Dear Mikey,
Good day - here are the Guru's thoughts on your dilema:
It sounds like you may have a problem with the air chime tube. Inside the
cylinder there is the following; a magnet coil, and a flapper with 2 sets
of breaker points, one set on each side of the flapper. When energized, the
coil makes the flapper moves from side to side, firing the points, and sends
the current to blow the horn. From your description of the problem you are
having, it sounds like the coil is ok, but the sets of points are corroded,
stuck shut, or too far open.
There are 2 solutions to this problem. First, drill a 1/8" or so hole on
the side of the tube, about half way down, and spray some CRC 2-26 inside
the cannister. You can be liberal with the spray, it won't damage anything.
Let it set for a few minutes. Tap the cannister on the flat side on a flat
surface a couple of times, sometimes this helps to loosen stuck points.
Energize the unit a few times. You may want to spray it again. Energize it
some more, as the heat from the points arcing combined with the CRC help to
loosen corrosion on the point surfaces. If that doesn't work, on to step
2-take the cannister apart.
This is how I perform this task. Take a hacksaw, and cut an X on the 4
prong end of the tube so you can unroll the edge of the tube from the 4
prong fibre disc. Next take a pair of small side cutters or needle nose
pliers and unroll the edge of the can, like you would if you were opening a
can with a can opener. If you take small bites, and use care hopefully you
won't tear the rolled edge of the tube and be able to re-bend it back upon
re-assembly.
Once you have the cannister apart, plug it in the base, with engine on track
and energize the horn. The points should arc a little bit, and the flapper
should be moving from side to side. You can file the points with a fine
grit nail file, point file, or some medium grit wet or dry sandpaper, if the
points are looking burned or corroded. Sometimes the points are too close
together, or too far apart-use needle nose pliers to re-adjust-and just
little adjustments at a time-energize horn, adjust points, energize horn,
adjust points, etc, until the sound is audible. Usually you only have to
adjust the outside point of each set. I don't have any specs on doing this
procedure (point gap, etc.), I learned how to fix these things by trial and
error over the course of the last 30 years. Someone else may have a more
technical solution to this task, as I don't claim to be the expert. I
learned how to fix flyer over the years by having the good fortune of
buying, selling and collecting tons of this stuff over the years. If you
have any other questions, or find a procedure to fix this problem that is
better than the one described here, I would appreciate a reply. If your
generator is not repairable, and sometimes they aren't, we can supply you
with one that works.
If you get an opportunity, please check out our new Ebay Store at
http://www.GILBERTGURU.COM
Thank you for your continued interest - we look forward to hearing from you
again. Sincerely,
Leonard D Salins
111 Carolyn Drive
Cross Junction, VA 22625
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
800-409-1909
http://www.GILBERTGURU.COM
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Monday, March 03, 2003 6:46 AM
Subject: [S-Trains] 324AC whistle and 'Gilbert Guru'
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