Thomas and Friends Diesel 6-18775

Sounds like the reverse unit is stuck in neutral.  Check the switch and work it back and forth a couple of times... 

Good luck! 

Mitch 

Mitch, This is the Thomas and Friends Diesel.  After doing some searching it looks like a e-unit is a mechanical device attached to the wheels allowing F-N-R capabilities.  Mine has an electronic circuit board which I'm also assuming does the reversing?  Is there a way to "exercise" the electronic board to accomplish what your suggesting?  Tx.

change the batteries in the remote controller. I know tmcc if the batteries are low everything will work except the motion of the engine. 

Dave:  

I'd go with Bill's suggestion re: the batteries.  On the newer conventional locos, there is a small switch marked REVERSE ON-OFF.   Does this loco have one of those? 

Mitch 

Reason I said what I said , my price guide says diesel remote system. If you do not have that remote, may be a reason also

Have you tried it alone the track? The wall pack doesn't have a lot of amps for multiple engines.

The gearbox for the moving eyes can jam and the siderods can jam.

As mentioned, batteries for the remote.

You would have to test with another remote to rule out problem with that.

Can test the motor with the connector removerd from the board and apply 3-5 v DC voltage. or even a 9 volt battery.

These are difficult to troubleshoot without a known good remote.

My Thomas had a jammed eye link rod when I encountered the tried to run and stopped  issue. it had been dropped by little guy.

Thanks everyone for all of your ideas.  Checked batteries in the remote and all 3 were at 1.54vdc.  So I put 3 new ones reading 1.61 vdc into controller.  No change. 

The only switch is for controlling the sound board.  Maybe a speaker off switch???  But it does silence the diesel sound.

  Just so everyone knows the sound is linear with the speed controller knob.  The higher speed  increases the speed of the sound.  Carl.  Addressing your comment about changing the controller.  Yes that would be nice but I know of no one that has a diesel remote.  But logic is telling me that since the sound is increasing in the diesel that it must be recognizing the rf signal change since it's volume and speed is changing relative to the controller knob being turned up in speed ?!?!

Because the question was asked, yes it is the only engine on the track.  And I also disconnected the 10" straight piece that has the wall wart female plug from the rest of the track so as to isolate it.  I do get 14vac across rails by the way.  Still no motion of diesel.

So the last three items suggested is that of applying voltage to the motor jack directly, checking for a jammed gear box because of the eye movement contraption, and jammed side rods.  

It's going to take a bit to check these, so bare with me.  As I'm going to have to take it apart again.   I did notice when I previously tore it apart, partially, in order to check the wiring and brushes that transfer the atoms to the axles, that the eyes did move when the little lever coming out from the front of the engine cowling was moved, but I wasn't really moving it in the entire range of motion that it's probably cable of.  Likewise the side rods were allowing wheels to rotate but that doesn't mean I didn't jam it some how when putting it back together.  So I need to tear it apart again and check the gearbox. 

Carl.  You suggested applying 3-5 volts DC to the motor directly.  Or even a 9 volt battery.  So this tells me (can't say I thought about it until now) that one of the two circuit board is also rectifying the ac  to dc. There appears to be a small pcb attached to the motor.  Do you know if this is the ac to dc rectifier?  Or is it on the big PCB board?  I couldn't see too much of the circuitry on the motor board but I see there are two resistors.  So the only reason I'm throwing this out is because I would like to clarify that a dc voltage can be applied directly to this connector in lieu of an ac voltage.  Not knowing if it matters.  But I'd rather not make matters any worse than what they already may be.

Thanks again everyone for your experience because I have little.

Dave2 posted:

Carl.  You suggested applying 3-5 volts DC to the motor directly.  Or even a 9 volt battery.  So this tells me (can't say I thought about it until now) that one of the two circuit board is also rectifying the ac  to dc. There appears to be a small pcb attached to the motor.  Do you know if this is the ac to dc rectifier?  Or is it on the big PCB board?  I couldn't see too much of the circuitry on the motor board but I see there are two resistors.  So the only reason I'm throwing this out is because I would like to clarify that a dc voltage can be applied directly to this connector in lieu of an ac voltage.  Not knowing if it matters.  But I'd rather not make matters any worse than what they already may be.

Thanks again everyone for your experience because I have little.

 

 

   

Good question - I didn't pay attention to what that small board on the motor was about when I had my Thomas apart for repairs. It's not my train, so I will say no, don't apply any voltage.

if it's less than a year old, Lionel will replace it under warranty.(with copy of purchase receipt)  Trainz has boards and such and can repair it.

Back on OGR again.  Thought I would give an update on the Thomas & Friends Remote Diesel that many of you provided input on how I might get it working again.  After trying everything that was suggested, I finally gave up.  Took it to:

Brasseur Electric Trains

in Saginaw, Michigan, closest place to me.

After repeated phone calls and 6 months later they finally called and said it was ready to be picked up.

They charged me the same amount that it would have cost to buy a new one.  In fact I'm of the belief that they simply replaced it with a new one.  The whole time they claimed they couldn't get parts.  I could have bought a new one and had a spare remote had it I known the resolution would end up like this. Since we've all had our shots now, I'm happy to say the grandkids favorite engine was put back into service this past Christmas and is still  running.

