err chuff hit and miss

I would say the reed switch and magnet need adjusting. A better choice would be the chuff generator from GRJ. 

Likely the reed switch location. Its probably getting multiple triggers from the magnets. If you have a simple momentary push button switch use it to replace the reed switch and then manually press it to see of the chuff sounds coincide with your pushing or it continues to make random chuffs. If no switch just use two wires and touch them together.

Most of us have moved away from magnets and reed switches for this reason.

Pete

I tried that and still no go 

@Norton posted:

Most of us have moved away from magnets and reed switches for this reason.

Pete

We have? That's news to me. I still use them and will continue to do so.

this electric unit has bin a pos since day one i am going to put the thing  (whole loco)on eBay and take whatever  i get for it

i have 2 others that work perfect

Reed switches work, but they're sometimes a PITA to get adjusted well. That's the reason I decided to create the Chuff-Generator.

this thing is not really worth all the time and effort that has bin put in it but I asperate your input

I certainly understand your frustration, we’ve all been there, ....this is what I’m figuring you got going on....if the the magnets you’re using are too close together, or spaced wrong, the chuff becomes erratic....chuff in signal is simple make & break ground when the reed passes by the magnet...if you’re reed switch is at any funny angle, it’ll read the magnets funny, causing this erratic chuff......that’s why Pete suggested make your own quick tester with a simple clicker switch......try using just one magnet first, get it operating correctly, and then add them to get the chuffs you desire, adjusting as you go along....another thing to check, make sure you ain’t dragging a wheel if you’re using a tender axle for your reed switch set up....pretty sure Roy uses the tender axle with his reed switches ....I’d check for a dragging wheel set....the tale tell will be scuff marks on the wheels...

Pat

Pat, that post is exactly why I created the Chuff-Generator!   Too much screwing around to get magnets to work 100%.  I used to get three or four engines knocked out really quickly, then I'd get a stinker that would take forever to get sounding right.  Those days are behind me now.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

Pat, that post is exactly why I created the Chuff-Generator!   Too much screwing around to get magnets to work 100%.  I used to get three or four engines knocked out really quickly, then I'd get a stinker that would take forever to get sounding right.  Those days are behind me now.

Yep...your set up sure kills a lot of birds with one stone...I can not argue that!...the blinking LED makes it pretty fool proof too!....how’s Emril say it??....” set it and forget it” 😁

Pat

does that work when the loco has NO flywheel?

@Former Member posted:

does that work when the loco has NO flywheel?

No, you need a flywheel for the sensor to read...

Pat

@Former Member posted:

here we go again have had nothing but issues with err medium steam the loco runs great and the smoke unit chuffs with the wheel rotation all sounds work except the chuff sounds like Morse code it was sent back and reflashed and new reed switch and new ground wires and more weight  but no improvement it is a williams brass blue goose 

                                     any ideas before I use it for a door stop   thanks guys at the end of the track on this one

 

Wait a minute... ...is this the first Williams brass engine you’ve upgraded?....If so, are you using the stock OE motor?...these are known to be amp hogs, the stock motor should be a Mubachi 550....amp hogs can make any electronics package do quirky things...or kill electronics...and you asked if a flywheel is needed for John’s system....where’s the OE flywheel??....it should have come with one?...no??....let’s back up to the beginning before you send the Goose into orbit....and this time, some pics will be most helpful!!!

Pat

i am not sure what it is its all brass including the trucks and pilot kind simple on detail if I can figure out how to put picks on the site I will do that.  my MTH transformer shows only 0.6 amp when running empty and  4.8 amps when stalled at 20 volts  going to be a shelf king for now 

 i have seen the same loco in nyc paint and I cant tell the difference

When I was doing this on My Lionel class a, the reed switch was a cheap and available one bought from amazon.  It worked good for a few hours and thenit started to randomly work and not work.  I bought some other reed switches from digikey and the problem went away.  Have others encountered crummy reed switches and found them to be a problem?

I had a lot of variability with reed switches.  They were enough of a PITA that I decided to create a better way.

Reed switches suck.  Chuff generator good.  Just installed two chuff generators for a friend, easy peezy

mabey so but this thing does not have a flywheel

Not sure if it is the reed switch, but it definitely caused me issues before.

Below is the reed switch I am using from digikey.

@Former Member posted:

here we go again have had nothing but issues with err medium steam the loco runs great and the smoke unit chuffs with the wheel rotation all sounds work except the chuff sounds like Morse code it was sent back and reflashed and new reed switch and new ground wires and more weight  but no improvement it is a williams brass blue goose

any ideas before I use it for a door stop   thanks guys at the end of the track on this one

I didn’t know Williams sold a Brass Santa Fe Blue Goose. Is it actually a Weaver brass engine?

Or is it a Williams Norfolk & Western J Lionel PostWar copy painted like a Sante Fe 3460?

Product number and pictures would really assist everyone helping you.