Lionel legacy Smoke unit issues

Are the switches turned on? Are they turned off via the remote? 

I forgot to add that, Yes both are on, and on the remote it's set to high. 

First stop is to check all the wiring and connectors for any loose or broken connections.  Make SURE the screws that hold the smoke resistor are tight. Check the resistance of the smoke resistor and also the condition of the wick in the smoke unit.  If all of this checks out, my guess would be the smoke regulator has failed.

Both of these engines use the smoke regulator module, that's a frequent source of failures.  Both of those units are using the 6 ohm smoke resistor, I've replaced those in some units with the 8 ohm smoke resistor to lower the demands on the smoke regulator module.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

First stop is to check all the wiring and connectors for any loose or broken connections.  Make SURE the screws that hold the smoke resistor are tight. Check the resistance of the smoke resistor and also the condition of the wick in the smoke unit.  If all of this checks out, my guess would be the smoke regulator has failed.

Both of these engines use the smoke regulator module, that's a frequent source of failures.  Both of those units are using the 6 ohm smoke resistor, I've replaced those in some units with the 8 ohm smoke resistor to lower the demands on the smoke regulator module.

Just checked. Everything looks fine to me. Should I just replace the regulator? This is it correct? 

Those engines are tough on the smoke reg.  Did you do a reset with the engines with the aux code?  Use AUX code #2.  John is correct on the 8 ohm replacement.  That is a fix authorized by Lionel.  Before doing anything, I would do the AUX reset.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Those engines are tough on the smoke reg.  Did you do a reset with the engines with the aux code?  Use AUX code #2.

No but I'll try that.

I did forget to mention that the 8 ohm replacement was a Lionel recommended fix.  They are working those voltage regulators pretty hard with the 6 ohm resistor, hence the high failure rate.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I did forget to mention that the 8 ohm replacement was a Lionel recommended fix.  They are working those voltage regulators pretty hard with the 6 ohm resistor, hence the high failure rate.

Sounds good. So should I replace both the reg. And the heater with the 8 ohm unit? 

I'd probably go with the 8 ohm resistor, the regulator will thank you.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

I'd probably go with the 8 ohm resistor, the regulator will thank you.

Sounds good. Should I replace the regulator while I'm in there? If so, I see there is a plug piece, where does the plug piece connect? On the MB somewhere? 

It doesn't plug in, there will be soldering required to replace the regulator.  It's a little board in heatshrink, looks like this.

It will have either four or five wires coming out, sometimes they don't use the second ground wire.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

It doesn't plug in, there will be soldering required to replace the regulator.  It's a little board in heatshrink, looks like this.

It will have either four or five wires coming out, sometimes they don't use the second ground wire.

That'll be something I'll have someone do for me. Now, what's the difference between the one in your photo and the one on my screenshot image? The screenshot is the (part) of the Regulator in my Southern SD70ACe. 

Same basic idea, the one you show has the triac exposed so it can be bolted to the chassis for better heat dissipation.  That's a lesson Lionel learned with the TMCC units that kept cooking.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Same basic idea, the one you show has the triac exposed so it can be bolted to the chassis for better heat dissipation.  That's a lesson Lionel learned with the TMCC units that kept cooking.

Still requires soldering though, correct? 

Yep, the major difference is the exposed triac to allow better heatsinking.

By all means Bob, I should have mentioned that!   Not only the insulator, but the plastic washer as well.