Adventures in TMCC & Legacy... Trying to master the 455Khz track signal. I've built the test car, and it is finally working..

Sorry to laugh at your predicament Elliot but I busted up at the sound of the exasperated sigh when you hit the off switch. Hopefully some of the smart guys (GRJ, RJR, etc.) will weigh in and help get things solved for you.

S

Is it just the TC&W thats trying to run away? What about the others? Will they run properly when addressed?

It could be a weak antenna with the TC&W loco. What make is it?

What version legacy are you running 1.3, 1.4 etc?

That's OK Scott, I went through that exercise 4 times prior to shooting that. At least it was still doing it with the camera on. It was nice to be able to time the duration of the event. Previously, I would just flip the switch, hear the trains moving, and quick flip it off. I didn't have trains as well isolated, so I never left them on long enough to really see what happened.

I still haven't figured out where the track power came from, and then 10 seconds later it goes dead, likre it was supposed to.

What is powering you track to allow it to shut off power at 18 seconds?

Rick, the TC&W is a converted Railking with an ERR board. Matt Makens did the install, and I'm pretty sure he lengthened the antenna when he did it, since he had been doing that to a bunch of other locos for me.

There was another engine that wanted to take off, a little further up that track off camera. That was a Lionmaster SD whatever. That was the engine that was used for the first run around the upper deck, and had signal problems in a few spots in that video. The rest were lights only, but where did any of them get their power?

I may still be on a really version of Legacy, I'll have to run down and look. Why does 1.4 sound familiar?

Are you powering the legacy base and the layout at the same time?

Its recommended that the base be powered first so it can get the signal to the track so the engines don't drop into conventional. Given the massive size of your layout I'd probably power the base up and wait a few seconds to power the track.

Is there some a loco or something "bridging" power from another block? The base shouldn't have anything to do with power to the track.

I'm confused about the power question? If your putting power to the track  most TMCC/legacy locos will have lights that come on.

Only the most recent legacy offerings actually stay completely dark until addressed. 

Since you are able to video and I might say very well, to help solve this problem, just video all your connections from the legacy base to track, transformer and what type of engines you operating (legacy, TMCC or conventional) and show all wiring you have to the wall switches etc. The more detail you can give the better the answers will be to help solve this problem.. 

RickO posted:

Are you powering the legacy base and the layout at the same time?

Its recommended that the base be powered first so it can get the signal to the track so the engines don't drop into conventional.

Is there some a loco or something "bridging" power from another block? The base shouldn't have anything to do with power to the track.

 

I've thought that powering the base first may be the answer. Right now bases and track power up on the same switch. That would mean trying to put the power supplies on a delay circuit.

I don't think there was any possibility of trains bridging power to that track. Those 3 supplies cover just the upper deck. I just rewired the lower deck supplies to minimize the number of transitions. Transitions occur at turnouts, a natural center rail break.

There shouldn't be any power there, that zone was unplugged.

Dale Manquen posted:

What is powering you track to allow it to shut off power at 18 seconds?

Dale, I wish I knew. It was acting as if there was a giant charged capacitor that drained after 10 seconds. But there are no capacitors, and the unplugged cords are in the picture above.

woody posted:

Since you are able to video and I might say very well, to help solve this problem, just video all your connections from the legacy base to track, transformer and what type of engines you operating (legacy, TMCC or conventional) and show all wiring you have to the wall switches etc. The more detail you can give the better the answers will be to help solve this problem.. 

Actually Woody, the stills above do show all the connections. I use the classic single wire from the base. When I just use my TMCC base, everything is fine. I hook up the Legacy, and nothing but trouble. That's why it's been on the shelf for the last 4 years.

There is no conventional possible on this layout. Binary control, on or off, no in between. There are about 30 engines on the rails, wide variety, all diesels except my Challenger. Mostly Lionel, some Atlas, and a few conversions.

I'm  guessing you tried a different wall outlet for the Legacy base power adaptor? 

