Has anyone done this? I need to replace the reed switch and don't want to make the process more complex than it needs to be be nor reinvent the wheel.
Hopefully someone will have an easy way.
Thanks.
Karl
The mind is like a parachute. It works better when it's open. www.stremy.net
The reed switch should be in the tender.....no? I may be wrong, but it seems to me most BLI steam tenders are press fits. You have to carefully get them lifted up off their frame mount, but they do just lift off. Otherwise, there should be four obvious screws under the frame, usually near the corners. You may have to remove the trucks to get them out of the way. Be careful not to yank them clear because they'll have wires issuing from inside the frame to wipers on the trucks. In the case of the first Niagara's centipede tender, their Paragon model, I had to do that, but first had to remove a coupler pin lifting bar or something like that...at the rear.
-Crandell
"The reed switch should be in the tender.....no?" No. I am never that lucky Crandell. The tender shell comes off with thin blade, a few tooth picks and 15 seconds of wiggling. I opened it to do a hard reset on the decoder. (Which I disscovered one can do through the water hatch BTW) The following from BLI:
"The chuff sensor is a small reed relay switch in a glass tube located on a small board mounted near the flywheel. " They did not provide opening instructions and the exploded view diagrams are not helpful with the procedure.
So far I am still awaiting their reply.
Karl, I didn't put it together that you meant the switch for the chuff sensor. I was thinking the reset switch that the earlier Paragon series had when they were using QSI decoders. Sorry.
I have an earlier Paragon Hudson. There should be a screw under either truck, forward and aft, and then the shell lifts starting at the rear. You must carefully rotate it up and forward, sliding the smokebox toward the pilot a short distance so that the headlight doesn't get snagged. I seem to recall using a thin blade to pry off the smokebox cover first to see if there was a screw there.
Sorry, it has been a while. For sure, though, I recall lifting the rear of the boiler shell and having to slide the shell forward before it would clear the light inside it's little cubby behind the lens.
I had my Hudson open for the same repair about a year ago. I do not remember the exact sequence but Crandell pretty much sums it up. I don't recall any "tricks" the shell came off pretty easily.
I will caution that you should handle that reed switch carefully. I broke the first one when I gave the lead-in wires a little "tweak" to get it closer to the flywheel magnet and the little bugger just snapped in two. Yep, it's glass alright...duh.
I bought about a dozen reed switches from BLI at, IIRC, $2. ea. I wanted to have them on hand since they are prone to failure.
Good luck, Ed