Dave2,

What you got back works properly.  If you don't like the way it turned out I suggest take a  formal complaint to:

1. Lionel
2. The Better Business Bureau
3. The Attorney General for the State of Michigan

You're obviously certain that Brasseur's did nothing, and that they couldn't find parts, or wouldn't take the time to look for them.  Do you know that they are one of the most respected repair organizations, and a sponsor for this forum?  Do you know that parts for many things are indeed in short supply?

You also have a problem with what they charged you.  Your product's warranty had expired.  Lionel's warranty matches it's competitors in the business so you it should not, and apparently didn't, come as a surprise that you'd have to pay for repair.

Be aware however that the set you bought is one of least expensive Lionel offers.  From it's list price (MSRP $139.95, 5 years ago) it should be clear that it would be hard to pay the going rate for a repair technician and not quickly exceed a reasonable fraction of the original cost.

Repair shops have to make money or they won't be in business for long.  Many, many, many have closed.

Looking at all this, ask the techs here on the forum for their opinion but I'd say you did reasonably well.

The standard for quality service by a provider, one I learned many, many years ago, is to leave your customer pleasantly surprised.

   Given this was your experience perfect? No.

   Does it seem to be acceptable compared to what it could have been? Yes.

Hopefully your future purchases turn out better.

In the mean time, and in this case, you're asking for too much.

Mike

Having gained some experience with modern Lionel electronics in the years since the OP, my gut reaction is to throw away the remote and the internal electronics, wire in a bridge rectifier and just drive the little indefinite forwards-only with a conventional transformer. 

But that's just me.   

Mitch

@M. Mitchell Marmel posted:

Having gained some experience with modern Lionel electronics in the years since the OP, my gut reaction is to throw away the remote and the internal electronics, wire in a bridge rectifier and just drive the little indefinite forwards-only with a conventional transformer.

But that's just me.   

Mitch

Mitch,

Please take the following as constructive criticism, and in the encouraging spirit in which it is offered.

It's not just you.  You've either posted this comment to reassure yourself that your analysis and suggested course of action is fundamentally correct, to encourage others that agree with you, to take a jab at electronics, or perhaps all of the above.

Truth is that toy trains have needed to be fixed for all sorts of reasons, not just failed electronics, going all the way back to 1900, and well before.  They were never at any time in the last 120 years, and are not to this day, immune to failure in any system, whether mechanical, electrical, electronics, software, system, or networking.  There is not now, and never was, a "golden" design.

I have a great deal of respect for your technical knowledge about our beloved trains, your wit, and especially your talent in resurrecting dead soldiers.

However, why is it that a comment like yours comes up in every situation where electronics are the source of the failure?  Every last one.  You of course don't make them all; many others do, but at least one answer in every such thread is always "Rip everything out, and put in a simple bridge rectifier; then live with it."

Perhaps you and others think that electronics is an "experiment", although 50 years old now, which will finally be seen for the folly it is/was?  That the manufacturers will remove all the baloney, and that those of us who like the electronics will take our things, go home, and leave the rest of you and the hobby much better off?

Should the same thing happen with software?  How about networking (TMCC, Legacy, DCS communication protocols, and WiFi and Bluetooth interconnectivity)?

Not going to happen.  The world changed at some point; in fact there were several changes at several points that many of us didn't see coming.  Unfortunately all these things are here to stay.  The good news is that our beloved hobby has survived them, and continues to do just fine.

Please keep fighting for simplicity.  This is what you do best, and it's absolutely fundamental and necessary. Don't ever let the rest of us overpower your message.  There is, and must continue to be, room in this hobby for all viewpoints.

But at the same time, don't expect us to simply take our things and go away.  Newer technologies are here to stay, and we will continue to lend our efforts to fixing things to be the way the manufacturer intended them to be, right or wrong, no matter how important, or how trivial.

Mike

(Why? You might be surprised at how important toy trains have been to many of us, of how they've shaped our early learning, our evolving interests, and eventually our career choices.  In order to continue to do the same for following generations, our trains need, and the hobby needs, to keep the newer technologies intact, and to encourage them instead of disparaging them.  For the sake of the future.)

Mike:

Oh, heavens no!  Wouldn't recommend tearing out electronics willy-nilly...if they're working properly.    But if it's going to take $120 to repair a $130 brick, there's something to be said for a $5 bridge rectifier, a moderately sized capacitor and a traditional transformer to revive that there dead soldier...  ;D 

Mitch

A couple of years ago I too had a Thomas that wouldn't move.   The RF was working and also the controller.  The board in the engine has failed.  I researched getting a new board and found it was not so easy.    The history of Thomas boards was confusing.  I contacted the technical folks at Lionel who were equally confused but did investigate my allegations.  Turns out there was confusion which Lionel unraveled with some effort on their part.   I eventually was able to purchase the board which fixed my Thomas.  The point of my story is that it is likely that a repair service would have to expend considerable time and effort to repair this product making it economically beyond repair.   Dave 2's repair service did what they promised, not surprising given my experience that it took a long time and cost more than expected.

I had the exact same problem with a new current version (now 2 years old) Thomas.  Sent it back to Lionel under warranty.  Turned out it was a cold solder joint.  don't know if it was on the motor or an output from the controller board.

Jan