Early Legacy Odyssey II Speed Control / Run Away Engine question

Check the flywheel with the plastic tach reader ring. I had the same issue, the flywheel came loose on the motor shaft, tightened the setscrew on the side of the flywheel back up, problem solved.If you remove the top short hood access cover, its just held on by magnets you can run the loco and see if the flywheel is slowing on the shaft. With the flywheel slipping and the speed control on the loco thinks its going too slow so it continue too increase speed.

Rick, Thanks I will try that, but I do think it is electrical not mechanical. Also would like to understand the principle of ODY versus momentum better.

IS the set screw an allen head or slotted?

Engine still acts up, but only when trying to increase speed, once it increases speed it then takes off. G

Odyssey is just a device that tells the speed control what to do. It maintains the same rpm of the motor no matter the load (uphill, downhill, etc...). It uses the magnet on the flywheel and a sensor to monitor motor rpm.

Momentum is just a software thing that tells the speed control to act like it's carrying a heavy train or light train. The higher the momentum, the more slowly the train will accelerate & decelerate.

My advice would be to check the set-screw on the flywheel. Also check that the magnet ring on the flywheel isn't cracked or damaged. If that checks out, then maybe try to set the engines maximum speed limit (if that's a Legacy option).

There is something else going on with the engine and it winds up with a glitch issue.

I am using TMCC, but this has occured with Legacy. I have selected M for 100 speed steps and NO momentum. The engine is more responsive and seems to do well at lower speeds. But if I used the Boost button to increase speed, or use the throttle to do it, at some threshold speed the engine takes off at full throttle and I loose control of the engine.

Ultimately at some point hitting Brake, or direction button will stop the engine, but then it is unresponsive to throttle (no motion). Still have sounds, can activate whistle and bell, engine RPM will ramp up, but no motion.

If I use AUX1 zero I regain motion control and engine will run. I can repeat this problem.

At a certain throttle setting the engine jumps to full speed.

So is this a tac reader issue, a DCDR S board issue, a r4LC type issue?

With momentum on it seems like the engine is harder to control and take off at full throttle seems easier to occur. Also with momentum, the engine doesn't want to respond in reverse direction as easily as in Forward?

Anyone have ideas on what the problem could be? G

I'd be looking closely at the tach that's scanning the flywheel strip. Perhaps it's slipped or is loose in the mount?

I will look again, all looks fine though. This all started after a derailment, and turning ODY off solves the run away engine problem, but removes capability. Does this point to one circuit board or does it become and easter egg hunt. The DCDR S is a $110 board. G

Before you drop the $110 on the board,I'd send an email to Lionels customer service tech support just to make sure that will take care of the problem. I've had great results and recived replies from the within a day or two.

Is that the "Talktous" Address?

quote:

Originally posted by GGG:
Is that the "Talktous" Address?

That will work, or you can use the Customer Service>Contact Us>Service or Repair Question link,this one is nice because it asks for all of the necessary information regarding the item and problems you are experiencing so they can gather the info and make an assessment

quote:

Originally posted by GGG:
Rick, Thanks I will try that, but I do think it is electrical not mechanical. Also would like to understand the principle of ODY versus momentum better.

IS the set screw an allen head or slotted?

Engine still acts up, but only when trying to increase speed, once it increases speed it then takes off. G

It could be either some locos use an allen head and I know I've tightened others with a flat head screwdriver out of an eyeglass kit. Just for the sake of asking, did you check the batteries in the remote,low batteries can make strange things happen as well. Do you own other locos,do they run normally? Lastly, the first tmcc remote I purchased had a defective throttle, the red knob would lose its "zero point" after breif operation and the loco would rocket out of control as well. Restart the loco and it would run fine until the remote lost the "zero" again.

Ricko, This engine was giving its owner similiar problems with Legacy. I am testing with TMCC. My engines run fine and so does this engine except for this little quirk, which is quite big if you run mulitple trains or LU/MUs. I was lead to believe this occured after a derailment, but I am starting to think it may just be a dirty sensor. Other post gives an update. G

To close the loop, cleaning the tach reader especially at the base where some lint/dust collected, and ensuring the gaps in the tach wheel did not collect any particles solved this issue.

Engine is running correctly. G

Great, thanks for the update, nothing beats an easy fix!