Vision Line Challenger Help Needed

The reset procedure is actually a "1" after the Aux1, and also there is a SET after the engine #.  If that doesn't restore it, I'm guessing something indeed got toasted.

What do you mean about "not shut down"?

1. Slide the program run switch to the PROG position.
2. Plug in and connect your Command Base.
3. Place your locomotive and tender on the track, then power up the track.
4. Press ENG and enter the locomotive’s ID#.
5. Press SET.
6. Press ENG and enter the locomotive’s ID# again.
7. Press AUX1.
8. Enter 1 for this particular locomotive.
9. Turn off track power and wait ten seconds.
10. Slide the program run switch back to the RUN position

Many thanks, John.

it was a "No go."

I am terribly frustrated and upset.

Yes, the derailment was my fault. no doubt.

I have had a run of Legacy breakdowns I could never have imagined.

1) My Legacy S-3 Milwaukee started the three flashes in the cab about 3 weeks ago.

    I added 16-18 drops of smoke fluid. If that is too much, my fault. Geez.

2) The next day I started up my Pennsy 2-10-4 Legacy and added no fluid. Same result, three cab flashes. BOTH had to go for a ride.

3) Three days later my Legacy Santa Fe Northerns three cab flashes after adding 12-14 drops of fluid. I was able to reset that and now it runs fine.

4) Put my JLC Challenger on the track. Dead as a doornail.

5) Now the Challenger. My fault? Yes.

If these locos are this sensitive, I will not be able to buy any more. Each of these trips back is at my expense. Shipping and repairs.

6) Today I got a bonus. My Legacy Pennsy cattle car is now dead. no sounds.

Bad luck ? Maybe.

Eliot

Under this engine make sure the ground wires are still attached .. May I asked how you power your Trains? I noticed a lot issiues I Run into are wires grounding out and making them do wired things like no sound shutting down not responding .. This engine has ground wire attached to the front set of wheels ..

Eliot,

Sorry to hear your pain.  What a nightmare to deal with.  Bad enough when it is one thing, several will wear you out quick.

I am going to take precautions and stay away from this site...maybe it is viral and move to my house 

Hope it is a simple fix.  

Well, the smoke unit issues sound like the fan motor, I have replaced quite a few with the MTH motor, none have returned for any issues with smoke.  A couple of those repairs were after a trip to Lionel and the same problem returned within a couple of weeks.  Apparently, they're still having trouble with the smoke fan motors.

The Vision Line Challenger sounds like the sound system suffered a failure.  Since the boards are modular in there, it's probably not too difficult to fix.

If it weren't for bad luck, you'd have no luck at all!

Start the engine and hit AUX-1 then 3 and let us know.  If you put the tender only on the track does the Railsounds come alive?  Can you fire the rear coupler? 

Thanks, John and Marty, and jojofry.

In Legacy mode when I hit Aux1, I then see the "Sound Up" icon where the number one appears in TMCC mode (upper left button on the pad). After hitting Aux1, should I hit that upper left key as it appears or do I need to change it so the number "one" appears?

Marty, I will do what you suggest and report back sometime tonight. Ginny and I are going on a food pantry run. It's funny, my bad mood changes when we do this type of work. It is somewhat unusual to post this thought here, but after all these problems I was down in the dumps. Seeing truly desperate people reminds me how blessed we are. Helping out at the food pantry makes me feel good again. Like I am re-balancing.

YAHOO !

Marty Fitzhenry is a train doctor PhT !!!!

We have full function !!!

We have full function !!!

YAHOO !!!

Marty . . . you get beers for you and Dotty and burgers, too !!!

Scrapiron Scher promises !!!

It was just the volume turned down?  Amazing stuff.

John, many times when you have a derailment or mishap, AUX-1  then 3 will reboot Railsounds.  Fortunately a derailment with Legacy or TMCC will not cost you a board. 

