Lionel 1033 in need of repair

J Motts,

    Contact Jim Lawson here on the OGR forum, he restores KW's & ZW's even better than brand spanking new, he maybe able to repair your 1033 for ya.

PCRR/Dave

It might me cheaper to just buy one.  I have a reconditioned one that I can sell for $55 shipped.  Would save you round trip shipping.  Or you can send me your for repair.  E-mail in profile. G

You may have a control shaft for a 1044. It is slightly different than the shaft for a 1033.

There are three/four pieces involved in the whistle control.
1 - ZAMAC cast control shaft
2 - contact - usually already attached to the control shaft
3 - centering spring
4 - shaft retainer

It is very common for the shaft retainer to fall off. I have not seen too many broken springs or damaged control shafts on 1033 transfomers. (Some other models do have a problem with control shafts breaking or developing Zinc Pest)

I remove the top plate in order to make a repair to the whistle control assembly. This involves unsoldering a number of wires that are attached to the terminals on the top plate, and bending some tabs to release the top. I don't know of any other way to do this.

Be certain to inspect the cord for cracking, and make certain it is still flexible. Most original cords need replacing.

In my area 1033 transformers are plentiful, and inexpensive.  Unless you do the work yourself, I don't know that it would make sense to ship it somewhere for repair. The cost of the job and shipping might exceed the cost of just purchasing one that has already been serviced.

Here are the service manual pages on the 1033.

In my opinion, only folks who are comfortable working with household electricity (110-115V) should attempt their own transformer repairs. A defective / improperly serviced transformer has the potential to turn a great hobby into something unpleasant or worse.

If you can soldier I can send you this bearing plate. Should be a direct replacement for you item.

PCRR Dave, GGG, CW Burfle and Stew 1957, thank you all so much for the great replies.  They are better than I thought I'd get.  I figured the 1033's were getting to the point where parts weren't available for them anymore.  I can see I still have a lot to learn about this part of the hobby.  Stew 1957, in the picture of the plate with the two shafts on it, the one of the left is the one that seems to have gone south on me.  I can soldier and if I remember correctly, after taking the thing apart, at least getting the cover off of the insides, it looks like someone had already worked on it once before and I'm not sure if that may have been the root of the problem to begin with.  I  need to find the box that I have it stored in and I'll take a picture of it to show what the problem is and post it to this thread.  I want to fix this one as it has some sentimental value to it.   Stew, I'd be happy to purchase that plate from you, can you contact me at sptrainnut@att.net please?   GGG, can you also contact me too.  CW Burfle, I agree with what you have stated, I'm not a licensed electrocution, I have 4 1/2 experience working in the communications section of a company I used to work for, I worked on 4-Wire Switches for the old telephone switches, wired and replaced plus maintained microwave communications systems also.  I've was also responsible for the maintenance and repair of teletype machines.  Those were always fun to diagnose.  I totally agree with you, if not done correctly, it can be a real problem and cause really bad things to happen. Dave, if all else fails, I'll definite look Mr. Lawson up and see if he can fix it for me.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help.

Here is a picture of the parts you need; switch shaft 1033-42, copper fingers 1033-44, centering spring 1033-98 and retaining sleeve 1033-99.  With your experience it should be a pretty straight forward repair. Since you probably don't have a press you can use a C-clamp and a socket to press on the retaining sleeve. If you are looking at the Greenberg book the they show the retaining sleeve being installed upside down. When seating the retaining sleeve it should be tight but not to tight. Jeff at The Train Tender has all these parts in stock.

E-mail Sent.  GGG