Help with Lionel Rotary Beacon

[Anonymous]

I just bought a post war Lionel rotary beacon for my layout. I have always wanted one and I got a good deal off Ebay. My problem is that I do not know how to adjust the fins to make it spin. It lights up and has the dimple bulb but will not spin unless I spin it myself as Lionel suggests. I do this and it spins but stops and will not carry on by its self. Any suggestions???

[csxt30]

Oh, they can be frustrating! I have the Marx tower and just got a new beacon for it & this one works, the old one I think was a reproduction too, but this new one has a steel pin, instead of plastic, that rides in the bulb & the other one had a plastic one and never did work, no matter where I would bend the fins. I got it from the Robt. Grossman Co. It even starts on it's own. Hope this helps, John

[pbjwilson]

I've got one of these also. It starts to work after it's been on about 20 minutes. And then the slightest air movement can disturb it. Try leaving it on a long time and see if it will start moving - needs alot of heat to work.

[Anonymous]

thank you, This one does have a steel pin, I will try to leave it longer than what I have...

[Big_Boy_4005]

Frustrating may be an understatement. No Offense, but in my opinion, the 394 beacon is one of Lionel's worst offerings. It relies on convection from the heat of the bulb to operate, and anything can effect it. 394 beacons are inexpensive for a reason.

They were replaced by the 494 beacon, which uses the drive washer principle found in banjo signal, and similar to what makes the cows and horses move in those accessories. 494's are excellent, and very reliable. Sorry about your bad experience, live and learn.

[SPFan]

I was able to get mine working by setting all the vanes horizontal, not slightly up or down. In addition table vibration set up by running trains will make it work consistently.

Pete

[brianel027]

As SPfan pointed out, they do work a little better with vibration from the train table. Place it near the track and screw it in to the train table to maximize the effect. Your train table surface may effect this though if you have styrofoam board on the top.

I have also made my own dimple bulbs (over the gas jet on a stove) using a Radio Shack bulb with a higher amperage that puts out more heat (Radio Shack used to print this info on the packaging).

Really the best bet though is one of the light towers that has a wound coil (Lionel calls it the "Vibrator motor") it it to make the light cover turn. K-Line makes one that is a good bargain when compared to others in price.