I think an important thing to do now is to make SURE it's really the boom car and not something on the layout that is causing it to fail. It doesn't fail at Lionel, so I think it's time to test it in yet another location to see if it fails there. That will be an important data point. If it doesn't fail at the alternate location, then you can start looking for the real cause.
Originally Posted by gunrunnerjohn:
I think an important thing to do now is to make SURE it's really the boom car and not something on the layout that is causing it to fail. It doesn't fail at Lionel, so I think it's time to test it in yet another location to see if it fails there. That will be an important data point. If it doesn't fail at the alternate location, then you can start looking for the real cause.
thats an excellent point and no matter what it takes i will get to the bottom of this.
Do you have a battery in the Boom Car? I have found that batteries and Legacy can be a problem mix. When I started buying Lionel Legacy products I always put the 9 volt in, but found the legacy products do not need them in command control, and are better off without them. Fred
When these crane/boom units first came out several years ago, a few Forum members had problems like you are describing. One day the units would work fine, and then next time they wouldn't work. I don't think anyone ever really diagnosed and understood what was going on.
I don't have this set, but it did remind me of problems I have seen when an input to a CMOS logic circuit is accidentally left unterminated. The floating input's impedance is so high that the input can switch from high to low level with almost the slightest change - temperature, humidity, dirt, etc. This can drive you crazy until you find the problem because the problem changes from one time to the next!
Originally Posted by audi:
Do you have a battery in the Boom Car? I have found that batteries and Legacy can be a problem mix. When I started buying Lionel Legacy products I always put the 9 volt in, but found the legacy products do not need them in command control, and are better off without them. Fred
i don't use a battery but i did try using one to see if it made a difference.
Originally Posted by Dale Manquen:
When these crane/boom units first came out several years ago, a few Forum members had problems like you are describing. One day the units would work fine, and then next time they wouldn't work. I don't think anyone ever really diagnosed and understood what was going on.
I don't have this set, but it did remind me of problems I have seen when an input to a CMOS logic circuit is accidentally left unterminated. The floating input's impedance is so high that the input can switch from high to low level with almost the slightest change - temperature, humidity, dirt, etc. This can drive you crazy until you find the problem because the problem changes from one time to the next!
well dale that is the best explination i have heard. i have tried putting the car in the freezer and i have removed the two chips and cleaned the contacts it still wouldn't work. you are on to something "cmos logic circuit accidentally left unterminated", that may account for the loud pop noise when turning track power on and off.
when i was in canfield the technician replaced the two chips on the board but it still wouldn't work. when he replaced the motherboard it worked, at least till i got home.
PROBLEM SOLVED!!! so here is the explination and it is a doozy. yesterday i got my boom car back again, it worked once, when i turned off the track power then back on on sound from the boom car. i know from reading the blogs here all the talk about groung planes and how sensitive lionel trains can be. since i had just had an electrical added just for the trains by a professional electrican i doubted there was any problem. grabbing at straws for any explination i decided to trace the ground wire to see fi there was a loose connection at either end, there wasn't. what i did discover when looking at the breaker box was two sets of grounds. my house was originally built in the early 1950s with 100amp service. in the early 1990s the former owner added 200amp service also added was a SECOND ground post outside. in other words i had two ground posts. just for curosity i ran a #8 copper wire between the two ground posts. problem solved!!!
to me i doesn't make any sence, i have never had an electrical problem in the house. maybe this will give some of you electricians something to talk about! anyway, thank God this problem is solved. lionel thought i was crazy and i was beginning to wonder myself. which reminds me, call lionel in the morning with the explination so they don't think i am crazy.
I'd guess that one of those "grounds" isn't all that good a ground!
Originally Posted by rjconklin:
PROBLEM SOLVED!!! so here is the explination and it is a doozy. yesterday i got my boom car back again, it worked once, when i turned off the track power then back on on sound from the boom car. i know from reading the blogs here all the talk about groung planes and how sensitive lionel trains can be. since i had just had an electrical added just for the trains by a professional electrican i doubted there was any problem. grabbing at straws for any explination i decided to trace the ground wire to see fi there was a loose connection at either end, there wasn't. what i did discover when looking at the breaker box was two sets of grounds. my house was originally built in the early 1950s with 100amp service. in the early 1990s the former owner added 200amp service also added was a SECOND ground post outside. in other words i had two ground posts. just for curosity i ran a #8 copper wire between the two ground posts. problem solved!!!
to me i doesn't make any sence, i have never had an electrical problem in the house. maybe this will give some of you electricians something to talk about! anyway, thank God this problem is solved. lionel thought i was crazy and i was beginning to wonder myself. which reminds me, call lionel in the morning with the explination so they don't think i am crazy.
Makes perfect sense, a "good" ground on house wiring is crucial for delivering "the other side" of the TMCC/Legacy signal. Thanks for the update, glad you finally solved it rj!
I'm amazed that other TMCC stuff worked, the crane must be more sensitive to weak signals.
There is very little room in the Boom car for antenna, thus a weak signal gets weaker due to limited antenna.
Good find on the Ground. That will probably make other things work better that you never noticed issues in.
