# Lionel 6026W Tender Refresh



## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I've had a busy couple of weeks with tuning up my collection. After getting the 1033 working, next up on the bench was this tender. It was actually in really good shape, but the whistle didn't blow well. It really wanted a lot of juice and a good warm up before it would get going.

I decided to tear it down, clean everything up and lube it to see if that would help. Boy, did it ever. The motor was really stiff before I cleaned it up and gave it some fresh oil.

Here are a couple of shots of the overall tender:


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

To remove the shell, just unscrew this screw. Then, rock the shell up off the rear tabs.










You'll see the wonder world of the whistle:










Just remove the two nuts from the bottom of the carriage to remove the whistle mechanism. I didn't bother unsoldering the wires going to the pickups. I just wanted to get to the bottom of the whistle so I could pull the mounting bolts and remove the motor.



















The fan blades were caked with gunk. I cleaned them with a brush. Then, I placed a small dollop of oil on the moving parts of the motor. Before enclosing it all, I ran the motor to work in the oil, and clean up any excess that might spray out at the high RPMs.










I cleaned the shell along with a load of dishes. Cleaning the dishes made my wife happy. 

Now, it's all back together and whistling away.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

I forgot to mention - while I had the oil out I also cleaned up and lubed the trucks and coupler. It's rolling like a new tender again.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I always thought that was a nice looking tender. I may have one in a set. That's it. For some reason that box style has eluded me.

Keep it up!:thumbsup:


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I'm jealous. Most of my prewar whistle tenders have the whistle captive inside a tabbed-tight shell. I've serviced a few, but one can only bend/unbend those tabs so many times before they give way.

Another nice under-the-hood service thread on your part! Tender looks great!

TJ


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Thanks! I want to start diving into the prewar era. I'm looking forward to some train shows next year and will be concentrating on picking up some pieces. My next layout is going to have an area with a science fiction theme, and the prewar locos are perfect for it.


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## lionellines (May 18, 2011)

It appears that the studs that hold the motor to the chamber also hold the chamber to the frame. Is that right?


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Yup, that's right. The studs pass through the frame and are bolted to the frame with a pair of nuts.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

TJ, when you close up a tender with tabs, don't bend the tabs over. Twist two of them slightly. This will hold the tender together just fine, and you can open it up several times without breaking off the tabs.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Thanks, Bruce ... I know you've mentioned that before, and I have done just that (per your tip) on a couple of shells. Great tip!


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## Robes (Jan 5, 2011)

Thanx for the pictures. I have two whistle tenders that need a good cleaning and lube.


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## erkenbrand (Dec 6, 2010)

Twisting the tabs is a great tip. I was looking at a totally unrelated audio amplifier project and dreading unbending the tabs because then I'd have to bend them back. Thanks!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

You'll notice a lot of Lionel transformers have the tabs twisted in exactly that manner from the factory.


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## TomW2034 (Jun 2, 2015)

I have just disassembled my 6026W Tender for cleaning/oiling and am thrilled with the apparent lack of wear. A few questions, though, for anyone who's been around the block on this subject.

I can easily believe, for various reasons, the working parts have never been disassembled. The bearing underneath the impellor needs cleaning/oiling. Should I risk prying the 62 year-old piece of plastic off to do a good job?









The metal rectangle on the top of the armature plate might be an oiler wick like I read about in another thread. Should I remove & inspect, or just saturate it with motor oil?









Any additional advice other than the obvious Scotch-Brite till shiny would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

It is not necessary to remove the impeller. Oil the bearing from the armature side with a pin oiler or a drop or two of oil on a toothpick or bent paper clip. 

Remember your primary objective: Get the stuff working so you can run it (play with it). 

In that connection, I don't clean track. I run the train on the track until it cleans off the corrosion on a very narrow stripe on the top of the rails.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm with Bruce here, don't fix stuff that ain't broken. It's quite possible you'll break that trying to get it off.


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## TomW2034 (Jun 2, 2015)

*Turn that whistle down!*

Cleaning & oiling of the motor itself went well. The relay contacts took more effort than I was expecting to keep them from sticking closed. 

Back when I used to do more with relays, one had to be careful not to sand the plating off the contacts because once the plating was gone, the base metal usually pitted/became useless fast. These contacts did not appear to be plated. Anyone know if they are or not?

The trucks were problematic in that an axle was popped out of trailing truck, and the leading truck was squished like someone sat on it. Adjustment was tough. I thought the wire had broken off of the leading pickup. But after reconnecting it, the status light on my new power supply started blinking. I had to remove the leading truck and get serious with a re-alignment.

But it was all worth it. That is now one loud whistle! My 2034 is hauling the freight while the 2055 gets its special treatment. 

One last question: The whistle button on my new power supply works as I expected. But what what caught me by surprise is the bell button will also activate the whistle. And it will whistle until, and ONLY until, the throttle is cut. Is this typical behaviour?

Tom


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

The bell button simply reverses the polarity of the DC bias on the track. It's odd the whistle keeps running, I can only assume that for some reason the relay is sticking. The relay will react to either plus or minus DC offsets, so it operating isn't a surprise, the fact that it won't stop is.

Does pushing the bell button a second time have an effect?


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

I had a horn relay in a 2353 sticking. I put a piece of tape across the relay magnet so the relay armature could not touch the relay magnetic core. Problem was solved. The relay is very sensitive, and if the core gets even slightly magnetized, the relay will stick.


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## TomW2034 (Jun 2, 2015)

*Exciting New Development*



gunrunnerjohn said:


> ... Does pushing the bell button a second time have an effect?


It did not when I was testing just the _tender _on the rails.

But the Postman just brought me three new-to-me boxcars, and after adding them & the 2034 to the consist, the buttons were given another checkout. Everything appears to be working as would be expected.

Perhaps the power supply wanted to see the additional current draw due to the locomotive. Regardless, nothing else needs to be done on the tender.

Tom


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Gremlins.


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## santafe158 (Jul 14, 2010)

The Bell button on modern transformers does keep the whistle on constantly in pre/postwar tenders for some reason. Usually a second push of the bell button (as it would be with a sound equipped locomotive with a bell sound) shuts it off if I accidentally hit the wrong one.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I can't imagine why it would do that, and I've never personally observed it. I only get those in for testing, but when the DC offset is gone, the relay should drop out. The relay doesn't know the difference between positive and negative DC offset, at least it shouldn't. In any case, when the DC is gone, it should release.


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## servoguy (Jul 10, 2010)

GRJ, not all things can be explained by normal scientific methods.

Or:

It can't possibly have that effect!!


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I didn't say it couldn't happen, I just said I can't see how and I've never seen the effect.


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