Postwar accessory restoration

The first light works.

Good news, all 6 lights work. At least the ones that didn’t break but they light up.

So you just need to knock the rust off and you’re good to go!

Jon

The rust off of where exactly?

@TheRoyalHudson988 posted:

The rust off of where exactly?

Anything the electricity has to travel through. The parts don't have to be shiny on the outside, but at any point the electricity has to pass through, the surfaces should be shiny and make good metal-to-metal contact so the circuit is completed. Try connecting your 9 volt battery to the clips, and if the bulbs don't light, trace the path of the electricity up the tower, through the bulb sockets and bulbs, and back down, looking for any signs of corrosion or poor contact between the parts along that path. Again, it's not the *outside* of the parts but only the contact surfaces to the next part that's important. Good luck!

HELP !!!  im banging my head against the wall ..  please make it STOP !!

I’m talking about the floodlight it actually came with. That’s the only place where I would imagine rust to be. I already cleaned off the bulbs themselves. I’ll be sure to take pictures later of what I’m trying to figure out.

If there's an adult at home, please show them this:

The Lionel #195 Floodlight tower passes the electrical current from the Fahnstock Clips on the bottom of the base up through the two rods in the structure to the floodlight assembly at the top.

For power to make it up and back, the contact from the Fahnstock Clips to the rods, and from the rods to the floodlight structure has to be clean of corrosion build-up.  A bit of sandpaper or Emery Cloth or a nail file, or ScotchBrite pad will do this.

Apply two Accessory Wires with their ends stripped, one to each of the Fahnstock Clips, with the other ends going to the two accessory posts of the transformer.

Jon

Gee, could this thread be one of the greatest trolling efforts in OGR history? Nah.

Accessories like this are very complicated, with their bulbs and all. LOL

I posted how to fix its problems on 1/20. Many others have posted clarifying posts too

I love KOOLjock1's recent comment "Looking forward to your purchase of Post War Culvert Loader and Unloader".  And, in answer to his last comment "Seriously?" I no longer think so.

I thought so too, but then I read some of his previous threads, and they're all much alike. 

Jon

I apologize if I confused you guys a lot. I’m pretty sure I did, but this is my first time attempting to restore an old accessory that was passed down through family. I ran O gauge trains for a long time, this was all very new to me since most of the accessories I have or just plastic ones. The ones the Lionel sets came with. Once again I apologize if I confused you guys. Also if you guys are wondering if I have experience with working with electronics here you go, this is a soldering kit o worked on not to long ago.

@TheRoyalHudson988 posted:

I apologize if I confused you guys a lot. I’m pretty sure I did, but this is my first time attempting to restore an old accessory that was passed down through family. I ran O gauge trains for a long time, this was all very new to me since most of the accessories I have or just plastic ones. The ones the Lionel sets came with. Once again I apologize if I confused you guys. Also if you guys are wondering if I have experience with working with electronics here you go, this is a soldering kit o worked on not to long ago.

Well, thanks for the apology, but I don't think the issue is really confusion, but more a skepticism about whether we are being put on. Your initial question was both very basic (how do I fix this?) and amazingly obtuse (how long do the wires need to be?). On the latter point, I was reminded of the time Abraham Lincoln was asked how long a person's legs should be, and his answer was, "Long enough to reach the ground!" The same applies to *any* basic two-wire connection. When I read your question, I was puzzled at first, but then concluded you must have meant something like "Is there a limit to how long the feeder wires can be before the accessory will no longer work?"  (e.g., are my wires too long?).

Now, in reaction to a very basic and somewhat naive question (especially from a relative stranger), it's my experience that responders will either berate the questioner for the poor quality of the question and/or bombard them with enough further questions to test whether it's even worth the responder's time to help, or attempt to respond in a manner that might be helpful. As you have seen, we have plenty of both types here. My advice when seeking help is to first to think through the problem before posting, then see if there's a thread that already addresses the issue, and only then post a query. Oh, it also helps to develop a thick skin in case someone is still not happy with your query! Good luck, and I hope you find the answer to your problem (or if you *are* a troll, I hope you find something more productive to do with your time and life! ).

I thought I would just send another update to the restoration project I’m doing. I hooked it up the best I could and everything looks alright. It could use a bit more power but I read what you guys posted and here are the results.

I got more good news, it works.

@TheRoyalHudson988 posted:

I got more good news, it works.

Great -- now, all you need to do is troubleshoot the bulbs that are not lighting.

The easiest method IMHO would be to move a known working bulb (one of the ones that lit up) to the non-lit sockets. If the bulb still lights, the socket is good and just needs a working bulb, but if it *doesn't* light, you have more troubleshooting to do with that socket.

In any event, good luck . . . and if you really don't need the extra light, you might just want to consider declaring victory and move on!