Issue with vision big boy

This maybe no help now, but it has been hinted that the Big Boys will return in the next catalog.  Perhaps the part will become available again when they are released.

If the board is bad, and you can't figure out a component repair, I can't imagine it getting fixed.  Are you SURE the whistle smoke unit itself is good?  That control board appears to be unique to the VL-BB.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

If the board is bad, and you can't figure out a component repair, I can't imagine it getting fixed.  Are you SURE the whistle smoke unit itself is good?  That control board appears to be unique to the VL-BB.

John I cant get the motor for the fan or the element to work same issue I had in the main smoke unit when I replaced the board for that one it worked great, I cant believe they would not have any other one that could be used

I'm surprised you're having all these board failures, I have to wonder what is happening.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm surprised you're having all these board failures, I have to wonder what is happening.

me to the blowdown unit is working without any issues

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm surprised you're having all these board failures, I have to wonder what is happening.

is there any way I could get it repaired

FL9turbo

what you need is the board pictured below. Occasionally only certain components blow out on it. Most of the time it’s the whistle smoke portion. Call Lionel when they reopen and they might be able to program one for you.  If they’re out of stock on them you’ll have to wait until they restock. 

Also did you open up the whistle smoke unit and make sure the fan isn’t melted to the smoke unit body ? 

PART NUMBER 

691 SFC3 101 

Alex 

Alex M posted:

FL9turbo

what you need is the board pictured below. Occasionally only certain components blow out on it. Most of the time it’s the whistle smoke portion. Call Lionel when they reopen and they might be able to program one for you.  If they’re out of stock on them you’ll have to wait until they restock. 

Also did you open up the whistle smoke unit and make sure the fan isn’t melted to the smoke unit body ? 

PART NUMBER 

691 SFC3 101 

Alex 

I will give it a try I was thinking of getting one since parts are getting hard to come by 

I thought you said you couldn't get the part?  Clearly, if this board is available, AND YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE SMOKE UNIT IS GOOD, then I'd order this board!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I thought you said you couldn't get the part?  Clearly, if this board is available, AND YOU HAVE VERIFIED THE SMOKE UNIT IS GOOD, then I'd order this board!

I was looking for the whistle smoke board according to Lionel they have not had this since 2017

The whistle smoke board is unlikely to be your problem, and it's easy to verify if it's bad.  It's just a PCB, there are no active components on it.  Truthfully, I'm somewhat amazed that you had a failure of the other smoke unit board, that's a very rare failure!

By far the more likely failure is in the smoke control board, that's where all the signals for that smoke unit are generated.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The whistle smoke board is unlikely to be your problem, and it's easy to verify if it's bad.  It's just a PCB, there are no active components on it.  Truthfully, I'm somewhat amazed that you had a failure of the other smoke unit board, that's a very rare failure!

By far the more likely failure is in the smoke control board, that's where all the signals for that smoke unit are generated.

I thought as well when I changed out the smoke unit PCB it works so it led me to believe it was also the whistle smoke PCB because that one also quit as did the main smoke unit, But the blow down smoke unit is working correctly 

The whistle smoke doesn't use the same parts on that board as the blow-down.  Also, you should be able to very simply determine if the actual smoke unit PCB is functional with an ohmmeter, it's just a PCB with traces and a couple connectors!  Unless something very bad has happened to it, there's nothing to fail.

Truthfully, I'd be VERY curious to see your "failed" main smoke board, as I am having a real problem imagining a failure that wouldn't have been obvious on the board.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The whistle smoke doesn't use the same parts on that board as the blow-down.  Also, you should be able to very simply determine if the actual smoke unit PCB is functional with an ohmmeter, it's just a PCB with traces and a couple connectors!  Unless something very bad has happened to it, there's nothing to fail.

Truthfully, I'd be VERY curious to see your "failed" main smoke board, as I am having a real problem imagining a failure that wouldn't have been obvious on the board.

How would I test the PCB board I will still replace the smoke unit controller just in case even if I don’t need it 

The smoke PCB is just a pct, all you have to do is make sure all the traces are intact. Follow the trace and use the meter.  They're all going to terminate at that connector I would imagine.

You can test the resistor to see if it's close to 8 ohms, and then see if the thermistor has resistance, not sure what it's specification is.  You can use the meter to rung out to the resistor, thermistor and motor leads on the board.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

The smoke PCB is just a pct, all you have to do is make sure all the traces are intact. Follow the trace and use the meter.  They're all going to terminate at that connector I would imagine.

You can test the resistor to see if it's close to 8 ohms, and then see if the thermistor has resistance, not sure what it's specification is.  You can use the meter to rung out to the resistor, thermistor and motor leads on the board.

 

Exactly , your issue is most likely the Smoke control PCB 

Alex