Replies sorted oldest to newest
Send it back and get a new one!
as for the box being opened, all of the ones in this batch were opened to fix a hardware issue which was found after they were received from China. There is another thread or two about this.
Can't speculate about how yours was damaged but I'd contact the dealer for a swap first. However if it does have to go to Lionel you will find the wait is typically only a week or two.
btw it looks like a trim piece sure it doesn't just snap back in? or something a drop of super glue fix ?
You're pretty much doing what I would have done, take it up with your dealer first and see if they will expedite a replacement.
I posted a similar thread a few days ago when I discovered the box of my new system had been opened and there were some minor cosmetic issues with my remote. That alone didn't bother me; what I was most fearful of was that there would be some functional problem. There isn't, and I love my system.
That being said, I was castigated (sometimes a bit crudely) by a few members who thought I was too picky (perhaps so). Amusingly, I recall one poster who suggested we should actually pay extra to make sure specific units of product work as advertised before being sent to the consumer!
In most retail climates, the consumer actually pays less for "open box specials" or "factory reconditioned" units. I guess some believe that practice should be inverted when it comes to the toy train hobby. I'll probably be criticized again, but no matter--just airing my present opinion. I am a huge Lionel (and Legacy) fan, but if there are quality issues, I'm sure the company would want to know about it. It also never hurts to pass along what they are doing right, as well. And there is plenty of good, too.
I'm sure you will be "made whole," and if you have never used Legacy before, prepare to be amazed. I was, even though nothing was a surprise in terms of what I knew you could do with it before I actually owned one. Actually operating your trains (and layout/accessories, if you go that far) is really quite a kick in the pants. Enjoy!
That piece should fit back into place. I had the exact problem.I do not think it is broken, once in use it will stay.
Fred
That being said, I was castigated (sometimes a bit crudely) by a few members who thought I was too picky (perhaps so). Amusingly, I recall one poster who suggested we should actually pay extra to make sure specific units of product work as advertised before being sent to the consumer!
Well,,it was worth a try. Might be easier to have that piece sent to you.
Fred
Have the dealer exchange it, most OGR sponsors will do this quickly.
The dealer will hopefully raise all heck with Lionel who in turn will raise all heck with the Chinese slave masters.
Ignoring it and being satisfied that you finally got your 990 system just promotes lower quality control by Lionel thinking everything is fine or our customers will accept low quality.
This was an expensive item! $299 is not low cost for the 'average" american.
send it back
nope lights should come on when plugged in. Sounds like it got a jolt in shipping, which might explain the broken piece as well
OK....looks like the problem is that the unit got damaged during shipping as Chris has surmised. Send it back and lets give the seller a chance to make it right. Enough said!
Alan
I've purchased plenty of Lionel stuff that worked perfectly out of the box and continues to work. I've also gotten stuff that doesn't work right or not at all.
I've also gotten about the same percentage of stuff from MTH that has similar issues, not to mention other consumer goods that are DOA out of the box.
Welcome to the real world, things aren't perfect.
I just got a call form my LHS who left a message asking me if my 990 system I picked up Saturday works. I have never had that happen before. Apparently the ones he has shipped out have started coming back not working. Unfortunately it looks like DOA, broken bases, scratches, etc will be the norm for this batch as they tried to fix them instead of sending them back to the manufacturer and having them remake them. I bought mine as a backup/extra and did not test it, but I'm going to test it out tonight. I plugged it in last night and the batteries charged up fine, no charging issues, so its good so far. I will run some trains with it tonight. I guess that's why this batch took so long. They must have had one guy in a dark room under a light bulb, taking these apart and putting them back together, HAHA, just kidding.
It's not shipping damage if the box doesn't have any signs of it. I have gotten engines with the hoses broken off the pilots where the box never showed any damage, etc. What's more the hoses were in a protected area.
Lionel is up against it with these kinds of issues. I'm sure they deal with their suppliers about it. But the bottom line is that they are super responsive in answering and fixing the problems. And that's the bottom line for me.
Send it back, they'll replace it, fix it, or refund it. It's only a toy as my wife says 
.
Mine NEW 990 had to go back to Lionel for repair as well. The velocity knob is broken. It will take about a month to get it back. What a bummer that so many of the 990s have indeed turned out to be lemons.
And the box was open -- they all were so Lionel could fix whatever the initial problem was.
I love gunrunnerjohn's quote:
Welcome to the real world, things aren't perfect.
My base came with the same issue, as well as the handheld not working. That piece is held in place by a screw, and the plastic that the screw went in was stripped out (I could slide the screw in and out by hand, no twisting needed.). But that also meant that the metal screw was now rattling around in the base. On mine it fell out and didn't short anything, but on yours if the lights don't come on, maybe you did have a short caused by the screw. Mine is already on it's way back to the dealer, and they will ship me another one.
Being I bought mine for the VL BB, I still have time to wait to get it replaced/fixed, with which I am fine. A pain, yes, but I'm happy to have one with my name on it instead of trying to find one.
After reading about some of the issues folks have encountered, I decided to open my 993 expansion kit box and take a look. Here's what I found...