Well, I briefly saw the cab light blink in the BNSF. Shaky signal. Disconnect the track wire and try a jumper from the track post directly to an outside rail.

it is better to power up the base first. It should go through some startup blinks, then a green light and blue Legacy lit.

What is the power source?

One thing I find odd.  A Legacy or TMCC engine when first powered, if it wakes up in conventional, should just start up in neutral.  I'm not sure why one would be trying to move forward unless power is cycled.

Gregg posted:

I'm  guessing you tried a different wall outlet for the Legacy base power adaptor? 

Actually, I haven't. But I know the outlet is good, because I wired the entire house. Beside, the TMCC base has been working off the same outlet for years.

At this point Rick's suggestion of the time delay between signal power up and track power up seems most plausible. I think I'll pull the other 3 plugs from the second set of supplies. Then everything better stay dark. Then I can selectively power up, and see if I only get lights, no sound, no movement.

MartyE posted:

What is the power source?

One thing I find odd.  A Legacy or TMCC engine when first powered, if it wakes up in conventional, should just start up in neutral.  I'm not sure why one would be trying to move forward unless power is cycled.

If theres no track signal they take off when powered up at 18v

RickO posted:

MartyE posted:

What is the power source?

One thing I find odd.  A Legacy or TMCC engine when first powered, if it wakes up in conventional, should just start up in neutral.  I'm not sure why one would be trying to move forward unless power is cycled.

If theres no track signal they take off when powered up at 18v

It seems I am incorrect.  I guess that is only for the first time on a conventional layout.  It was my understanding they came up in neutral.  My apologies.

There appears to be a lot of possible variables here.  If I am following everything properly, the Legacy System has never worked properly for you.    If this is the case, I would set up a test circle/track with its own power supply and test the legacy system there.   If there is still an issue, I would test another train just to confirm and a different power source.   If there is still an issue, then it would appear to be a problem with Legacy unit.

But if the test circle unit works, I would retest using the primary power outlet used for your layout.

If still good, I would attempt to get a power feed from your primary transformer.

If still good, I would attempt to hook up the 'Y-Cable' only.

If still good, I would attempt to hook up the TMCC Base

With this approach, it will help you identify what works and what cause the system to fail.

Hopefully it turns out to be something simple like a bad connection or "Y-Cable", instead of something with your layout since it looks like you have a complex layout.  But since it worked with your TMCC base, this seams odd.

Two additional test:

If you just hook up the Legacy Base - Leaving the "Y-Cable" and TMCC base disconnected, does that make any difference.

Also you may want to try hooking the TMCC-Base up only - to see if your original configuration still works.

Just my two cents.

OK guys, here's what I found out when I ran downstairs for more testing.

I found two manuals in the file, one for 1.3 the other 1.4. I want to say it came with 1.4, but when I registered it, Lionel sent me the 1.3. If I remember correctly, 1.4 had just come out, and this one had it. So, that's that.

Now for the power situation. I have 6 power supplies located on 2 panels. One on the north side of the room and one on the south side, each with 3, 20A transformers. Actually, they are made up of 3, 6.3V transformers connected in series. This the south panel. The north one is exactly the same.

There are 2, 12 gauge ground wires connecting the panels directly. The command bases are located in the center of the room, away from the power panels. The bases and the power supplies are controlled by a single switch near the entrance to the layout, which you saw in the video.

I unplugged all six supplies, then flipped the power switch. The command bases came on, and I waited about a minute, then I plugged in the first supply on the south side. Trains on that part of the layout were sitting on isolation tracks, and all was quiet. The second supply covered a part of the layout with no trains, still good. The third one, which is contiguous with power districts from the north panel, fired up a bunch of trains, and this after at least 3 minutes of Legacy base power up. I repeated this process on the north panel, trains were flying everywhere. I started to remove the offending engines. I couldn't get to the 10 second threshold without having a disaster. I finally gave up.

Bottom line, it doesn't seem to matter how long the base is powered prior to applying track power. I also know that I have a previously undiscovered and unwanted electrical connection that will have to be found.

All those yellow things don't happen to be Polyfuses that could cause a delayed shutoff as they heat up, are they?