Hey all,
I have a Lionel NP Lionmaster Challenger from 2004. Bought it new and ran it for a month or so, then put it away. It ran perfectly back then. I took it out a couple weeks ago and everything still works as it should, except it now has the dreaded "Odyssey 1 Runaway" syndrome. I have read dozens of entries about it here in the OGR Forum, and I tried everything that applied, but no luck yet.
Here are the symptoms:
- With Odyssey off, the engine runs flawlessly.
- With Odyssey on, the loco crawls for about 1-2 seconds as it should, then it takes off like a scared rabbit for 4-5 seconds, then stops dead.
- After it stops, the motors will no longer run, but all other functions are there as normal.
- Turning the power off, then on again allows another short crazy run, then motors are dead again.
- It doesn't seem to matter if the engine is run conventionally or in TMCC.
- It doesn't seem to matter if the Odyssey is turned from the switch under the cab or via TMCC.
Here's what I have checked:
- Checked all over the engine inside for any loose wires
- Checked antenna for shorts - none. There doesn't seem to be a loss of signal, since everything else still works in TMCC.
- Checked out the rear motor with the flywheel. The flywheel is firmly attached to the armature.
- The magnet is not cracked, nor does it spin on the flywheel. Just to be sure, I re-glued it securely to the flywheel with CA.
- The magnet doesn't seem to be very strong. How much pull should it have?
Any suggestions? I have an extra ERR CC-M on hand. Should I give up on Odyssey and install it instead?
Many thanks!
Jonathan