I took the loco off the track and left the tender as Marty Suggested.

i then powered up but the tender started before any commands and I heard the clanking sounds of a steamer at rest. There was no other sound and no coupler function. I then did an Aux1 + 3 and shut down. The tender then went through the full shut down sequence which I was unable to achieve with the loco on the track.

i then powered down Legacy and placed the loco back on the track tethered to the tender. Voila, upon powering up no ghost mode. I then addressed the loco and had full functionality.

i never knew this process existed. Marty is truly amazing.

Hats off to Dedham, Massachusetts !

Eliot

Eliot,  So once you placed the tender on the track the sounds started immediately correct?

I think Marty wanted you to do the AUX 1 3 with the engine attached.  That is the command to raise volume.  I think the derailment caused a RS Mute.

I don't have Legacy engine, but I don't think the tender can receive commands unless the Engine is attached with the Legacy board.

Since the tender was on the track alone it started up in conventional.  Once you attached the engine you now have serial data passing to the tender. 

Is that correct Marty?  G

Curious. When the tender was on the track alone it did not respond to any of the commands. When the loco and tender were on the track, the loco responded to most commands but the loco was starting automatically and would not shut down, therefore I could not do a reset.

When the tender alone was on the track and power was shut, the tender did shut down with the normal sequence and the loco could be restarted when it was attached. Marty certainly told me to do that.

Eliot

The tender cannot take commands itself ,it receives them from the infra red drawbar.

I assume you must have a battery in the tender.

When you cut power to the track, the battery in the tender automatically activates the shutdown sequence.

This allows conventional operators to have the shutdown sounds.

I wonder if it was a  mute issue as mentioned above, but the tender didn't "get the command" because the loss of power put it in "battery mode".

Keep in mind a legacy loco  can be addressed and will operate just fine without its tender, it just doesn't make any sound. 

I think its the tender battery that kept the tender sounds going that caused the confusion. 

* As far as your smoke unit issues go, I don't think Lionel has released a locomotive without a defective fan motor since the first run of Legacy locos back in 2008.

I replaced one in my k4 a year ago and Lionels website hasn't had anymore in stock since. That tells ya something.

Eliot,

Sorry to hear of all the problems that you are having with these models.  My goodness, I do hope that the people at Lionel are reading these posts so that they can get a handle on these matters and be proactive as to their future offerings.

Again, we are blessed in having so many Forumites who are very knowledgeable and are able to help us.

Many thanks to all!

Steve

At some point he got it going.  I always like to start with the tender alone on the track to confirm the Railsounds is working.  When the engine is on the track with the tender, the engine sends commands to the tender through the wireless tether.  That is a good system. 

Although most of my engines arem MTH, I have about thirty Legacy engines and do like the Legacy system very much.  I find it user friendly.

Rick, just use an MTH motor.

Marty, once again, many thanks.

The problem was that the loco would start automatically when power was applied to the track. There were some sounds, steam clanking, for example, but no other. The loco would not respond to shut down sequences. Perhaps it had something to do with a mute issue. The KEY to this is simple. Until I got the tender to shut down properly, nothing worked to alleviate the problem I described. It was Marty who suggested isolating the tender. NOTHING else worked. Once the tender shut down, the loco could be attached and started properly.

BTW, the tether never came loose.

Scrappy

This is great information. When I have a short usually a aux1 0 reset starts the sound back up on my vision line challengers with the engine attached. I will make a note of this in the future if I have the problem. Thanks.

If Lionel would standardize these features it would put a lot of these questions to rest.

It is working so that is what counts.  My point is with sequence.  The Loco is independent of the tender, but the tender depends on the loco for serial data in the command mode.

So when Marty says to do a AUX1 3, that is not a reset.  It is a start up signal for TMCC.  For that to work the tender and engine must be connected and in the Command mode.  Maybe the tether wasn't quite right after the derailment.  Any bend in the draw bar can cause the IR signal not to be read by the tender.  G