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Reply to "6403B bell gets weaker with increased speed"

Thanks Dennis, next time I have one apart I will try the spring.  Being in California we are very limited as to the solvents we can get. I have gone to acetone for a residue free cleaner.  But I have yo be careful where I use it as it will go after some resins. 

David, I appreciate your comments, but as I indicated a post or two back, it's fixed!!! That said, I appreciate your suggestions, and my comments are below.

George, I checked Bob Hanson’s book and he says the coil resistance is 12 ohms, so I think your in the neighborhood.  Other places to watch are the ground return path. That bell on/off switch is in the ground path and can be a problem. It was! Fixed now, though!  On maybe half of the 227 switchers I work on there is a phos bronze strap between the back up light board mounting bracket and the frame.  That strap goes across the top of the truck mounting pin, giving a direct ground path from the truck to the back up light board. That modification or running change always indicated to me that Lionel had trouble with grounding on these tenders. I have not seen this strap on any of the post war tenders where there is a ground wire to the engine. That makes sense. My grounding solution was to solder a wire to the edge of an E-ring, then secure the truck with that E-ring, Then run that wire to whatever or wherever the ground is needed. Here's the ground strap I made for my bell ringer a couple years back.

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On the thermal switch contacts, frequently the eyelet that mounts it is not so tight that the contact can be swung sideways a little to give access to the contacts for inspection and polishing. If you do this be really careful with the ni-chrome wire going to the ground point. If it breaks it cannot be soldered and reconnecting it can be a bear. Yeah, this step was just a wee bit unnerving - I knew that ni-chrome wire could be toast with one small mistake. But the thermal element swiveled easy, and it was quite easy to bend using just my finger. There are several places on that board where contact is made with parts just clamped with eyelets. You might want to jumper some of these and see if any are high resistance connections. I soldered most of them, although they DID NOT LIKE solder! I do not know if you have noticed yet, but that ni-chrome heater draws so much current that it causes the back up light to dim when it is in the circuit. You can use this dimming when the engine is pulling the tender around the track to see if the contact is opening and closing and if the bell is ringing at the appropriate times. 

Thanks David! I have been following your 227 adventures, and am waiting for the next installment!

 

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