Blown RCDR in Lionel HHP-8 - what do I do?

I'm not the expert on this board specifically, but I think those are the motor driver section FETs. Hence- your motor and drive train might have drawn excessive current causing the failure. How many cars were you pulling?

#1 your Power House would never trip. Expecting it to save your bacon- not even close. This type of failure is not going to be detected externally.

#2 "It stopped" likely I would be checking that motor and drive train- it drew excessive current or maybe failed and shorted to frame? Again, I would test that motor with DC, measure current, do a thorough mechanical and electrical inspection.

This one out of a speeder IMO, is worth a shot. https://www.lionelsupport.com/...CM2-CMD-TMCC-SPEEDER

Same board- just in theory different firmware.

Another option is a tethered cap version from the trackmobile.

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...ERED-CAP-TRACKMOBILE

vs

In fact, given we are coming up on the parts sale, I would buy a motor just to be safe.

http://www.lionel.com/articles...ual-Parts-Sale-2023/

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...-FLYWHEEL-GEAR-HHP-8

also, another possible board?

Inspection truck version?

https://www.lionelsupport.com/...CMD-INSPECTION-TRUCK

I mean this engine only has trainsounds, so I'm hoping the firmware code was not that specialized and these other ones work for your functionality.

Thanks Vernon - this is helpful.  I am definitely going to check the motors out and go through it - its the set version of the HHP-8 - so it has smaller motors anyway.  I was pulling two of the three amfleet cars that came in the set.  My main concern was not being able to find any electronics - and in that case maybe put something together legacy or ps3 wise. 

-chris

So - I replaced the motors and the board - it works, but sound only works in conventional mode for some reason.  I Cant get the horn or bell to fire in TMCC mode.  I guess that's the price I pay!  frankly its the kind of engine that performs better on a shelf than in operation with those tiny motors.  Thanks @Vernon Barry for your help!

OK, I was looking at the wrong info possibly. The ERR mini commander 2 more closely matches the physical board from Lionel you have. That said, reading the manual did not give me feature codes like my previous post, so I doubt now if that works.

http://www.3rdrail.com/err-3rd...anuals/MC2-Dec19.pdf

The board Lionel sent me is exactly the same ( even the labels on the chips). other then the larger capacitor which I just borrowed from the old board.   I tried a few tmcc reset commands - nothing.  Sound is powered I hear the speaker come on.  Maybe the board doesn’t support the serial connection in the firmware.  If I can find an err mini commander i will pick one up, they seem hard to come by.  Might just try my luck with a blunami conversion before sinking a ton of money into 25 year old technology.

@ChrisFromCle posted:

... before sinking a ton of money into 25 year old technology.

Maybe it's not worth sinking money into any Lionel stuff since so much of it, over 120 years worth, is old technology?

Going further, what's different about electronics since we don't seem to a problem spending money on old electricals or mechanicals?

Could it be that for some reason folks think that they fail more often than electrical or mechanical stuff (when there's no clear evidence that they do)?

Or, is it just that the electronics have become harder to find because so much has been pulled recently, and is now labeled "unavailable", from lionelsupport.com?

BTW -- No heatsinks on the FET's?  That might be fine for a trackmobile or a speeder, but it's probably not going to cut it on a typical locomotive.

Mike

FWIW, I replaced that with the ERR Mini Commander 2 on a couple of customer sets, and it performed perfectly with all the features intact.  I used the MC2 with couplers for the upgrade.

I'm pretty sure any of the similar RCDR models that are still available will give you sound, and I believe I have one with couplers still laying around if you need one.

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

BTW -- No heatsinks on the FET's?  That might be fine for a trackmobile or a speeder, but it's probably not going to cut it on a typical locomotive.

That's because they don't need them.  If you look at any of the modern Legacy boards, none of those have heatsinks on the FET's either, and they're handling a lot more current.   Here's the RCMC...

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

Maybe it's not worth sinking money into any Lionel stuff since so much of it, over 120 years worth, is old technology?

Going further, what's different about electronics since we don't seem to a problem spending money on old electricals or mechanicals?

Could it be that for some reason folks think that they fail more often than electrical or mechanical stuff (when there's no clear evidence that they do)?

Or, is it just that the electronics have become harder to find because so much has been pulled recently, and is now labeled "unavailable", from lionelsupport.com?

BTW -- No heatsinks on the FET's?  That might be fine for a trackmobile or a speeder, but it's probably not going to cut it on a typical locomotive.

Mike

you're not very mellow, @Mellow Hudson Mike

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

FWIW, I replaced that with the ERR Mini Commander 2 on a couple of customer sets, and it performed perfectly with all the features intact.  I used the MC2 with couplers for the upgrade.

I'm pretty sure any of the similar RCDR models that are still available will give you sound, and I believe I have one with couplers still laying around if you need one.

Ah, some solid advice! Thanks @gunrunnerjohn!

@Mellow Hudson Mike posted:

BTW -- No heatsinks on the FET's?  That might be fine for a trackmobile or a speeder, but it's probably not going to cut it on a typical locomotive.

That's because they don't need them.  If you look at any of the modern Legacy boards, none of those have heatsinks on the FET's either, and they're handling a lot more current.   Here's the RCMC...

Not to mention the OP’s part is an RCDR… not exactly powering any motors with that one!

@rplst8 posted:

Not to mention the OP’s part is an RCDR… not exactly powering any motors with that one!

The MC2 is an RCM2, and it does power motors, just not big ones.

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

The MC2 is an RCM2, and it does power motors, just not big ones.

I see, my bad. I confused it with the plain RCDR like from the Legacy LM PRR T1.

Yep, but the FET's still don't need heatsinks, just the bridge rectifiers.