Old Postwar Engine Problems

Lets take these one at a time.

1.  On your 2343, the horn sounds when the loco is up-side down because gravity is causing the relay to close.  This is true of all of the battery operated horn engines.  You should hit your horn relay with some TV Tuner Cleaner, available from Radio Shack.  Then use some emery-cloth to shine up the contacts.  If the relay is closing but the horn is still intermittent, try adjusting the set screw on the horn enclosure itself.  Sometimes a brief jolt of AC power to the horn leads will also wake up a horn.

2.  Your whistle in the 671 is really a locomotive motor with a relay attached.  The relay gets the same treatment as above.  The motor should have the brush-plate removed, the commutator face and slots cleaned, and the brushes replaced.  On reassembly, you need to oil both ends of the impeller shaft.  This will get rid of the motor noise.

3.  Address your relay problems as above.

All of this is outlined in OGR Backshop videos available from this site.

Jon 

The horns on post war locos sound so bad even when they work properly, I feel its better to just not mess with them.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Post war whistles/horns may sound bad to some folks, but to me, it is the sweet sound of nostalgia.

Earl

Thanks much for all the input guys!  Instead of contact cleaner do any of you experts have experience with Berryman's Chemtool (the answer to a maiden's prayer in the automotive and motorcycle world I have experience with) as a contact cleaner?

Also, where do I see these videos?  Can the repairs be accomplished without an electron microscope to see the parts?  Are there explosion drawings available?  and ...last but not least, where can I get the parts?

Thanks

DJ

It doesn't sound like you need any parts.  For the DVD's:

http://ogaugerr.com/railroad/product_info.php?cPath=25_28&products_id=42

Or you can use the TM Books and Video:

http://www.tmbv.com/Maintenanc...s/productinfo/MAINT/

All the parts are easy to see if you take off your glasses!

Jon 

Just use a contact cleaner that leaves no residue. I use CRC 56. David, send an email to my email address and I can help you out with some information about cleaning and overhauling these things. Its too big to be posted here.

Rob

Thanks again guys.  Oldrob; how do I find your email address?

I did have some success cleaning the E unit on my 736; I even repinned the lever's rivet so it is not loose.  I think next time I am going to take the top case off the E unit I will try to find a way to file away the peening.  Mine was peened on pretty hard and I bent the top part getting it off.  Fortunately the metal is so soft it was easy to straighten it.

Same story with the fingers of the contacts; I bent one but was able to bend it back.

Sometimes I have to give my 736 a little helping hand to get it going first thing during an operating session; seems more with the E unit off than on.  Any ideas?

I am going to check the instructions I got from the KOOLjock for my 671's horn next.

There is a good utube video on rebuilding the E units which I watched a couple of times. 

Regards,

DJ

You can find my email it in the extended profile, but here it is because it is public.

bimininick@aol.com. The 736- Have you removed the brush cap and cleaned it, the armature face, and replaced the brushs? Greased the gears and looked for binding of the axle gear against the sides? If it hasn't been done in a long while, pull that armature out of the housing and clean/re-grease the ball bearing plates.

Rob

Not to step on anyone's toes here, but if you get totally frustrated and can't get them to work the way you want, I do repairs.

Thanks,

Chuck

www.only3rail.com