769 Rotating Beacon

George, and I don't remember the last name at the moment, actually built a set of LEDs and used a motor to rotate the beacon.

The use of a lower voltage bulb to generate more heat will improve the action but results in shorter bulb life.

An option might be the use of an aquarium air pump with a tube going up toward the beacon may be possible.

Ray

Ray,

Thank you, I was hoping for some miracle formula for bending every other vain more or less, LOL.

Maybe a drop of smoke fluid in the light bulb dimple would add to the sensory experience and reduce the friction on the centering pin, LOL.

Thanks Ray

One more time...

I recall visiting a layout on a tour many, many years ago.  The owner had a Lionel 394 beacon (same operating principle) located on a hillside in the far corner of the layout.  The beacon top was rotating quite well.

He had clipped a small personal fan to the basement ceiling grid and had it directed to create a draft that kept the beacon in rotation.  He said it took some finagling to get the fan  pointed in just the right direction...IOW, not directly at the beacon...and running at the right speed (connected to variable DC).  I believe he said he also had to baffle a nearby ceiling HVAC vent so as to not have it cyclically disrupt the accessory's fan air flow.

I know it sounds kind of 'hokie' and fussy, but it worked...for him!  And, as the owner conceded, it eliminated the usual hair-pulling adjustments to vanes, bulb voltages, more frequent bulb replacement, wear-and-tear on knees and other joints crawling to that distant, nearly inaccessible point of the layout (Perfect in site utilization...wretched in practice!), etc., etc..

Hey!...Creativity: Part of this hobby's solution set!

FWIW...

KD

Are you using a GE 461 bulb made in the US, or a modern production 461? GE made bulbs always have the dimple perfectly centered, new production are a crapshoot. Make sure the pin that fits the dimple hasn't been tilted from handling over the years.

I have tried applying a few different lubricants with complete failure. What has worked for me is to put isopropyl alcohol on the end of a cotton swab and completely cleaning the dimple in the bulb (while cool) and cleaning the end of the pin. This has given me excellent results that last 3 or 4 weeks, which is not good enough for a remote location.

Solved my beacon problem with a 494 Lionel beacon powered by variable voltage from a separate transformer. Just enough voltage to operate without all the noise at 18V.

Rich

@John in California posted:

I have tried applying a few different lubricants with complete failure. What has worked for me is to put isopropyl alcohol on the end of a cotton swab and completely cleaning the dimple in the bulb (while cool) and cleaning the end of the pin. This has given me excellent results that last 3 or 4 weeks, which is not good enough for a remote location.

Lube is definitely not good for those heat/vented beacon towers - keeping the bulb clean is a good thing to do. I had a Lionel heat beacon with original top that had its vents adjusted so that a slight movement of air would cause it to spin - it took some time to get the vents to that point.

Ray and MTN nailed it.

I bought a new bulb, and a new rotating lens.  The lens didn't workout so well but the bulb is great.  And the look of the dimple is completely different.  

I am very happy with the result, thanks to all who provided help and suggestions.  I added a short video to show how it is working.