1997 Lionel Hudson J1e random railsounds...

Bill, can you test the tender conventionally, via a transformer throttle?….separate the engine from the tender, and verify it works or doesn’t with out the engine …..if it’s ok conventional, check your IR alignment. ( the draw bars ) …….this sounds like an IR disruption, …..double check your connections from the engine to the IR draw bar,…..do you have control of the locomotive? There is an adjustment pot for the radio signal on a LCRU, if you’re having a multitude of control problems, I’ve seen folks accidentally turn that adjuster…..it sticks up in the middle of nowhere…….the latter only being true if you have a multitude of control issues…..

Pat

@BCianci posted:

I installed a new sound board in my hudson a few months ago and its been perfect. Last night I replaced the resistor in the smoke unit.. again, all was working perfectly. I ran the engine today and after a few minutes the railsounds got a mind of their own... see video... any help is greatly appreciated.  I was holding the smoke boost for a few seconds when the sounds went wild, not sure if that's got anything to do with it...

1st try turning the volume knob up and down a few times. I bet it is a corroded rheostat. Usually you can clean it by turning it.

@harmonyards posted:

Bill, can you test the tender conventionally, via a transformer throttle?….separate the engine from the tender, and verify it works or doesn’t with out the engine …..if it’s ok conventional, check your IR alignment. ( the draw bars ) …….this sounds like an IR disruption, …..double check your connections from the engine to the IR draw bar,…..do you have control of the locomotive? There is an adjustment pot for the radio signal on a LCRU, if you’re having a multitude of control problems, I’ve seen folks accidentally turn that adjuster…..it sticks up in the middle of nowhere…….the latter only being true if you have a multitude of control issues…..

Pat

Thank you, I'll be trying this out today, stay tuned!  BTW, I posted on OGR because I didn't want to badger you on email...

@iguanaman3 posted:

1st try turning the volume knob up and down a few times. I bet it is a corroded rheostat. Usually you can clean it by turning it.

I'll try this first, I have a sneaking suspicion this just might work.

@BCianci posted:

I'll try this first, I have a sneaking suspicion this just might work.

Yeah, iguanaman3 might’ve hit the nail on the head here, ….that’s clearly the easiest thing to try first!…,good catch @iguanaman3

Pat

Okay, here it is, I checked the tender on the track by itself with conventional power, the sounds were perfect and it responded the to whistle controller on my ZW.  I then check the IR on the engine more closely and saw that the mini plug looked like it pulled away from its socket just a tiny bit so I pushed it back in with small screwdriver - turned on the power and like magic all is right with the world again. Thanks very much for everyone's input!!

Happy endings. Ain’t it great.

@romiller49 posted:

Happy endings. Ain’t it great.

Yup, it's great, and it doesn't happen often so I'm savoring it.