need help with ZW whistle controls

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Ok folks,

I’m upgrading some MTH engines to TMCC. As a part of that I need to reset my Proto 1 engines using the whistle/horn control on my ZW.

It turns out that my ZW controls aren’t working too well. so here are my questions:

  1. I think that the ZW should increase a couple of volts AC when pushed, it should also put out some DC volts right?

  2. Is there another way to “rig” a temporary whistle controller?

  3. Since I’m going to TMCC full time, will I ever need the whistle controller again? The rest of ZW seems to work fine.

thanks

2

  1. Yes, and there are in fact published specifications for just how many DC volts. Those are 5.5 volts when the rectifier first engages, and dropping down to .85 volts when the control has been fully operated. The AC voltage should also increase 5 volts.

  2. Yes, there are plenty of after market whistle controllers that are cheap and work well.

  3. You are correct that you really don’t need it in TMCC.

3

Looking in my handy dandy Greenberg’s guide, I see a sentance about controlling whistles using a 1.5 volt battery.

Has anyone tried this?

4

This topic was discussed ad nauseum last month: http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=33492

5

thanks Bob,

I just read that thread and it’s more information than I could possibly handle.

What I really want to know is:

Since I only need to do this one more time before retiring conventional control alltogether…can I just put two wires on a 1.5 volt battery? I’d hook one to the middle track, and when I wanted to engage the whistle (for programming MTH proto 1) I temporarily hold the other to the track for a second or so.

6

I think that is more likely just to discharge the cell without affecting the whistle, since the transformer output has a very low impedance. The cell needs to be in series with the transformer. So you need to disconnect the transformer from the track, put the cell in series with it, and then reconnect to the track, all so quickly that the train does not hesitate, which is why there was discussion about a switch to do it.

7

I went home at lunch and tried something…

I attached a lead to the positive side of 1 AA battery. I placed the negative side on the outside rail and touched the lead momentarily to the inside rail.

IT WORKED!!! The horn blew for a moment. If I reversed the simple circuit by putting the negative on the middle rail and the positive outside, the bell went off.

I put the engine in reset, and began programming.

Everything worked perfectly. Granted this is not a setup I would use while running the trains, but for a momentary setup it worked just fine.

8

If you want to invest about 80 bucks, you could get a QSI Sidekick II.
I got two of them and they work great for whistle and bell.
Chuck

9

Congratulations!

10

Thanks,
Now that I’ve got the MTH done and on TMCC, I guess I really don’t need to fix my ZW whistle control.
HOWEVER, now I want to fix it. Just because it irks me that they are not working properly. I have found a source for the ZW-90 contact plate assembly, but I was wondering if anyone knew if they made complete ZW-89 Reversing Unit assemblies anymore.

It would be nice to be able to just replace the entire rectifier/contacts/springs/etc, in one piece.

thanks