Boy! Did I screw up. Brand new 700E Vision Line Hudson - no sound

Ron,

Try opening the tender to look for loose wires/boards.  Also check the wire leads on the speakers themselves.  This might be just a case of a loose wire...

FrankfordJunction posted:

Back in 2011/2012, I purchased a brand new Lionel Vision Line 700E Gray Hudson.  Didn't have any place to run it, so left it in the shipping box, sealed, in a cool, dry spot.  Well, this year I finally got around to bringing it out (after thinking about just selling it sealed in the shipper).  My wife saw me.  I related how this had been in storage since new and her first words were, "You had better pray it works."  Cue the ominous music...  I opened the shipper and the black Vision Line box.  The locomotive looked perfect.  I was excited to get it on the layout (unfinished, well really, unstarted).  To my utter despair and disappointment, I programmed the loco into Legacy (the horn did toot), started it up and ... No Sound whatsoever, just a 60hz buzz from the tender.  The loco runs great but its quiet as a confessional, well a buzzing confessional.  

I guess I learned a lesson.  When you buy something, make sure it works.  This one goes back in the box until after Christmas, then it's off to Henning's for some magic, hopefully.

Scary thing is I've got a few more "new in the shipping box" time bombs in storage!  Hope that K4 is OK.

Merry Christmas.

PS. If anyone has any ideas about how I might get the sound working, it would make my holiday.

If you place the Tender alone on the track and power it up, do you get any sounds? Or just the buzz?

If you do get sound then it might be the IR tether giving you the issue, if you place the tender alone on the track and power up and still get the buzz then more than likely it is a board issue in the tender and it would need to be taken apart and inspected.

If you get me your part # i might be able to get you the part number for the board you will need to replace.

Henning's is definitely a great choice for repairs, GunRunnerJohn is probably the right guy for the job.

I know these engines hold value if they are sealed in shippers but I happen to somewhat disagree. I would much rather a new engine be opened and tested before I buy it. My LHS tests all of my engines before I take them home, its a way to make sure you don't have to come back with a bad engine/experience; if an issue is found, a solution is also found before I leave.

Hope this helps!

Allan, Daniel,

Thanks for the suggestions.  1) took the shell off the tender.  Everything looked good.  Made sure there were no loose wires, all connectors were seated.  The speaker and volume pot wires were connected.  Didn't see anything that would indicate damaged parts or components.  Put the loco and tender back on the track, same deal.  Loud crackle at power up, then the buzz.

2) Put the tender on the track alone and powered up.  Exact same symptom.  Crackle at start up, then the buzz.

I'm not qualified to mess with it any more than that, so I think I'll be headed up to see Bill and Harry Henning to get a first class repair.  This loco is too nice.  I want a pro to take on the repair.

Thanks for your suggestions.  Wished one would have been the thing.  Daniel, I think I have learned the lesson you cite about test it before you take it home.  Hope it's not the same for the other few boxes I have.

All the best.

Good luck Ron!

I am sure the others are fine, I'm rooting for you there my friend but only one way to make sure.

Let those locomotives breathe some fresh American air LMAO!

Thanks!

It might be something simple, only way to know for sure is to look at it.

Since this is the older RS6 board with the separate power supply, the first thing to do is to reseat both boards.  Pull them off the pins and then right back on.  This frequently cures a lot of ills.  This has been sitting in the box for 6-7 years, plenty of time for oxidation to start on the contact pins.  Do the same thing with the connectors in the tender.

Do a factory reset, should be in the manual

Matt, factory reset won't fix this one, the tender should have normal sounds sitting alone on the track.  I'm guessing lousy connections as my top suspect.  I noted that parts are available, so it's only a medium screwup if he happens to need the audio board.

I’ve had some dumb ones where the sounds didn’t start up when I started up the loco. He’s got sound as indicated by the horn sounding during programming. 

Hmm...  I wonder if a few AUX1/1 key presses would bring it back?  My experience is that the TMCC reset doesn't change the volume settings anyway, so I'd try the key presses.

Of course, there's always the volume pot as well.

Thanks, Matt and GRJ.  I'm on it after dinner.  GRJ, not sure if it makes a difference but the volume of the buzz does not change with the volume pot.

That's interesting, it would seem to indicate the audio circuit isn't seeing the pot.  Maybe check the pot connections or the pot itself.  Also, running the pot back and forth a few times sometimes clears out any dust/corrosion on the contact. 

Another thing to try with the pot.

Set the pot midway between the max and minimum.  Then carefully short the center lug and one outside lug.  Then short the center lug to the other outside lug.  See if anything changes in the volume, and if there's any difference between the two tests.  Obviously, this is done with power on.

If it has signal sounds make sure you are not in that mode.

OK, I did as suggested.  1) reseated all cable connections; 2) checked speaker connections;  3) tried the AUX1/1 trick; 4) couldn't find factory reset;  5) reprogrammed in Legacy;  6) took some pics of the connectors and boards; 7) tried John's suggestion of shorting the center of the volume pot to each of the outside legs.  Well, well.  I connected the jumper to the center post.  When I picked up the other end of the jumper, the buzz got louder.  When I shorted the center post to the left post (looking at the front of the pot), the buzz WENT AWAY.  When I shorted the center post to the right post of the volume pot, RAILSOUNDS CAMEBACK.  Video attached.  Bad pot? 

Not sure I can do much more.  Thanks so much for all the help.  The model RR community is really something remarkable.

Bad pot, cheap fix.

For a temporary fix, rotate the pot to the full volume position and then just jumper those two pins together and put the top back on.  You won't have a volume control, but for command operation it won't matter.  The part is $8.40 at Lionel.

Thanks, GRJ.  I'm still bringing it to you (Henning's) after Christmas.  I've got a couple others; one with bad LEDs and one buzzing.  

I have a different tech question.  Is there an ERR upgrade that would take a TMCC loco and put the equivalent of Odyssey speed control in it?  It's amazing what a difference Odyssey makes.  Just pulled out a couple old TMCC locos and they are driving me crazy on a slight incline.

Before ordering a new pot try squirting a bit of WD40 in there. These rarely break but its common for the wiper to get some oxidation on it. If you have actual contact cleaner then use that but WD40 will work in a pinch.

Pete

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Bad pot, cheap fix.

For a temporary fix, rotate the pot to the full volume position and then just jumper those two pins together and put the top back on.  You won't have a volume control, but for command operation it won't matter.  The part is $8.40 at Lionel.

Temporary???? For $8 + $10 for shipping, you will find this fix a bit more than just "temporary" if I ever run into this issue 🤣🤣🤣

Glad you found your issue Ron!

Thanks to everyone.  For Christmas, the Hudson will be running WITH sound.  Maybe an

Army train?

Holy smokes that buzzing is crazy loud. My Vision Genset has a slight background buzz but it still works just fine