Phantom Whistles

[Anonymous]

My entry-level Lionel air whistle tender will occaisionally whistle while it is being pulled around the track without the press of the whistle button on the transformer. It happens both on regular Lionel O gauge track and turnouts.

My hunch is that it may be simply discharging static build-up as a charge of direct current. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I be concerned that my new CW-80 transformer may be sending 1-2 second bursts of direct current of its own accord?

Thanks in adavance -- these are great forums with great participants.

[lionelsoni]

Given the low impedances involved, static electricity is very unlikely. Does your tender have an electromechanical relay, or something electronic? Does your locomotive have a traditional universal motor and electromechanical e-unit, or a can motor and electronics? Do you have a DC voltmeter that you could connect to the track?

[Anonymous]

I do not have anything very fancy -- just the basic Lionel entry-level equipment; an engine with a smoke unit (no on-off switch) and air whistle. The engine utilizes a low-end traditional can motor (as far as I know), no flywheel, and the tender houses the whistle unit. There is one pick-up under the tender. I doubt that there are any fancy electronics involved, with the exception of the electronic reversing unit.

I'll try to stop by Radio Shack and pick a volt meters.

[lionelsoni]

The reason I asked about the motor is that an asymmetrical load due to a faulty rectifier can create a DC voltage component on the track even though the transformer is working properly. An electromechanical e-unit and a universal motor could not do this; but your electronic reversing unit might if it is faulty.

A voltmeter will tell you whether the tender is spontaneously whistling and is the culprit, or whether the transformer or locomotive is telling it to whistle by putting DC on the track. If the latter, we still need to figure out which of the two is the problem.

[Roger Bielen]

A previous thread on this subject, on this or another forum, suggested that if it occures at the same spot it could be dirty track giving a false signal. As to the turnouts, the theory was the pick-up roller making contact with one of the other rails or loosing contact with the rail.

Try a quick track, pick-up roller, and wheel cleaning and see if that helps.