to find an exact replacement, I substituted a "Superwhistle" electronic whistle relay from Depotronics. It works perfectly.

http://www.depotronics.com/products/shsw/index.htm

Hope this helps.

 

[phillyreading]

Have you taken the wheelsets off and cleaned them too?  Sometimes dirty wheels or axles will not allow electrical contact to be made. Use of jumper wires is preferred when testing to be sure of no dirty connections from the wheels.  Usually people clean just the center roller wheel but all wheels need to be cleaned to rule out dirt. One other problem that I have experianced with whistling tenders is dirty track making the whistle blow without pressing the whistle control.

Don't know if this may help but replace any Lionel 6-23011 series O gauge switches with at least an 022 switch, it may help with the tender whistle problem.  I had trouble with the 6-23011 series switch and Williams trains, not sure about any other problems with these switches.

Lee F.

[Anonymous]

The problem was caused by the contact springs that hang below the armature plate.  I was bending them in an effort to make the relay close easier, and one of the springs became creased and snapped off.  However, when tested, the relay works great.  This is the first thing I fixed by accidentally  breaking it!  Thanks for the replies.