Railroad crossing sound modules / door bells?

[Bart1701]

I have an automated crossing gate on my layout using various Azatrax modules. I'm using their MRB2 Bell Ringer / Strobe Light Pulser to ring a common door bell (4 inch doorbell: Ace Hardware 36487) as recommended in their instructions. I make all of the adjustments on the module for intensity and frequency and the bell works fine - for a while. But after some time, all I will get is a dull clunk instead of a sharp clanging sound.

I was wondering if there are any sound modules available with a crossing gate sound - and whether there would be some way to use this instead of the door bell - without needing an advanced degree in electronics to make it work.

...or, if anyone has any suggestions on why my clanging door bell becomes a dull clunk after a while and how to resolve this - that advice would also be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bart

[DKS]

I've used a message recording module to store a recording of an actual crossing bell. This trick allows you to place a small speaker right under (beside, behind or whatever) the crossing, and adjust the volume of playback. You can find digital message modules in the $20-40 range online; some of them come with built-in low-power amplifiers--perfectly adequate for this application--while others require an external amp, in which case an inexpensive speaker set for PCs will work fine.

You can hear the recording I use in this video:

It came from part of a videotape I took of the New Hope and Ivyland railroad, while I was standing at a grade crossing waiting for the train.

[peteski]

I simply Googled for "model railroad sound effect module" and first website that popped up has exactly what you asked for http://ittproducts.com/hqpage_2008.htm  .
There is also little pricier http://tonystrains.com/technews/pricom_dp-rev.htm . It is very flexible but you have to edit and upload your own sounds.

[mmagliaro]

I have an automated crossing gate on my layout using various Azatrax modules. I'm using their MRB2 Bell Ringer / Strobe Light Pulser to ring a common door bell (4 inch doorbell: Ace Hardware 36487) as recommended in their instructions. I make all of the adjustments on the module for intensity and frequency and the bell works fine - for a while. But after some time, all I will get is a dull clunk instead of a sharp clanging sound.

I was wondering if there are any sound modules available with a crossing gate sound - and whether there would be some way to use this instead of the door bell - without needing an advanced degree in electronics to make it work.

...or, if anyone has any suggestions on why my clanging door bell becomes a dull clunk after a while and how to resolve this - that advice would also be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bart

I just stumbled on this.  I know it's a little old.  Did you ever go the electronic module route?  If not, and if you're still having problems
with the mechanical bell...
I looked at the MRB2 instructions....

First, I would take out the bell, and put in the resistor and some LEDs as they show, and see if those work reliably, long-term.
i.e.  If you run them for a long time, do they correctly flash, or do they start acting weird?

If the LEDs work okay, then I would suspect that the problem is:

a) Your power supply (that you are feeding the bell with) is overheating or doesn't have enough of a current capacity to
keep ringing that bell long-term.  The instructions say you need at least a 500 mA supply, or maybe more, depending on the
bell you use.  Is the supply getting hot when the bell stops ringing properly?

b) simple overheating of the bell coil itself.   Is it hot when it starts failing?  If you stop it for a few minutes, will it then suddenly
work okay again?

c) current spikes from the bell coil disturbing the MRB2 module, although I would hope that the module wouldn't suffer from this
since it is specifically designed to drive a coil load directly.

How much do you ring that bell before it stops ringing properly?   

[Bart1701]

Just wanted to let everyone know that my crossing bell is working fine now.

I appreciate all of the advice, but the problem was actually fairly simple to solve. I had the door bell screwed to one of the legs on my benchwork. I removed it so that I could do some testing on the bell to first ensure that it even worked as a door bell (which it did), and I then connected it back up to the MRB module. It worked just fine and was ding-dinging away. I mounted the doorbell back on the benchwork leg again - with the only changes being that I did not tighten the screw that held the bell top the benchwork leg as tight as I had previously done, and I also made sure that the doorbell was mounted straight up and down on the leg (before, I had it positioned at a slight angle on the leg). After this, the bell has been working every day just fine. So, either I had it too tightly secured against the leg which caused the bell cover not to be able to vibrate enough, or the slight angle of the bell and gravity was causing the striker not to be able to move enough to strike the bell cover reliably. I am sure there is some mechnical engineering explanation for all of this, but I am not a mechanical engineer and I am just happy that everything is working as expected now!

Thanks,
Bart