Marx bell ringer accessory advice

The ones I have had worked well.  But the were in pretty decent condition.  As I increase the voltage the bell  goes from a low tapping on the bell on up to a loud, noisy thing you want to shut off. 

What range of voltage were you using?

I went to about 12 or 14 volts I think.

Looks like the clapper is bent out a bit.  Try bending it in a couple of mm and see what happens...

Mitch

Hello,

Can anyone tell me how to wire the Marx bell ringer accessory using Lionel O27 track?

Thank you!

Rudy

rudy,

Purchase (or make) a section of track with an insulated outside rail, and put insulating pins in both ends of the insulated outside rail.  There's plenty of places on this site (or in any Lionel guide) that explain howto do this (it's easy).

Then using a standard CTC lockon connect the "grounded" wire on the ringer to the insulated outside rail, and the other wire on the ringer to the center rail.  A better approach would be to connect the "grounded" ringer wire to the insulated rail (as discussed above), and then connect the other (non-grounded) wire on the ringer to the Accessory terminal on your transformer.  Either of these methods should work.  

When your train passes over the insulated section of track, the bell will operate.  

I think the Marx Ringer is a fun accessory, but after hearing it for awhile, it starts to drive me nuts, so I installed a toggle switch allowing me to shut if off when I get tired of it.

Good luck!

Yes, I repaired one of these this past Christmas. It's a classic doorbell circuit and sounds like an old one or an old telephone. The fact that your arm is going in and out means no electrical issue to me. The clapper does not appear to be bent to me. Is something interfering with its travel? Is there evidence of something inside the mechanism having moved? This is a very simple machine. There's not much to go wrong with it.

O27 Bob,

Thank you very much for your quick reply. I will try your methodology soon.
Much appreciated. I am just getting back into reacquainting myself with my trains.
For the first time in 5 years. It is a show I used to attend every year. I know, sad.
It took me 3 hours to get to the show and I only found two items, this being one of them.
Once upon a time. I had one of these Marx "Ringers" and had to put it in a bundle to sell a group of postwar trains.
At the show today. I came across this and had to have it. I'm sorry, TMI, just excited about getting back into my trains.

Have a great rest of your weekend.

Rudy

Hi John, I would recommend you bend the tabs on the back straight and pull the cover off, you may find rust or corrosion, clean it up and it will probably work perfectly!

Alan