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Well add one of my three to the list on going back to Lionel.   My amtrak 388 phase 3 unit died in spectacular fashion today.   i was attempting to lash it up with one of my csx units to try out the pair feature and i always test the speeds of both locos before coupling them.  I know its not necessary just a habit i guess.  i noticed when doing the test before coupling them together that the amtrak units slow speed operation was very choppy.  It just didn't seem very happy at all.  All the of the f40 i received all seem to be in desperate need of lubrication they just don't run very smoothly.  I had ran the csx unit a bit the other night so i thought maybe the amtrak unit needed a bit of breaking in.  So i set it to medium speed and just let her roll. on the second go around of small loop of track she proceeded to burst in a shower of sparks and which tripped the breaker on my power master.  i thought the unit had just derailed it had just passed through a switch.  so while im attempting to reset the breaker i begin to smell a very strange smell and look over and its lost in a cloud of white smoke coming out the smoke exhaust and under front an rear of the frame by the trucks.  I was pretty surprised to say the least.  Ive seen some units die but never quite in this spectacular fashion.  luckily my office is right across from the restroom so i could turn on the exhaust fan to remove the smoke.  after letting the room air out i started some investigating. No derailment appears to be some kind of electrical failure. The shell of the loco was very warm to the touch for at least 5 minutes after this happened. It probably wouldn't have burned my hand but definitely warmer than i wanted to be handling.  I gave it a minute to cool down and I removed the shell just to see what could have gone wrong.  To my surprise which I'm no gunrunner john or any of our other technicians around here, but nothing appeared burned or charred.  No obvious failures at least that my untrained eye could find.  The smell of burnt electronics was very overwhelming.  I"m sure the Lionel tech will love to open this return.   I did try to repower the unit with the with body removed and its just kind of sizzles.  no movement or response. Breaker trips after a few seconds.  So off to Lionel she will go tomorrow.   I really love these units.   I hate that their have been so many issues.  I would never bash Lionel.  I hope y'all don't have the same issue and like always im sure Lionel will make it right.  The reason I've never had harsh words for Lionel is the've always made it right.  When they don't let the bashing begin.

 

audi posted:
gunrunnerjohn posted:

If I find the weight to be too obnoxious, I'll correct it.   Here's my way of adding an extra pound to my HHP-8, did wonders for the pulling power.

45 acp?

But of course.

@T1Titan_ZachF posted:

With these so hard to find these days, where did you get your hhp8? I just saw one on ebay but it quickly was sold. 

 Believe it or not, I did find it on eBay.  I just put in a search for this specific model, the one with cruise, larger motors, and Railsounds 5.  I got it for $240 from Trainz a while back.

Last edited by gunrunnerjohn

I am so sorry to have to join this discussion. My 364 has been running great. See "Weekend at the Movies." Then, while doing some early Sunday morning running before the grandkids got here for an Easter Egg hunt,  it stopped short. And, the short light showed on the TMCC lockon. Remove locomotive from rails,  no short. A careful inspection of the trucks and pick-up rollers shows nothing amiss that I can see. Put locomotive back on rails: short.

I tried putting in "program," still short. Check the passenger cars, they were not the problem. Looks like I have an internal short of some kind. Will be calling Dealer (RO) today for further instructions.

I was hoping to take it to our show this week, and show it off, especially since some Amtrak folks will be there with an Operation Lifesaver presentation.  Then again, they are probably used to this.......

 

What is going on with Lionel.  That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH.  It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future.  Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running.  I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend.  I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.

base11 posted:

What is going on with Lionel.  That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH.  It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future.  Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running.  I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend.  I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.

When I first ran mine around the layout, it sounded a little rusty, I guess the factory doesn't lubricate the trucks well before they ship out the locomotives. But after some persistent running the "rustiness" subsided. 

base11 posted:

What is going on with Lionel.  That last few engines to be released have had numerous problems, and now the F40PH.  It is starting to make me re-think whether I want to purchase anything in the future.  Jeremy--My one F40 that does run also was a little choppy running.  I lubricated and oiled everything and ran them a lot for the grandkids all weekend.  I wouldn't say it is perfect, but it is better.

I plan on getting my two csx units oiled up tonight they both seem to operate very well they are just really dry.   I hope it helps that really bothers me.

I'm going to add my CSX 9999 to the list of engines that are dead. Didn't even get to start it up. Was programming the remote and went to change the engine # and as soon as I turned power on the red short light came on. I also have CSX 9998 and it is running fine so far. No blinking light, runs smooth, so far so good. Has been running about 15 to 20 minutes so far

I'm hoping this is a one-off  issue and we can return to sanity soon.  I got a notice that my Cabbage unit is on it's way back, hopefully I'll see it before York.  I'm really eager to get the powered unit as well and put it through it's paces.  I will admit, I'll probably risk the warranty issues and open it up and inspect it myself to make no silly stuff is waiting to bite me.  I've been waiting for this one for some time, I'd like to actually get to run it without holding my breath!  I have a bunch of Amtrak cars that are eagerly waiting for power.

Last edited by gunrunnerjohn
gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'm hoping this is a one-off  issue and we can return to sanity soon.  I got a notice that my Cabbage unit is on it's way back, hopefully I'll see it before York.  I'm really eager to get the powered unit as well and put it through it's paces.  I will admit, I'll probably risk the warranty issues and open it up and inspect it myself to make no silly stuff is waiting to bite me.  I've been waiting for this one for some time, I'd like to actually get to run it without holding my breath!  I have a bunch of Amtrak cars that are eagerly waiting for power.

What kind of Amtrak cars do you have?

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