LIONEL No. 494 BEACON

Finally got around to getting some drive washers from Hennings Trains and it seems to be working fine but it slows down and sticks sometime once it heats up.  it heats up pretty quickly. Just burnt out the light bulb and melted the green lens a little after about 5 minutes at about 12 volts.  All while writing this reply.

Sounds like you have the wrong lamp. It should be a #53 lamp which is a 14V lamp. Fortunately, you can get new lense assembly (494-17) to correct the melted lense issue.

I have a 494 beacon and found the 'fingered' replacement washers on eBay.  Seems there are about 2 sellers that have them there.

Buy the new washers from Lionel, the after market fingers are to long and do not work properly. I found out the hard way.

guitar nut posted:

Buy the new washers from Lionel, the after market fingers are to long and do not work properly. I found out the hard way.

 

Too late; I bought 2 packs of 3 each.

The Lionel part #s will be noted.

RickM46, if the fingers are to long you can nip them down and they will work better, also put powder graphite on the base where the fingers ride.

guitar nut posted:

RickM46, if the fingers are to long you can nip them down and they will work better, also put powder graphite on the base where the fingers ride.

Thanks for the tip!!

I just bought the 494 used on Ebay and its nubs aren't worn all the way down yet but close.  Powdered graphite helped with the rotation.  It works more smooth as it warms up.

At first, I put a meager amount of graphite on the metal washer that goes around the light bulb and that smoothed out its rotation quite a bit.  A few minutes ago, I added more graphite and it worked even smoother.  Now, I can supply about 8 volts and get a nice slow and even rotation on the beacon.

I got the powdered graphite at Home Depot in the door key section near the cash registers.

Just ordered a set of drive washers from Lionel; will compare them to the EBay ones when both show up.

I keep some of these drive washers on hand because they are commonly needed when fixing up searchlight cars. I will only buy them direct from Lionel because I do not like the quality of some of the aftermarket replacements, and there is no way to know what the parts dealers have on hand.

C W Burfle posted:

I keep some of these drive washers on hand because they are commonly needed when fixing up searchlight cars. I will only buy them direct from Lionel because I do not like the quality of some of the aftermarket replacements, and there is no way to know what the parts dealers have on hand.

Hi CW,

What do you use as an adhesive to attach them to the beacon??

It really doesn't take much to hold the drive washers in place on any of the accessories that use a drive washer, including the 140 banjo signal. So I don't think the type of adhesive matters much. In the past, I have used just a couple of small drops of gap filling super glue, placed 180 degrees around the ring. (don't spread it out) Sounds excessive, but the super glue will peel off the permanent parts if you need to get it off.
Right now I have some glue that is left over from a pair of speaker foam suspension replacement kits. I've used it a few times to glue on drive washers (and a few other things). I like it. When I run out, I may contact the company from which I purchased the speaker repair kits, and get some more. (By the way, the speaker repair job wasn't too difficult, and the speakers sound great).

Here is the glue: Speaker repair glue

I would not try white or wood glue.
I have used Walthers Goo, and a few other similar products. They work fine, but it's been a long time since I used that sort of glue for two reasons:
1 - for me its messy, I always seem to end up with strings of glue getting all over
2 - I find that once I open a tube, it gets dried out before I come anywhere near using all the contents.

Thanks for the info!!

I was thinking about using silicone adhesive;  maybe using it would allow for easy replacement of the washer later on by making it easy to peel off the old washer and remove old silicone residue.

C W Burfle posted:

It really doesn't take much to hold the drive washers in place on any of the accessories that use a drive washer, including the 140 banjo signal. So I don't think the type of adhesive matters much. In the past, I have used just a couple of small drops of gap filling super glue, placed 180 degrees around the ring. (don't spread it out) Sounds excessive, but the super glue will peel off the permanent parts if you need to get it off.
Right now I have some glue that is left over from a pair of speaker foam suspension replacement kits. I've used it a few times to glue on drive washers (and a few other things). I like it. When I run out, I may contact the company from which I purchased the speaker repair kits, and get some more. (By the way, the speaker repair job wasn't too difficult, and the speakers sound great).

Here is the glue: Speaker repair glue

I would not try white or wood glue.
I have used Walthers Goo, and a few other similar products. They work fine, but it's been a long time since I used that sort of glue for two reasons:
1 - for me its messy, I always seem to end up with strings of glue getting all over
2 - I find that once I open a tube, it gets dried out before I come anywhere near using all the contents.

