The front electrocoupler on my LionChief Plus CP Rail GP38 #82825 is not working. The coupler sound works fine, and the rear electrocoupler works fine. I tried unplugging the molex connector and plugging it in again, and there was no change. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.
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I scraped the black paint off the trigger in the middle of the coupler, sprayed on dry lube, and it improved operation. More experienced users here take the couplers apart.
See https://ogrforum.com/...97#86043178681866297
Sounds like a warranty issue.
One of Weaver's last models. GP38-2. LC GP38 may have been Weaver stock, or molds, when they went out of business. IMO Mike CT.
My guess ERR may have replacement couplers that would work, if Lionel does not respond. There were several different coupler lengths that were used.
First step is to measure the resistance of the coupler to see if it's the coupler or the board. You should get around 5-7 ohms across the coupler when it's unplugged.
Mike CT posted:One of Weaver's last models. GP38-2. LC GP38 may have been Weaver stock, or molds, when they went out of business. IMO Mike CT.
My guess ERR may have replacement couplers that would work, if Lionel does not respond. There were several different coupler lengths that were used.
Not even close. Lionel’s LionChief Plus GP38 units are from its 1980s toy train tooling.
gunrunnerjohn posted:First step is to measure the resistance of the coupler to see if it's the coupler or the board. You should get around 5-7 ohms across the coupler when it's unplugged.
Hi John. I'm having this same problem with my UP LC+ GP38 (6-82828). The front electro-coupler will not operate/open. I can check the resistance as you mention. Do you know what voltage is used to operate the couplers? AC or DC? I was planning to disconnect the front coupler and try to test it separately, to confirm if it is a problem with the coupler, or the control board.
I see replacement electro-couplers from Lionel are $14. (part# 6308821550) I didn't want to order a new coupler until I confirmed the problem is with the coupler itself.
Well, not sure about LC+ couplers. TMCC and older Legacy use AC for the couplers, modern Legacy after around 2012 use DC for the couplers. However, all of the above use the same coupler design and impedance.
If you briefly connect 16-18 VAC to the coupler, it should open. If it doesn't, it's bad.
Can you swap the coupler plugs on the LC+ board and see if it fires from the rear position? If it does, its not the coupler.
Well, I found and fixed the problem with the front electro-coupler on my LC+ GP38. After swapping the front and rear coupler connections on the PCB, I confirmed it was a problem with the front coupler. After removing the electrical tape wrapped around the front coupler coil, I found one of the leads had a bad solder connection and had become disconnected:
I re-soldered the connection, and opted to cover the coil with a piece of heat shrink tubing instead of wrapping it with electrical tape:
So overall it was an easy fix. Although it’s a bit disappointing the electro-coupler would fail like this after a few years of ownership and not much run time.
A few years? This is what I found when I took my brand new Legacy H10 out of the box! You're lucky to get a few years out of the coupler! 
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