Lionel Postwar F3 horn questions

Hi, Roger.

   There's been a few topics on this. It's been suggested you can tap it firmly a couple times with the handle end of a screwdriver (in case the diaphram's stuck), unsolder the horn wire and remove the horn, put two or three D batterys together and zap it with 4.5 or even 6 volts for a few seconds to get it blowing good, or, and this does help, while it's removed set it down face-up and squirt a lot of WD-40 inside. Let it sit overnight, drain out the solvent and give it the higher voltage again. Chances are all it suffers from is lack of use. The WD-40 won't hurt it.

Tony

The wire from the e-unit to the horn relay brings power to the relay. If the wire is not connected to track power, the relay will not close, and the horn will not blow. If your horn worked before you removed the e-unit, then all is properly installed in your engine. Do not disassemble the horn until you are positive that everything else is clean, wired properly and functioning properly. The horn works on very low voltage, 1.5 volts DC, and as such, the physical path for battery current to flow needs to be clean and free of any dirt, oil, and especially corrosion. This includes the battery bracket and contacts and the horn bracket. Remove the horn and bracket from the chassis and clean where the bracket bolts to the chassis, and where the horn bolts to the bracket. The  chassis acts as the negative wire for the horn battery, and any resistance will impair the functioning of the horn. Clean the relay contacts, and the horn should blow. You can close the relay contacts by hand to check out the horn, without needing any track power.

Larry

Larry and Tony,

Fixed!  Much appreciated. Works like a charm......at least with a screwdriver pushing up the contacts on the relay. When I get my e-unit back we'll see if anything changes. It was all about clean contacts. I sanded the relay contacts and hit it with contact cleaner. Same for the horn bracket and frame. One of the battery bracket screws was a bit loose...tightened it and cleaned the positive terminal in the batt. compartment as well as the contact on the door. So, I'm not sure which of those things did it, but probably the combination on a 60 year old engine. I adjusted the horn screw. Not sure what it's supposed to sound like, but got a tone that was loud and consistent. 

Roger

This engine is shaping up to be very nice. I've got a Lionel Conventional Classics F3 set which is l good, but have wanted a "real" one......the powered unit at least (I can run my CC dummies behind either one now). 

The weird thing is.....on the thread I found on a diff. Forum (as I mentioned above), the guy put in the "missing" insulation strip under the horn bracket. I don't understand how it possibly could have worked with it's ground cut off. 

Thanks for that link C.W. !

The guy I was referring to, though, was talking about insulation under the horn, not the relay. So, I don't know how his horn could have worked after putting insulation under it.

-Roger

I've got another question for you folks. The horn works well and every time, but I've been experimenting. I just connected a 9V alkaline and then a battery pack with 3 AAA batteries (4.5V). As expected, it responds instantly. It does change the pitch and you have to adjust the screw to get an acceptable sound. Has anyone out there ever experimented with other batteries? And will any damage result from using more than 1.5V (D cell)? 

Roger

The horn was designed for 1.5 volts, and like anything else electric, higher than rated voltage will shorten its life, or burn it out altogether.

Larry

I discovered in my experimentation that the D cell has MUCH more capacity than the triple As or the 9. I tested the AAAs for about 5 or 10 minutes and the voltage for each cell went from 1.6 to 1.46.   As for the 9.....didn't like the sound. The D cell adjusts to the best sound.

Roger