Whistle tender/ transformer question

You will need to feed AC voltage to the track with the whistle tender on it. The whistle motor runs on AC voltage, and the whistle relay closes with DC voltage.

Larry

@Mannyrock posted:

Here's the problem

 

Stuff snipped.... 

Why don't you just pick up a Lionel 125 Whistle Station? Pretty much perfect for your requirements with much less hee-haw.

Train Larry,

Thanks for the info.  I guess I got confused.  I thought that I read somewhere that you can't run an A/C Engine with whistle on a DC powered track, because the whistle would blow non-stop.  Did I get it backwards?    Is it that you can't run a DC Engine with a whistle on an AC powered track without the whistle constantly blowing???

Prof,  yep, I might have to lay out $60 for a whistle shack, but I am trying to work with the parts I have now.   

Thanks,  Mannyrock

I have a two Lionel whistles in two buildings with open windows.  These whistles were from junk coal tenders, had the relay removed and they run on 12vac from a lighting transformer.  For some reason they sound much different from each other which is okay.  Whistle coal tenders are a pain to keep running and do draw power from the track and will slow some trains down.

By having the whistles in buildings I always have whistles available and I do not have to buy whistle coal tenders for dozens of engines as many engines, bought used, did not come with whistle coal tenders.

I do the same for diesel horns and use two Bachmann Shell oil tanks with diesel horns in them.  This also eliminates the messy and troublesome D size batteries that are in Lionel diesels with horns.

Unless your are very near the engine when blowing the whistle or horn you can not determine where the sound is coming from.

I just like to keep things simple, flexible, reliable  and inexpensive.

Charlie

Choo Choo,

Great minds think alike.  :-)

If I end up having to spend $60, I think I would be better off buying a totally rebuilt LW transformer, from the company recommended on this board, use the LW to run my trains, and just use the 1033 I have to power the little track section and blow the whistle. (I think I only paid about $10 or $20 for the 1033 at a flea market.)

Originally, I tried finding junk Coal tenders online with whistles.  I couldn't find any for less than $50, when working whistle tenders were only five or ten dollars more.    I also looked just for good working, complete whistles, and heck they were $45 and looked like junk.

Is it easy to remove or bypass that whistle relay from the whistle motor that is inside of my current tender? ( I would hate to gut that whistle motor so that it is beyond a simple repair to return it to normal.)

Thanks,

Mannyrock

An American Flyer whistling billboard would also work well. It would both look and sound great. Probably can be had for reasonable cost - about $35 on the usual auction site.

The result would be NO train slowdown and a great sounding whistle at the touch of a button.

@TrainLarry posted:

You will need to feed AC voltage to the track with the whistle tender on it. The whistle motor runs on AC voltage, and the whistle relay closes with DC voltage.

Nope, the DC as proposed will work perfectly as the whistle motor will run equally well on AC or DC.

@Mannyrock posted:

... I am planning to put the whistle tender on a side track, that is insulated, so that it is not connected to the main track and powered by the 1033.      I am going to run power to this little section of track from the 4150 transformer, using the rectifier so that the current is DC.  And, I am going to install a simple momentary on/off switch in the DC line, so that it only gets current when I press the button...

 You can also skip the rectifier by just inverting the whistle tender and powering it with your momentary on/off switch, or remove the tender shell, place a small piece of sponge below the relay armature to close the contacts and replace the shell, powering it with your momentary on/off switch as needed, or, to keep the remote whistle feature intact, wire in a discreet but accessible switch to bypass the relay when you want to use it a a stationary whistle and flip it off to whistle remotely.

@Mannyrock posted:

...  

I have a small 4150 transformer, that I paid virtually nothing for, and it is just sitting in a box.  I also have a bridge rectifier.  

...

I won't  have to go out and buy a whistle control unit

... 

@Mannyrock posted:

...Is it easy to remove or bypass that whistle relay from the whistle motor that is inside of my current tender? ( I would hate to gut that whistle motor so that it is beyond a simple repair to return it to normal.)

If you don't want to perform surgery or modify the tender (to bypass the DC relay so as to directly drive the AC whistle motor) why not just apply AC+DC to the whistle tender?  I suppose you could call this a stripped-down whistle control unit?

It appears you already have loose components like bridge rectifiers lying around?  There have been many OGR articles on building a "whistle control unit" which would sit between the 4150 and your side-track whistle tender.  A few diodes is all you need to put a "hint" of DC on the 4150's AC voltage which would thereby trigger the DC relay in the tender.  When you want to trigger the whistle, use whatever pushbutton switch you have to apply this AC+DC voltage to the stationary tender.

@stan2004 posted:

...why not just apply AC+DC to the whistle tender? 

DC only as originally proposed will work fine.

ALL good suggestions, but perhaps the least fuss would be a separate whistle like the Lionel whistling shed or the AF whistling billboard, both of which could be had for modest sums, and you would not have to modify your existing tenders. My approach in this hobby has always been the minimum hassle one!

@ADCX Rob posted:

 

..... remove the tender shell, place a small piece of sponge below the relay armature to close the contacts and replace the shell, powering it with your momentary on/off switch as needed,...

That's a good idea too.

Thanks for all of the great advice.  Lot's of ways to get there.  But, since Rob says my initial proposal will work, and since it will cost me nothing and apparently not require me to open up and alter the tender, I think that's where I'll start.

Mannyrock