Can't get my new legacy system running

when a legacy engine does not respond in command mode it is not seeing the legacy signal.   with the legacy base hooked up to your track you should not be able to run a legacy engine in conventional mode.  check to make sure the one wire from the legacy base is coneccted to the outside rail.

 

I don't know enough about the zw. someone else will have to chime in on that.

All you have to do is make sure the center rail is red outside rails ground .You take a ground wire from the track to the cab base..Or from the transformer .Then you should power up the track after you turn on your legacy base very important .. The base has to broadcast the signal before you power the track.After that program the engine watch the videos on Lionels site to do that if you don't know how to do that..You have to program them they will not respond if you don't ..

Legacy base wire to one of the U terminals on the ZW-C and then from A-U to the track center rail-outside rail.

 

When you power up the ZW, the B and C outputs will go to whatever the handles are set to. Have you checked that with your ZW? I use them for the command layout so I don't have to power up the A or D with the CAB controller.

The legacy controller does not turn the power on.  Turn on legacy.  turn  the A throttle on so green light goes on And then turn on the b throttle.  

If you don't connect the Legacy base to the ZW-C, then the four outputs will simply follow the handle positions on power up.

Not sure what you mean. The ZW-C simply has to be plugged into AC power (the bricks) and if running it with Legacy the A and D outputs will follow the CAB controller throttle TRK 1 and 4 to the limit of where the handles are set. The B and C outputs will go immediately to whatever their handles are set to. These addresses are subject to the programming of course. You have to program the ZW to address #1 and the outputs will automatically be 1,2,3,and 4.

If not running Legacy on the ZW, the outputs will just follow the handles. However you are running the ZW in Legacy if you are running the layout in Legacy since the U is ultimately connected to the Legacy base either directly or thru the outside rail connection.

I appreciate your replies, but I believe that I have tried the solutions based on the Lionel 6-32930 ZW-C Instructional Video. It is an excellent 35 min video. If you go into the video 13-16 min is where my problem starts and ends for that matter. It is interesting that i can succesfully program the ZW-C track 1-4 because the flashing lights go out on the ZW as expected when I program for track 1-4. That means the remote talked to the ZW-C. Next I put a piece of track down with a lighted car on it, like Mike did.  All grounds, hot rail and signal wires are hooked up like the video. I'm bringing the power up like the video states, Legacy first then the track. Followed the video, take the remote, push TR, push 1, dial up and get no voltage on the track. Take the Legacy out of the equation, powers up as it should.I have used this video and the Legacy videos to attempt to program the engine two weeks ago..I have followed the instructions to the letter. You can view them online to see what I have done and checked out

 

I am new to this whole thing, is it possible to screw up the remotes brain from all of the attempts at programing to get the Loco to work? Can I clear the remotes brain some how? Maybe the ZW-C has gone bad, but it did work two weeks ago when I sent the engine back to Lionel for the sound problem. At that time I did have the engine running around the track with the use of the remote. the couplers worked to, but no sound.

 

Any help in isolating the problem would be helpfull. I am going to try to find somebody local with Legacy to help diagnose the faulty part. I am so new at it i have no contacts so i thought I'll give the forum a try.

Why dont you try this first ... Do not link the legacy remote to the zw.. Use the zw like a zw just power the tracks after you turn the remote on.. Use the legacy remote to power the train and see if that works.. This will let you know the legacy remote is working .. Then you just need to figure out what your doing wrong to get the legacy remote to work with the zw-c .. I thought the zw-l was the only one you could use the legacy remote on..

If you connect the Legacy base to the track outside rail, and the connect the ZW U terminal to the outside rail, then the ZW is forced to run in Legacy. So that won't work.

 

One thing though, are you raising the A handle all the way up before you apply AC power to the ZW? The handles A and D are only limits as to how far you can throttle up the A and D outputs. If they are left off, you will not be able to throttle up with the CAB controller TR1 or TR4.

If I'm reading this right I think you have the Lionel ZW-C lagacy issue that should be covered in the Lionel ZW-C Instructional Video starting at around 31:00 hope this helps?

