LEGACY 3 Cab Light Blinks

UPDATE:

 

Performed an engine RESET....

 

now there is NO blinking cab lights BUT...

 

NO Chuff

 

NO Main Smoke, can't even hear the fan any more

 

Whistle smoke works

Cab light works

Headlight, Back up light & Markers work

bell and horn work

blow down and filling noises work

 

Something has been going on with this thing since it was new. The 3 blinking cab lights has occurred on and off since new, as well as the chuff cutting completely out. A reset usually brought everything back for awhile.... now it seems the reset killed it! 

I had a problem with the cord from the board to the smoke unit once... Switch them and see 

is the new motor an mth unit or still a lionel unit? you could have gotten another bad motor from lionel.

 

mine did the same thing, sent it into lionel and after I got it back lionel replaced main motor and whistle motor also even though whistle motor never showed an issue.

 

I thought I had read from santafefan jon CTO, Lionel LLC at one time that if the motor does not put out a certain torque in a certain time frame the board will produce a signal of 3 blinks.  could be wrong though.

 

I do know that gunrunnerjohn has had good luck with the mth motors.

 

 

I've put MTH motors in at least four of the Northern locomotives, none have come back to me.  I view that as a good sign.

 

The motor I took out did work on a bench test. I got 2 brand new Lionel fan motors and tried them. Same results....

Doesnt explain the loss of chuff and no more blinking lights though.

Kind of renewed my efforts to order some BE-0000041 MTH motors. I tried again on the MTH web site...every thing seemed to work, but the return email from the order did not list any parts...again...like the last time I tried it.

While I use MTH motors I still like to put lionel ones in.. I buy a bunch of lionel ones run them weed out the noisy ones ..I can't get any lionel ones at this time No one has them again.

I just checked, I ordered 15 of the MTH BE-0000041 smoke motors, and the order has been shipped, so they're getting them somewhere.

So when you order on line, does the email that they send right away list what you ordered on it?

The email I get when I click the "Final Submission" button, I get an email but there is nothing on it as to the parts I tried to order.

Nope Chuck, that's not how the ASC parts order works.  You enter your order, and when you have all the parts in, you "finalize" it.  After a period of time that can be days up to a couple of weeks, the order disappears from the "pending" order page and a couple days later appears in the "shipped" order list.  A few days after that we typically get the parts.

 

Any parts that are not available remain on the "pending" order page.

i don't see any "pending order" page. Bu when I look at "previous parts orders" it brings up my order that I made as "parts ordered".

My issue is why do I get an email telling me to check the ordered parts below and there is nothing listed?

Oddly, I never get an email from them about the orders.

 

Maybe I should click the "Dealers" login instead of the "All Else" when I start?

Ordering MTH fan motors has nothing to do with the problem in this engine, but OK.... now I know how to do that IF I was going to.

maybe a wire came off somewhere.

 

and yes the motors will work they just do not have the correct torque, so I have heard.

 

maybe santafefan john will chime in.

All the wire harnesses are good, and plug in tight. Whatever triggers the chuff/smoke is not working. No chuff or smoke now, and the 3 blinks stopped. So it must be a board issue.... but which one?

Well, you won't be crazy about the answer, but if it's a board, it's most likely the $120 one.  The fan motors are controlled through this board.

 

I don't see a chuff switch listed, so apparently they are generating the chuffs from the board based on the tach input.  If you haven't lost speed control, I can't imagine why you wouldn't get chuffs if they're coming from this board.

 

Question.  Are you basing this on the sound from the tender?  Can it be that you've lost the IR link to the tender?  Can you blow the whistle and/or trigger cab talk?

 

John, yes the crew talk, whistle, bell, blow down sound water fill sound, all of that works, so I know the link to the tender is good, even the back up light ...

 

Speed control is fine, the engine runs as intended....

 

just No smoke, No chuff

I would NOT be surprised if that board is the problem.

 

This problem, 3 cab blinks and chuff stopping, started shortly after the engine was brand new, but a RESET normally worked for awhile. It seemed to work for awhile until the engine got warm, and then the 3 blinks would start and loss of chuff.

 

Now after the reset, after replacing the fan motor, there are NO more cab light blinks, but the chuff & smoke will NOT come back. 

 

Can that board be bench tested w/o the engine?

That's a exchange only board to .. 

It's not really practical for most folks, including me, to check the board without the locomotive.  You'd have to have a test stand with all the proper connections.  I'm sure Lionel can test it that way.

 

Have you tried the old motor back in it?  Did you do a bench-test of the motors with a DC supply, anything from around 3V to 5V maximum will do.

 

I'm guessing this is out of warranty?

 

Obviously, it's not a problem to exchange if you have a bad board.  I've done a couple of these, but they're pretty spendy!

 

I DID test all 3 motors before installing them... including the original motor after I took it out. So I don't think it's the fan motor causing the problem, but whatever drives that motor, which apparently is related to driving the chuff as well.

 

Out of warranty yes, by a few months.

Bummer, I'm not sure what to recommend, other than having someone look at it at this point.

 

Have you tried resetting the ID as a reset and start over?  Also, these plugs can be an issue so I would look at them very closely.  From what I have heard is that board doesn't fail.  RS Lite yes, but not the RCMC.  Also, the small square board the antenna plugs into is the equivalent of the R4LC.  It has pins similar to the PS-2 3V board halfs.  Make sure it has not come out, or have broke solder joints.

 

This is where a current Lionel tech school would really be handy.  They have transitioned rapidly from R4LC based Legacy through several different formats of these DC based boards.  Things we knew about TMCC and early Legacy don't necessarily apply.

 

Chuck, are you a dealer or Tech?  As Techs you do get an e-mail but it is blank unless warranty submittal.  The process is as John states.  It sits in the queue until it is looked at and processed.  G

George, I don't recall ever getting an email, perhaps my SPAM filter is killing it if it's blank?

I get them every time. Here is what it says:

 

"MTH received your parts order.  Thank you for placing the order via MTHs On-Line Parts Ordering System. Please review the parts ordered below and email us if there are any errors.  MTH will approve parts currently in stock within the next business day.  If you do not receive your parts within 14 business days, please contact MTH.  Parts that are not currently available show on the On-Line system as Not Available. If there were any parts that are currently listed as Not Available, MTH will notify you within 14 business days when the part is expected to be available. Thank you for your On-Line Order."   G

 

 

Yes that's what I get. No list of what I ordered.

I'm not a dealer, just wondered if there was some other way to get a more satisfying response...

Thanks for the help. I'll wait now and see what happens.

As for the Northern, I would try to throw myself on the mercy of Lionel. "The engine has been iffy since new, etc." Can't hurt and maybe they have a history on the issue. Even if you pay, I don't remember anyone ever saying the fees were too high.

It's a great engine.

Amazing, I don't get squat!

 

Is it going to Hennings?  G