Just wondering, I have a Postwar 681 Turbine that has a great while while sitting still, but as soon as it begins to roll no whistle, not even a growl. Using a Postwar ZW that seems to be working OK
An ideas?
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in the ZW Originally Posted by cbojanower:
Just wondering, I have a Postwar 681 Turbine that has a great while while sitting still, but as soon as it begins to roll no whistle, not even a growl. Using a Postwar ZW that seems to be working OK
An ideas?
Might be a weak rectifier disc in the ZW. The heavy duty stud diodes that parts dealers stock work much better than the old selenium rectifier discs.
Is the tender chassis clean/rust free? You might want to clean the bracket that the relay is mounted to, and the relay's metal frame with contact cleaner. Clean the tender's wheels while you're at bit. Commutator clean? Good brushes? Give the tender a tune-up while the hood is popped.
You could find out if it is the tender or the zw by wiring up a whistle controller, or trying another transformer (a CW can handle it, if you have one).
It could also just be dirty track/rollers and wheels, besides cleaning the whistle motor.
mine was doing the same thing(with a Type RW). whistled great while stopped, b ut barely a growl when moving. the comunacater face on the whistle was filthy. wipped it off, went over it with an eraser, and works great now.
Oldrob,
Great advise sir, right on the money!
PCRR/Dave
Careful cleaning the contacts - don't use something that's too abrasive - a piece of stiff notecard sprayed with contact cleaner will work great, don't use sandpaper. Good suggestion on the jumper wire - use some Superflex style wire for that. You can also run a wire from the screw that holds the relay in place to a point on the chassis for even better grounding - that is also helpful when working on diesel horns.
Does the engine slow down while running when the whistle is activated?
On a ZW there is a compensating circuit which causes an increase of 4/5 volts when the whistle is activated. This is to provide additional voltage so both the engine and the whistle have adequate voltage to function properly. If the engine slows down when the whistle is activated this compensating circuit is not "kicking in", and therefore there is insufficient voltage to turn the whistle motor at an adequate speed.
The presence of this compensating voltage can easily be checked with a voltage meter.
I got a new Polar Express and put it in the track. It shows the same characteristics so I guess time to check transformer
Would the CW80 be able to trigger the postwar whistle?.
Yes, a CW will operate a postwar whistle. I used to power each loop of my layout with them, and they had no problems with my 681 and whistle tender, or with my 736, whistle tender, and illuminated passenger cars!
Originally Posted by cbojanower:
Would the CW80 be able to trigger the postwar whistle?.
Absolutely.