I don't have a ZW-C, but I too have watched the video and read the manual. If it is not the problem pointed to by Drew, then (as has been mentioned above), you do need to set the handles to supply the maximum voltage required to the track. The remote will then allow you to adjust power up to that point. In addition, make sure that the Legacy base is switched on before you switch on the ZW-C.

One last point. As your locomotive has just been to Lionel for attention. Please ensure that you have re-programmed it before trying to run it under Legacy control. It is normal practice for the locomotive to be given a different ID number when being serviced. Good luck. 

As Chuck and Nicole have said you have to set the handles to maximum to get maximum voltage out. You can set the ZW-C to manual mode by setting the first output to TR #0 this put it into manual mode but the halt button still works with the cab1 all other commands do not. Some ZW-Cs need a chip installed to be totally compatible with Legacy. This may be your problem. Is it possible you haven't programmed it correctly? When programming it the red light will flash until it receives the commands then it will stop flashing.

Ron

Ron

Is there anyway to tell looking at the ZW-C if it has the chip or not?

Larry

My old chip has ZWC05 as an ID on it, I don't remember what the new one had, but it was different.  I don't feel like taking the transformer apart right now.   If you have the above chip, I suspect you need the upgrade.

I found the problem with Lionel's help this morning. It's not the chip, they said the train won't run at all with the old chip. It turns out that I was not powering up the track thru the remote properly. Remember I am totally green to what CAB-1,TMCC, Legacy,etc, mean or how they work together. With the ZW-C in the equation you have to power up the transformer of course, but I did not understand how to transfer that power to the track. I thought that the Legacy window on the remote did that when you addressed the engine. It doesn't!!! When you push TR on the remote it reverts back to a CAB-1 screen which totally confused me as to why I needed to be there. That is why I thought I had programmed the remote wrong. This is where you actually apply power to the track. I spun the dial but it was not nearly enough to apply full power to the track. Many times I did not dial enough to light the engine. There is nothing on the CAB-1 remote screen that shows you are in-fact doing anything. If you are new to this you don't know what to expect. It is not untill you have made many turns of the dial does the engine come to life. Then you address the engine thru the CAB-1 screen, eng# and it reverts to Legacy screen. Now you can turn on the Locomotive. It WORKS and RUNS!!!! Now that I understand what's happening, it explains why in one attempt the engine fired up but would not move. I quickly figured out I had not applied enough track power. So I'll probably put a volt meter on my track to make sure I have dialed up the proper power. It is of course limited to where you place the transformer handle.

 

So thanks to all who replied.

Ron

Railroad Ron glad you got it squared away.

 

John I'll just wait until I get that far with the new layout and try both of mine with a Legacy engine. I was hoping the serial number would help me figure out what chip was in them.

I have no idea what the serial number range was.  I just had a problem with Legacy and mine, so I put the chip in.  Mine is the PWC model, which came before the next pressing of the ZW-C.

The sticker on my chip which is now working has a ZW-C6 on a label.

Ron

That must be the new version, like I said, I don't want to take mine apart to see.  However, mine was ZWC05, so you have a newer version.

The new chip is a  ZWPC-S01.HEX

Just FYI. Both of my ZW-C manuals say

"Additional features that are accessible with your CAB-1 Remote Controller in the TrainMaster Command Control System environment".

However the word Legacy is not in the manual.

My old chip was a ZW-C6. My ZW was new in 2006.

Chuck, I remember now that it said something about .HEX on the new chip, but it's been a while since I put it in there.

 

Larry, the manual was written before they considered Legacy, but I assure you it works with Legacy.

I cheated. There's a picture of it in Lionel Parts

remember the marketing slogan -
All it takes is one wire to the track?  Just teasing.  Stuff like this is usually overlooking one crucial step.  We've all done something similar that kept us awake at night.  Great job figuring it out.  Now have some fun!

remember the marketing slogan?
All it takes is one wire to the track.  Just teasing.  Stuff like this is usually overlooking one crucial step.  We've all done something similar that kept us awake at night.  Great job figuring it out.  Now have some fun!

Well, that was probably a very intelligent cheat.