Clicking Sound

How big is the layout? Is the additional ground wire under the upper track? That help at all? Where's your ground wire connected?

The layout is 20 x 8. The additional ground wire is under the upper track and between tracks where they are close to each other. This is connected to the ground male prong of a three prong plug which doesn't have any other wire attached. The outlet which it is plugged into is new and when I installed it I made sure it was well grounded within the electric panel. It is not the same outlet or circuit which the transformers are plugged into. 

What TMCC locomotives are you having trouble with.  Heve you reprogrammed your R2LC?  Are you using an old transformer? You know what you are doing.  Let us know on the questions.

Marty:

I have not tried to reprogram R2LC yet. The engines exhibiting this problem are:

• Lionel Santa FE AA F3 Cat #6-14536
• Lionel NYC Hudson J3 Cat #6/28072 (also is infected with the  Odyssey Lurch)
• K-Line B6 Cat # K3480-0001
• Lionel GG1 4916 Cat#6-18354
• Lionel UP Dash 9 Cat # 6-18286

I appreciate your help.

David

A video of the issue may help solve it.

With that many locomotives acting up, I'd be looking at common causes, i.e. the layout and power.  Hard to believe half a dozen engines developed the same issue.

is the track clean?

is the pick-up rollers clean?

bigdodgetrain posted:

is the track clean?

is the pick-up rollers clean?

x100.  THE first things to check.  My Frisco 4-6-0 is particularly susceptible to dirty track and rollers, so I have to scrape the crud off the rollers and polish up the rails fairly often.

When this problem happens I remove the engine from the track or move it from the area and clean the area of track where the engine started making the clicking sound and move the engine back onto that section of track. The rollers are clean. 

I agree it probably has something to do with how the locomotive is picking up the power and signal of the track. What mystifies me (I'm thinking out loud here) is the engine is still getting power since all the lights are on and not blinking, and smoke is being produced, but something is interfering with the TMCC signal. The voltage is 17 to 18. The outside rails are grounded and the power houses and transformers are in phase.

Just to be sure, I will tonight clean the rollers and wheels of one of the offending engines and clean the track to make sure that isn't the cause of the problem.

Maybe a better way to describe this clicking noise is it sounds like static.

David 

David,

I have reading your thread here and am stumped! What I would say is your power and base are plugged into a power strip? If so, does it have a surge protector?  Or are plugged directly into the wall outlet ?

Static happens when the track voltage is below 10 volts as railsounds need at least 11 or 12 volts to operate correctly.

Ted

Everyone:

Thanks for all your help in trying to figure out the cause of the problem. Last night I was able to get a locomotive to stall and start clicking.  After the locomotive stalled I moved it and gave the section of track a good cleaning with alcohol. I ran the locomotive through the area several times without any problem. It did stall when it reached another portion of track. I repeated the cleaning again with the same positive results.

I definitely have to raise my standard of track cleaning. Knowing the static happens when the voltage goes below 11 or 12 volts also confirms why the problem started. Tonight's job is hand clean all the tracks and then run a train with the track cleaning car.

Again thanks,

David

Muscle power in those arms will clean those tracks. Scotchbrite pads and some alcohol, not beer, will do it.

I thought the alcohol in the beer would be enough to clean the tracks.

David

Ted Bertiger posted:

Muscle power in those arms will clean those tracks. Scotchbrite pads and some alcohol, not beer, will do it.

So how hard is Scotchbrite in relation to the plating on the rails. Will it remove plating at all or is it too soft for that?

On another note, a friend of mine used to have to clean his N gauge (KATO) track every week. So instead of using alcohol (isopropanol), he used a very sparing amount of WD40 (the miracle cure for everything ) on a cloth covered pad and his track stays conductive without weekly cleaning. Maybe it retards the oxidation of whatever plating there is on the rails? Also I would be concerned about the rubber tires on the engines, I don't know what kind of traction KATO uses on their engines. 

even if pickup rollers appear clean the inside could have crud.

can't tell you how many times we have had this issue.