Postwar whistle fix

Some folks have reported that putting a layer (or two) of masking tape on the armature (part that moves) will fix this problem. If not, it is easy to undo.

Put tape between the armature and the coil.

Maybe try cleaning those contacts and see if that restores the whistle. Watch and see if the relay is still picking up. See if both wires to the rollers are intact and not shorting to the chassis anywhere. Those old wires get very brittle and the insulation chips off.

Rob

Thanks for the advice.  I went through and serviced the tender whistles some months ago, including new wiring, so this one was whistling up a storm, so other than the fact that the relay sticked it whistled quite well.  Once I blew the compressed air onto the relay it went dead.  I'll try to clean the contact points and check the connections but it is perplexing to me, to say the least. 

It's possible that the compressed air blew the contact arm off of its swivel points. It has to move freely and the spring that holds it open is very weak. Check to see if the contact arm is crooked, or moving stiffly, or too far away from the coil.

Yes,

Royboy is correct. Have you manually closed the relay to see if the whistle will work? You can also jump past the relay by touching a wire from the transformer to the wire leading to the motor and ground (frame of the tender). The motor should work.

Hope this helps.

Richard

When servicing a whistle tender, I usually unsolder the wires going to the relay (digital camera is invaluable), remove the relay from the tender, and remove the screw holding the insulators and wire contacts on the side. I then remove the non moving contact and clean it with 1200 grit sandpaper, and clean the moving contact without bending it. I then spray the pivot area of the moving contact with CRC Electramotive. After everything is dry I reassemble it and make sure the gap between the two contacts is around .020 inch, about the thickness of a matchbook cover. This often improves the performance of a whistle motor, especially when combined with cleaning the armature and brush plate, and the brushes.