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Suddenly, my DCS remote can not find an engine.  Even though the engine is in the list, the remote can not find it.  I tried add engine,edit engine, reset engine,  recover engine and nothing works.  Tried multiple engines.  Makes me think maybe the TIU is not working.  The red power light is on.  If a fuse were blown, would there be an indication?  I do not know how to troubleshoot the TIU or remote.  Remote seems to be functioning but nothing happens.

I am using a Z4000 and remote power for the TIU. The TIU is one of the originals but it is on version 6.10.

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does the remote find the tiu?

if not try resetting remote  n tiu. how many blinks red led inside tiu do you count on power up  you should only have one blink or flash of the red led. if you only have one blink then check which address in  the remote is using to access the tiu should be set to 1 in remote address.

 

 

 

Don't ignore what Bob Shaw brought up.  I've heard of that situation quite a few times.  I don't know how to test if there's a DCS signal going to the rails or not, but as he said, you can either: 1) try a different DCS-controlled engine to see if it is recognized and runs under the control of DCS, or 2) change the wires on the TIU for that track to a different set of posts.

= walt

Bob Shaw posted:

I have had the DCS signal generator on one of my output channels fail. Try connecting track power to a different output channel. Make sure the channel is in the " fixed" mode. Each TIU channel can be programmed using your remote.

Also make sure the DCS signal is turned on for each channel. Look at the DCS set up section in the manual. Resetting the TIU will turn them on or you can do it manually.

Was there any problem right before this happened like a derail?

I have an issue that the TIU runs several trains but then with engines on the track all of a sudden one engine has the addresses change. I've changed nothing in years and this just started like that. I'm using a Lionel brick into Fixed 1. The TUI lights once on turn on. The remote see the TIU fine. I can run trains as usual, but it took many times to find my 44 Tonner and it only comes up with name LIR. If I try to edit the name the remote reads out of range and the remote locks up. Only removing the batteries will get the remote working again. But then I can run all the trains. So it's the address changes and remote locking up on name change. Also if I reset the TIU as per Gunrunnerjohn stated above, will I lose the upgrade to 6.01 that Mike Wolf actually installed himself? Any help will be much appreciated.

I will try to be very clear. I have 7 trains on this layout. The TIU is address 1. It is powered by a Lionel brick into Fixed 1 for about 5 years. I bought a LIRR 44 tonner and at first none of the Android Phone nor the remote could find the train. Then after several times the remote found it but gave the name only "LIR." I went to edit the name and each time the remote locks up stating RF out of range. I must remove the batteries to get the remote working again. So that is issue 1. The remote does run all the trains fine. But Issue 2. I have had twice now while having several trains running on the layout all of a sudden when raising the speed of one train another train for example a G5 takes off very fast. Another time it happened to the Xmas ES44. Issue 3. I have had two different trains while just sitting on the track, one not even turned one and another on but just sitting there all of a sudden have the ID address of the train change. I had the Christmas ES44 go from address 1 to 2 while I was running from the APP and a Coors Light train when not even turned on change from address 9 to number 1. But I can run the trains from the remote. I understand the APP is glitchy so that could be why one phone finds engines and other phones don't. But the three issues above are what the real issues are. I did also check inside the remote that the Radio board was not loose and put a piece of foam as recommended in another post here. I was not loose and that made no difference.

The 44 tonner seems to have a DCS issue.  There could be issue with board wiring hurting the DCS signal.  There also can be an issue with a PS-3 engine like that, hurting DCS signal strength on the layout.

Having 7 trains on the layout with single channel and one brick seems excessive.  Also your TIU F1 channel could be degraded causing DCS strength issues.  You could switch to powering through F2, remember TIU still needs power via F1 or Aux power.  See if receptions improves.

I would also remove several trains and see how they respond.  Realize this use to work, but still a lot of load on the TIU.  G

@GGG posted:

Having 7 trains on the layout with single channel and one brick seems excessive.

My experience adding engines with a bunch of powered engines on the same TIU channel is very poor typically.  I have to agree this may be a significant factor in the problems.  If I have any problem adding an engine, I usually take it to the bench and put it on a 3 foot test track and add it to the remote there with it being the only thing on the TIU channel.  FWIW, before I sold the PS/3 44-Tonner, I also thought it was picky about being added when on the layout with anything else on the tracks.

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