6-48064 Northern non working sounds

I don't own one but I think I remember reading the chuff was on the lite side and required some mod to improve. The bell and whistle should activate using a Lionel AC transformer with the appropriate controls or 8251-50 controllers. Someone else on this forum may know more.

Take the tender apart and reseat the boards and also the re- press the two square sound chips into their sockets.

I do not have the Milw. Rd but do have the UP Northern. The sound on that engine is plenty loud. Maybe remove the tender shell and check for loose plug or broken wire.

Ray

Like Carl says, it uses standard RailSounds audio and P/S boards.  Reseating the sound chips sometimes brings them back if they've set around for a long time.  I have found that using the PLCC extraction tool to just move the chip up in the socket and then pressing it back down frequently brings back the audio on a shelf queen.  This is a ten year old locomotive, if it's never been run, I can easily see the contacts on the PLCC chips oxidizing.  You can also test the RS boards individually in another locomotive to narrow down the failure.

As I recall these Northerns did not have an electronic chuff sound, only a mechanically generated chuff sound that came from the smoke unit, and that actually produced more of a whistle sound than a chuff.  Lionel made a gasket that was supposed to help the anemic sounding smoke unit, but as I understand it they didn't help much.

Doug Peck has two on-line repair clinics that deal with this.  Go to www.portlines.com and select "On-Line American Flyer Repair Clinics" and see clinics #31 and #31A. Also Carl Tuveson posted his solution at http://www.tuveson.com/Norther...roving_the_smoke.htm.

A few of my fellow club members have installed Gilbert-made smoke units in theirs with great success.  Hope this helps!

Dean

Dean, this model has a hall effect sensor to generate chuff, here's one of the tender trucks.  Note the magnet and PCB for the sensor.

Ah, OK, sorry for the confusion.  

Dean

Dean, I did note the locomotive had a chuffing and non-chuffing whistle in the parts list, so I would suspect that maybe some of them actually did do what you were saying.  I think if they had RailSounds, it wouldn't make sense to try to generate the chuffs mechanically.

Yes, I saw that in the parts list too and wondered the same thing.  I have the 6-48047 Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern.  I bought it new when it first came out but it is still in the box. Perhaps it is time to open it up and see what's inside.

Dean

Carl Tuveson posted:

Take the tender apart and reseat the boards and also the re- press the two square sound chips into their sockets.

Thanks Carl and everyone else. Re-seating the boards and chips did the trick. The sounds are nice and loud.

Interestingly, the polarity of operation (bell versus whistle) is opposite of the MTH F-3 loco.

Dean Hall posted:

Yes, I saw that in the parts list too and wondered the same thing.  I have the 6-48047 Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern.  I bought it new when it first came out but it is still in the box. Perhaps it is time to open it up and see what's inside.

Dean

Does the parts list include the tender frame? Lots of postwar and prewar locos could use a new frame.

Royboy, your Milwaukee Road Northern is actually 6-48064. The 6-48054 is the gray UP Northern.  The frame is listed as unavailable.

John, I looked at the product description on the Lionel website for my 6-48047 engine, and it describes it as having "RailSounds sound system with steam sounds, synchronized chuffing, crew announcement, brake squeal, whistle and bell" It also states “For operators who prefer a more traditional effect, the RailSounds sound system can be shut off revealing the rhythmic Choo-Choo sound of the mechanical puffing smoke unit."  It says the most recent catalog was Classic Trains Vol. 2 2005.

There is also a service document posted that shows how to install a replacement gasket that will prevent the smoke unit from making the mechanical chuff sound so that the RailSounds chuff can be heard.

The Milwaukee Road Northern 6-48064 description does not mention the Choo-Choo sound of the mechanical puffing smoke unit.  It says its Most Recent Catalog was Lionel Signature Catalog 2009.  I suspect they made this later version with the above mentioned gasket already installed and called it a non-chuffing smoke unit.

Royboy, I'm glad you got it working. 

Dean

Carl Tuveson posted:

Take the tender apart and reseat the boards and also the re- press the two square sound chips into their sockets.

I tried what Carl suggested and that was exactly the problem.

Dean Hall posted:

Royboy, your Milwaukee Road Northern is actually 6-48064. The 6-48054 is the gray UP Northern.  The frame is listed as unavailable.

The Milwaukee Road Northern 6-48064 description does not mention the Choo-Choo sound of the mechanical puffing smoke unit.  It says its Most Recent Catalog was Lionel Signature Catalog 2009.  I suspect they made this later version with the above mentioned gasket already installed and called it a non-chuffing smoke unit.

Royboy, I'm glad you got it working. 

Dean

The smoke unit is a puffer, probably mechanical piston, and puts out a good quantity of smoke, similar to a Gilbert loco with fresh wicking in the heater. There is no mechanical chuffing from this unit.

I think the first Northern they made convinced them that their factory did not understand how to duplicate the Gilbert choo-choo sound. Too bad. One would think that all they had to do was copy it. That Gilbert choo-choo always takes me right back to my egghood.

All in all, the loco looks and runs well. The seller even sent me some money for my trouble.