The blue product box was completely intact -- no signs of dings, dents, etc... And there were three circular pieces of tape (two along the top and one on the front flap) that were also intact. Actually, it appears that a second circular piece of tape was placed over the originals, after the service tech worked on the unit. But if I hadn't known about these units being serviced, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.
Inside the box, all looked well. The remote, base, and 3 rechargeable batters were all wrapped. Only other items in the box were the AC power adapter and a blue V1.52 module.
I connected the power adapter to the base, and plugged it in... and the base lit up OK. No scratches on the base whatsoever.
As far as the remote, the only evidence of it being worked on was a slightly soiled spot on the red Circle-L controller which I was able to clean up with a slightly damp cloth. I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it was the kind of spot that you might encounter if you gave the controller to a little kid who just had a bunch of fresh cookies in his hand!!! 
The LCD display and button matrix still had the protective covering in place, and no scratches or scuffs were visible.
So from a point of cosmetics (and initial functionality of plugging in the base to see that it lit up), I'd give Lionel a 9.8 on a scale of 0-10. Now I just hope the remote itself operates A-OK. 
By the way, did Lionel ever say WHICH PART was the trouble-some one that needed replacement. It appears that the remote can be easily opened by accessing a bunch of screws on the rear cover. So I assume all of these units had the rear cover removed and "some part" inside was replaced. Apparently that all happened here in North Carolina? But I wonder if we'll ever know if the troublesome part was a printed circuit board, or part of the LCD display, or whatever. Anyone know?
David
After reading about some of the issues folks have encountered, I decided to open my 993 expansion kit box and take a look. Here's what I found...
The blue product box was completely intact -- no signs of dings, dents, etc... And there were three circular pieces of tape (two along the top and one on the front flap) that were also intact. Actually, it appears that a second circular piece of tape was placed over the originals, after the service tech worked on the unit. But if I hadn't known about these units being serviced, I probably wouldn't have thought twice about it.
Inside the box, all looked well. The remote, base, and 3 rechargeable batters were all wrapped. Only other items in the box were the AC power adapter and a blue V1.52 module.
I connected the power adapter to the base, and plugged it in... and the base lit up OK. No scratches on the base whatsoever.
As far as the remote, the only evidence of it being worked on was a slightly soiled spot on the red Circle-L controller which I was able to clean up with a slightly damp cloth. I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it was the kind of spot that you might encounter if you gave the controller to a little kid who just had a bunch of fresh cookies in his hand!!! The LCD display and button matrix still had the protective covering in place, and no scratches or scuffs were visible.
So from a point of cosmetics (and initial functionality of plugging in the base to see that it lit up), I'd give Lionel a 9.8 on a scale of 0-10. Now I just hope the remote itself operates A-OK.
By the way, did Lionel ever say WHICH PART was the trouble-some one that needed replacement. It appears that the remote can be easily opened by accessing a bunch of screws on the rear cover. So I assume all of these units had the rear cover removed and "some part" inside was replaced. Apparently that all happened here in North Carolina? But I wonder if we'll ever know if the troublesome part was a printed circuit board, or part of the LCD display, or whatever. Anyone know?
David
I've been thinking it was the Base that needed a different part...did I miss reading back then that it was the Cab2?
I've been thinking it was the Base that needed a different part...did I miss reading back then that it was the Cab2?
Hhmmm.... but why would Lionel have delayed delivery of the 993 expansion kits then? 
The outer shipping box of my 993 unit has a January 2014 factory date on the label, so it's been hanging around for awhile.
David
The dealer should make it right!
I've been thinking it was the Base that needed a different part...did I miss reading back then that it was the Cab2?
Hhmmm.... but why would Lionel have delayed delivery of the 993 expansion kits then? The outer shipping box of my 993 unit has a January 2014 factory date on the label, so it's been hanging around for awhile.
David
Good question...maybe both needed something. The wireless chips?
Were you castigated or castrated? It may make a difference where to return it.
The part was in the CAB-2, but I am not at liberty to say what it was since I was not authorized to peak to the press.
But if you come to the 14th (ish) semi-annual Legacy Users Group meeting Mike is pretty good about spilling that stuff
The Cab 1 and Cab 2 look nothing alike. If it has LCD screens it's a 2.
The CAB1 family (1 and 1L) looks like this with some minor differences (Color and hidden vs exposed antennae)
Do remember there is a CAB-1 mode that shows on the upper screen, this is a basic command mode. The other engine command modes are TMCC, REL100 and Legacy. CAB1 is the absolute most basic and they go up from there.
CAB-1 will operate any TMCC engine out there, so I usually keep engine ID 1 set as CAB-1 so I know I can quickly check anything that comes out of the box. Then i set the engine ID on the engine to what I want it set to and set up that engine ID as needed
The part was in the CAB-2, but I am not at liberty to say what it was since I was not authorized to peak to the press.
But if you come to the 14th (ish) semi-annual Legacy Users Group meeting Mike is pretty good about spilling that stuff
Ok. Thanks. The CAB 2 is more of a pain to take apart...all the buttons fall out. Must have been quite an event.
Curious why all the broken Bases.
The more you know, the less you know...
The Cab 1 and Cab 2 look nothing alike. If it has LCD screens it's a 2
The 1 looks like this
Now actually that is not a cab1 but a cab 1L.
Ron
You have the remote in CAB1 Mode
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
