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Hello folks!

I acquired a distressed 2466W whistle tender and have hit a snag I hope someone can help me with. I'm kind of new to all this and am learning on the go.

1. It looks to me like the armature is not seated well. The armature wobbles and spins freely, but try as I might, I cannot get the armature to sit lower. The opposite side is closed metal with no access to the armature. This all looks wrong. If it is wrong, how do I cure it?

IMG_1426

2. I do not know whether the relay is working. Is there a way to test that?

IMG_1427

3. The trucks, wheels and roller do not look right. There is only one roller. My other 2466W has 2 rollers and different trucks. Is there a version of 2466W with only one roller?  I assume the whistle should operate on one roller. The forward truck does  not look like the original, when I compare it to other 2466's.

You comments and kind advice would be welcome and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Pete

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Images (2)
  • IMG_1426: Unseated commutator?
  • IMG_1427: Trucks, roller, and wheels.
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The position of the armature looks OK to me.

Must be an early tender because the trucks have whirly wheels. That in of itself makes it desirable, even in lesser condition.
The collector for the front truck probably broke off. It would have mounted the same way as the rear truck, on a fiber strip.
The drawbar was likely added.
If so, the tender frame should have an oval hole along the front to accept a long draw bar. It would be hidden by the draw bar in your photo.

The power should go in one brush holder, thru the brushes to the armature, out of the other brush and brush holder, thru the wire to the field coil, and out the other field coil lead.  Put the motor back together and verify that circuit. If that looks good, then use a couple of wires off the transformer to put power on that circuit. Just from the input brush holder to the field coil connection.  If the whistle motor runs, then start thinking about the whistle relay. In the future, before you take the brush plate off, unsoulder the field wire. If you break it off, and that is easy to do, it can. be difficult to fix.  

 

Last edited by David Johnston
David Johnston posted:

The power should go in one brush holder, thru the brushes to the armature, out of the other brush and brush holder, thru the wire to the field coil, and out the other field coil lead, usually to a frame connection, which goes to the wheels to the outside rail.  Put the motor back together and variety that circuit. If that looks good, then use a couple of wires off the transformer to put power on that circuit. Just from the input brush holder to the field coil connection to the frame. If the whistle motor runs, then start thinking about the whistle relay. In the future, before you take the brush plate off, unsoulder the field wire. If you break it off, and that is easy to do, it can. be difficult to fix.  

 

Hello, David!

I believe I did as instructed,  but no joy. The whistle is dead.

QUERY: the lower brush connection looks like it has a lug for a ground wire. If so, where does that ground wire go?

Kind regards,

Pete

Over the years Lionel wired their whistling tenders several different ways, so there may be some misinformation in this thread.
In your first photo, I can see that the two wires from the field are still there. Hopefully they didn't break off while you were working on it. (it happens). The shorter wire appears to be connected to the lower brush holder. That is correct.
The longer wire goes to the whistle relay, the terminal closest to the coil. When the whistle relay activates, it completes the circuit to "ground".

There should be a "hot" wire running from the center roller to the remaining brush holder. There should also be a power wire running from that brush holder to the outer terminal on the whistle relay.

Test the whistle motor itself by applying leads to that  whistle relay terminal with the field wire and to the top brush holder. The motor should run.
If it does, the next step will be to check out the whistle relay.

No mention has been made of brushes.
Do you have a decent set of brushes and springs installed when you do your testing?

Thank you, C.W. I have the wiring in order now.  The brushes and springs are cleaned and appear to be in good shape. The springs are straight and able to press the brushes onto the commutator.

Now that it runs, a new problem presents itself. (Please view the attached video.) No whistle, just screeching of metal. I have some ideas of what might be wrong, all bad.

What do you think?

Thanks again for your help!

Pete

Attachments

Videos (1)
ScreechCropped

The screeching is usually dry bearings.
I find that it is best to make multiple applications of light oil, giving the oil a chance to soak into the porous bearing on the fan side.
I like to use Labelle 106 grease on the armature head side. I use a tookpick to coat the inside of the hole all the way around. Plus a light film on the armature shaft.

It's possible that the fan impeller is hitting inside the whistle chamber, but that should not happen unless it has been disturbed.

Well, I needled in on the fan bearing and it drank its fill of oil for a day or so. It made the same awful screech for a bit and then stopped. It stays stopped. I'm not sure what the problem now is, but it might be best to open the whistle and get a look at the bearing. I can't do that because it is steel riveted shut.

No doubt there is a rivet removal tool available somewhere.

Am I off base or making things too complicated?

What stopped? The whistle doesn't run anymore? Or it stopped screeching?

I remove those rivets by working the out with a pair of diagonal cutters. Grab the rivet head with the tip and rock the pliers along the curve. Then grab the rivet lower down and repeat. The rivets mat have spiral flutes. If so, they will need to twist as they come out.

This may be covered in the whistle section of the Lionel service manual. Not certain.

Removing the rivets wasn't so bad.2466wUnriveted

I could easily see the ball bearing, which I lubricated. Then I put things back together and restored the rivets with the pressure of pliers. The result was this:

If I knew what this signified I could cure it. I'll take a guess that it is a short of the wire from the field to the relay. What do you think, experts?

Attachments

Images (1)
  • 2466wUnriveted: Disassembled whistle
Videos (1)
sparky2

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