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I posted yesterday a short blurb about receiving a Lionel UP 2-8-0 #6-28038. Yesterday the tender worked fine. Today the sound does not work at all. I should mention the light on the back works fine; just no sound.

I noticed the wire to the front truck had come loose, so I fixed that, but still no go. I've had the "tank" part of the shell off (as per the instructions: like when you want to install a battery), but I may need to dig deeper; in which case, can someone here explain exactly how this thing put together?

I see a couple of exposed screws along the bottom frame, but I don't want to do anything until I know what sequence this is all assembled in...I can post photos if that would help.

Thanks in advance.

Mark in Oregon 

Last edited by Strummer
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I have the SP version of this locomotive. Just unscrew the frame from the body and the front part comes off.

I'm pretty sure your volume issue is the volume pot. I picked up my SP version last year MIB and the contacts in the volume pot corroded, causing the sound to drop out. Contact cleaner solved the issue for a bit but the sound would gradually disappear. I ended up replacing the volume pot and all has been well since.

The backup light works so he should have power, as long as the power wire is not disconnected from the boards, but double checking the wiring is a must. If everything checks out I'm pretty sure it's the volume pot. I've got a bunch of volume pots I'm not using so I can hook him up no problem. I need one for a project but had to buy a box of 20, so I have 19 sitting around .

@harmonyards posted:

Mark, looks like it’s diag time.....looks like you’ll need to either open it up and diag it yourself, or send it to GRJ ( John)  and let him fix it....if you decide to send it off to him or someone, just remember, nobody likes sloppy seconds, so leave it be if you’re not sure....

Pat

Oh, I'm definitely not sure! Unlike mechanical issues I've run across in the past (which I can usually figure out), this electronics stuff is way over my head...  

It's a shame (in a way) in that went I first got this, and the sounds were working, the volume was at, what I thought anyway, a nice "mellow" level. This made me believe that, unlike my other sound-equipped tenders (which to my thinking are too loud, even at the lowest setting), the volume control on this one was working "properly"... 

Am still open to suggestions, and I really do appreciate any and all... 

Mark in Oregon

Last edited by Strummer

Kind of an update.

Have a new volume pot on its way; (thanks, Lou!). Hopefully that will solve this issue.

Interestingly enough, a very similar engine (with the similar problem) has appeared on eBay:

893

The description is exactly how I should have explained it: it "worked", though not very loudly...like it "faded out"...then stopped all together. Other than the road number (326), it's the same engine as mine:

894

It's a mystery, that's for sure!    

Mark in Oregon

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Last edited by Strummer

Final post on this one, I guess...

I just read another thread about "Signal Sounds But No Rail Sounds"; in it, Gun Runner John suggested a board swap. I have a spare PRR E6 tender, which, as it turns out, has the same "Signal Sounds" board as this UP 2-8-0:

895

Sure enough, my problem it seems, was this board; after swapping the boards, the UP 2-8-0 now works fine. I then put the suspect board into the E6 tender (just to double-check) and now that tender does not have sounds at all.

If anyone out there has pulled one of these boards (not because it failed, but because of an update to "Rail Sounds"), I would be interested in purchasing it/them as back-ups.

I'm really pleased with this outcome; being an electronic as opposed to mechanical issue, I was fearful that it would be beyond my abilities to trouble-shoot/ "fix". 

It sure pays to read this forum...  

Mark (still) in Oregon

 

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