Well, I went & dropped my 90 watt no 1044 transformer, and now the whistle control doesn’t work. That is, I pu***he lever in the whistle direction & I see the various track-powered light bulbs on the layout burn brighter, but no whistle from the locomotives.
I’ve never opened the thing. Should I try to open & fix it myself? What could the problem possibly be, anyway? Is it worth getting it fixed?
Thanks for the feedback.
Tony
These transformers have an obsolescent copper-oxide rectifier and an extra 5-volt winding that are switched into the circuit in a complicated sequence to add a strong DC component to the output to pull in the whistle relay, then reduce the DC while boosting the AC to hold the relay and supply the extra load of the whistle motor.
If you’re lucky, a wire or something has just come loose around the rectifier. Otherwise, the rectifier itself may be damaged. It looks like a big copper washer clipped to a metal plate that hangs down from the circuit board on the left side. You might be able to replace it with a modern silicon diode. Use a 3 or 4-ampere rectifier diode. Don’t worry about the voltage rating–you can’t buy anything that won’t be high enough. Get the old rectifier disconnected by unclipping and removing the copper disk. Solder the cathode of the replacement (the end with the stripe around it) to the terminal of the old rectifier that has the brass strip and the other end to the terminal that supports the old rectifier’s rectangular metal plate.
What I described is what I would try first; but I have never had to fix one of these. I think it might work. In any case, if it doesn’t, you can still throw the transformer away!
Bob:
You da man! Where’d you learn all this stuff?
Anybody got any info on what kind of tool you use to remove the screws on this transformer? They’re not normal slotted or philips or torx heads. Never seen anything like them before.
Tony
I have been trying to figure out what kind of screws you have. I have a 1033 here, with ordinary Philips heads. But I see in the repair manual that the 1044 has “#8 x 7/8” REC. R.H. ‘Z’", whatever that is. What does it look like? I can imagine various possibilities, like square, recessed hex, and clutch, with and without a tamper-resistant center pin.
Sorry, I shoulda said in the previous post.
The screw heads are round & instead of a slot or a phillips cross, there’s what looks like an oval in the top. It’s a wide slot that doesn’t go across the entire head, but ends with two rounded ends. I’m at work & the transformer’s at home, so I can’t measure anything.
I’m probably gonna give a regular screwdriver a try. If I can find one that pretty much fills the oval, it should be OK…
Tony
Sounds like it might be a clutch head. See www.msbuilder.com/tool/msscrew.htm
Yeah, I think that’s it. Now to find a driver…
Tony
I found clear pictures of 1044s at http://www.grahamstrains.com/index.html . One indeed has clutch-head screws; another has Philips, probably not the original screws.
Any luck yet with your repair?
Bob:
My wife’s birthday is coming up on Tuesday. The repair is not exactly high on my priority list at the present – staying out of the dog house is a bit more important to me right now .
I hope to get to it next weekend. Of course, I have to fit in building a set of book cases for my son’s room somewhere in there…
Tony
i dont mean to question anyone elses judgment, cuz i’m new at this too, but the same thing happened to me too. I just switched the wires powering the track, and instead of the train speeding up, the whistle blew! try that, but those other guys might be right… it could be an internal thing too. good luck
Hey, Bob & Tim:
Since one of those outboard whistle controllers that was mentioned in the October '03 CTT can operate the whistle on my train, wouldn’t another “repair” for my problem just be to pick up one of them & wire it into my layout?
Would certainly be safer than me opening up that transformer & mucking around in the inside… [:D]
Tony
That’s true. But keep in mind that the controller, since it can’t boost the voltage while the whistle is blowing, instead drops the voltage a little when it isn’t blowing. If you never have occasion to run flat out, this shouldn’t be a problem. However, if, like LIRR earlier this month, you have something geared slow, like a big Hudson, you may not be able to afford losing those last few volts.
Bob:
Actually, on this layout, I can’t run my trains flat out or they’ll go flying off the table onto the floor. The only locomotive I have that stays on the track is my PW 44-ton switcher with Magne-Traction. I think the magnets are helping it stay on teh track.
My JLC Hudson goes flying off at full speed. So do the 2-8-0 Consolidation and my son’s 4-4-0 General.
Tony
Why not take it to an authorized service station that specializes in older Lionel???
Well, I went & dropped my 90 watt no 1044 transformer, and now the whistle control doesn’t work. That is, I pu***he lever in the whistle direction & I see the various track-powered light bulbs on the layout burn brighter, but no whistle from the locomotives.
I’ve never opened the thing. Should I try to open & fix it myself? What could the problem possibly be, anyway? Is it worth getting it fixed?
Thanks for the feedback.
Tony
These transformers have an obsolescent copper-oxide rectifier and an extra 5-volt winding that are switched into the circuit in a complicated sequence to add a strong DC component to the output to pull in the whistle relay, then reduce the DC while boosting the AC to hold the relay and supply the extra load of the whistle motor.
If you’re lucky, a wire or something has just come loose around the rectifier. Otherwise, the rectifier itself may be damaged. It looks like a big copper washer clipped to a metal plate that hangs down from the circuit board on the left side. You might be able to replace it with a modern silicon diode. Use a 3 or 4-ampere rectifier diode. Don’t worry about the voltage rating–you can’t buy anything that won’t be high enough. Get the old rectifier disconnected by unclipping and removing the copper disk. Solder the cathode of the replacement (the end with the stripe around it) to the terminal of the old rectifier that has the brass strip and the other end to the terminal that supports the old rectifier’s rectangular metal plate.
What I described is what I would try first; but I have never had to fix one of these. I think it might work. In any case, if it doesn’t, you can still throw the transformer away!
Bob:
You da man! Where’d you learn all this stuff?
Anybody got any info on what kind of tool you use to remove the screws on this transformer? They’re not normal slotted or philips or torx heads. Never seen anything like them before.
Tony
I have been trying to figure out what kind of screws you have. I have a 1033 here, with ordinary Philips heads. But I see in the repair manual that the 1044 has “#8 x 7/8” REC. R.H. ‘Z’", whatever that is. What does it look like? I can imagine various possibilities, like square, recessed hex, and clutch, with and without a tamper-resistant center pin.
Sorry, I shoulda said in the previous post.
The screw heads are round & instead of a slot or a phillips cross, there’s what looks like an oval in the top. It’s a wide slot that doesn’t go across the entire head, but ends with two rounded ends. I’m at work & the transformer’s at home, so I can’t measure anything.
I’m probably gonna give a regular screwdriver a try. If I can find one that pretty much fills the oval, it should be OK…
Tony
Sounds like it might be a clutch head. See www.msbuilder.com/tool/msscrew.htm