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This has been going on for awhile now and I search this forum for clues. I have a Legacy 10 wheeler 6-82267. One day it just quit after 3 + years of working as designed. I was using a zw-c (old chip) with 3 135 w bricks. One for each track.

What it does. Sometimes when I power the track it comes up in idle only sound, no Legacy control at all. No conventional control at all. If it comes up silent and no idle, just a quiet buzz,  I have speed control through the cab 2. No acknowledgement to the cab 2 like sounds or whistle. When I try to re-program it to its number, 13, there is no horn after set. It does not respond to #1 or #99. If I have the tender only, it comes to idle sound consistently. The loco does come on with the front light, marker lights and firebox flicker. AND the cab light flashes two times continuously.

What I have done. Last month I ordered a new board. I installed it and there is no change. I have re-plugged all the plugs in both the loco and tender. I have checked continuity between the un-plugged antenna wire and the rails. Good. I have checked the continuity of the unplugged wire to the drawbar IR (loco side). Good. I checked continuity with the pickup rollers and the power side of the plug. Good. Same for the tender. I’m not sure on the IR for the tender side as I did not get good connection there. Could be my bulky tester probes. I checked the continuity on the program/run switch and reset the wires anyway. Good.

I need some guidance for further investigation. And I’m not against sending it in to someone. Lionel is only doing warranty work.

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I'm confused about the new board not fixing it, that suggests to me that there may be something that is cooking the boards in there!

I have a plan.  As it turns out, I recently completed a project that hits at the heart of this issue, Building a Lionel RCMC Board Test Fixture.  I can test both boards for you and see if there's an issue with the boards.  It's also possible that there might be repairs possible if the boards are damaged.  Before I had my test set, it was hard to test these.

Here's the test set in action.

I'm confused about the new board not fixing it, that suggests to me that there may be something that is cooking the boards in there!

I have a plan.  As it turns out, I recently completed a project that hits at the heart of this issue, Building a Lionel RCMC Board Test Fixture.  I can test both boards for you and see if there's an issue with the boards.  It's also possible that there might be repairs possible if the boards are damaged.  Before I had my test set, it was hard to test these.

Here's the test set in action.

As long as the motor hasn’t turned the board into “Cannon Fodder” ……that’s the weak link to sudden death!….😬

Pat

I can send you the boards. Bear in mind I can run the train motor using the cab2 speed controls. I do not have any sounds or programming. Aux1,5 does shut down the locomotive. No sound. I understand the tender gets involved through the IR on the draw bar. Is there a way to test and verify a signal is actually being sent and received or why it is not?  Where would I send the boards, John. BTW. I am jealous of your electronic knowledge on these engines.

Let's do a simple diagnostic.  Put the locomotive only on the tracks and power it up.  Take your digital camera or your cellphone, using the viewfinder, look directly at the locomotive drawbar IR transmitter LED.  You should see a purple glow that indicates that serial data is being transmitted.  If so, the serial data is getting out.

My chief concern is you seem to have multiple issues.

  • No sound control. sometimes, other times it seems you have sound control.
  • Smoke unit element error
  • Locomotive ID Programming issues

With these kinds of symptoms with an MTH locomotive, I usually slap the board on my test set and verify the board functions.  Now that I've finally completed my RCMC tester, that would be my first move here as well.  I realize that doesn't work for you locally since you don't have a test set.

Have you looked inside?  It's possible that a connector is loose or a wire got pinched during factory assembly, I've seen it quite a few times.

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