Why do you like the speaker glue? What makes it your choice over others?  Would it be good all around train glue, or just for these types of applications? 

Matt

Why do you like the speaker glue?

Because it works well and is easy to use. I don't what else I'd use it for. I have several different kinds of glue for different applications.

Have just found a lubricant that is better than graphite for the metal disk on the vibrator unit.

I cleaned the disk with iso-propyl alcohol 91; then, sprayed some silicone (mfg by Liquid Wrench) on a q-tip and applied that to the metal disk.  Now, after warmup, the beacon rotates much more smoothly.  I am running it at 8.5 volts.

Rick, Thank you I will give it a try...

RickM46 posted:

guitar nut posted:

Buy the new washers from Lionel, the after market fingers are to long and do not work properly. I found out the hard way.

Too late; I bought 2 packs of 3 each.

The Lionel part #s will be noted.

I bought the eBay washers with 6 fingers (part 3520-16) and then went and bought the true Lionel washers from Lionel with 6 fingers (part 6002494050).  They showed up.

There are differences: part 3520-16 has longer and thicker fingers and the disc is thicker when compared to the Lionel 6002494050 washers.  

Looked at my 494 beacon to see its 6 finger washer and it has fingers identical to the Lionel part 6002494050.  Also, looks like the fingers on my 494 beacon have not worn at all and are the same length as the new ones. 

Yep, I think guitar nut hit the nail on the head.  I think part 3520-16 is for some other application like the searchlight car mentioned above.

Ok guys, here is the story!!

Lionel's drive washers were designed to be mounted to the underside of the beacon top w/ a separate adhesive washer ( in this case, when the beacon assembly was sitting on top of the coil, the drive washer 'tits' would be facing DOWN).  Most dealers are selling the drive washers we engineered and manufacture.  They have been purposely designed to mount directly onto the top of the coil w/ the 'tits' up!!  You DO NOT use an adhesive washer w/ our units, but the underneath side of the beacon assembly needs to be cleaned of any residue left from the old drive washer. You will notice that ours has 6 elongated 'tits'. This was to make up for the elimination of the adhesive washer. The 494 towers were tested 24 / 7 and ran for 17 days before failing.  The same mounting is used for the searchlight cars, radar tower etc.  We also package w/ instructions to use w/ 'TITS' UP!!     Harry

Thanks a bunch Harry!

One question, for the beacon tower, do your washers have to be glued to the top of the coil??

Oh, one last thing:

I took a look at the Lionel parts lists for the tower and they do not show an adhesive washer.

See:

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...9E7-BCDCF87263C9D539 and

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...DF9-A5CAFB61A03422C7

So that means the glue mentioned above.

I have an operating radar tower from Lionel, the Lionel drive washers wouldn't work, I installed an MTH drive washer, it has 6 fingers and works well. 

This is good to know, but my after market washer had no instructions. I will make a note and give it a try.

Thank you

The washers do not get glued. They will mount very easy w/ your finger,  I have not looked at the new Lionel washers as to how they are kept in place. Harry

Harry Henning posted:

The washers do not get glued. They will mount very easy w/ your finger,  I have not looked at the new Lionel washers as to how they are kept in place. Harry

Thanks for the info!!

I take it that at your website the part number 3520-16 is the one that you manufactured and comes with the instructions??

Yes, you are correct.  Harry

We sell in bulk to many of the dealers, and I include a full sheet of the instructions so that they can copy , cut and include w/ their own packaging.  The trolly roof pole and modern smoke unit sets all have the same type of info. included for assembly.     Harry

Thanks Harry!

I have 2 used 494 beacons coming with the metal beacons instead of the black plastic beacon.  I will see how they work and then order replacement washers and other stuff.

OK, have used both the Lionel factory 6002494050 (small fingers) and the 3520-16 (large fingers) drive washers in the beacons with no adhesive washers and both types work well at 8 volts which produces a slow rotation.  You can regulate the speed of the beacon by experimenting with fingers up and fingers down.  I have not glued either types to the beacons or the coil.  Rotation does not begin at 8 volts till the coils/beacons 'warm up' - maybe around 5 minutes.