Remember that the headlight and taillight outputs are negative in respect to frame ground. Try changing the polarity of the wiring to those and see if they wake up. If you're using the full Cruise Commander, that should work. If you're using the CC-Lite, you also need the .01uf capacitors across the lighting outputs to properly trigger the triacs.
I'm using the full CC. And I did notice the headlight input on the chuffer was for the negative. I'll try to reverse later and see what happens. Thanks
The Super-Chuffer actually has a negative ground headlight for the LED. However, if you want the reverse light to work, that's a positive ground connection for that LED. Also, you have to use a BARE LED for the headlight from the Super-Chuffer, your 12V lights have added resistors and diodes, they will NOT work for the Super-Chuffer headlight.
Then that must be the issue because the 12v led has a built in resistor in the shrink tubing. I paid very close attention to all the + and - connections across all the boards. Checked my work at least three times before I tested it.
From the Super-Chuffer documentation. 
H1-P4, Headlight Output to LED Headlight: This PWM output directly drives an LED headlight that is
returned to frame ground. The circuit is rated to handle one white LED at 3V operating voltage.
Oh ok nice. Easy fix then. I'll just sweat off the resistor.
As for the rear backup light I'm using one of those 9-18v LEDs with the bridge rectifier? (I think it's called that) does the Cruise commander put out the needed 9-18v for that led or do I also need a 3v led for that spot as well?
youve been a life saver John! Can't thank you enough!
This reminds of the time when I was attempting a full ERR upgrade on one of my Atlas SD40s that originally came with EOB and Railsounds 4.0. Wiring the motors, power and switches seemed straightforward. The lighting, however, was a different story.
The late Bill Lewis did 2 of my engines and he explained to me what was involved to get the proper lighting effects and smoke to work... Resistors to reverse current to get the lights to work correctly...Then a trace on the smoke PCB had to be cut to allow the brass fitting for the smoke unit to be seated, the air inlet hole had to be reamed another 1/4" and part of the board had to be filed to allow for clearance from the flywheel on the front can motor.
The 9-18 V LED "should" work with the reverse light output. If the LED package only has a diode and not a bridge rectifier, you may have to reverse it's polarity, I don't know what yours consists of. The full Cruise Commander doesn't need load resistors for the lighting outputs as it has on-board components to trigger the triacs. The Cruise Commander Lite does need loads, but the best option is the .01uf capacitors they ship with them, they don't add a resistive load and trigger the triacs just like the load resistors did. The headlight of any TMCC unit doesn't need any load resistors with the Super-Chuffer Rev. 2, I put the capacitor on-board to eliminate that issue.
Since this is a PS/1 smoke unit, connecting it directly to the TMCC smoke output should yield a good result, no need to hack anything on the smoke unit.
Re verse polarity. The R2LC send negative half wave. So the track ground connection is actually + for LED purposes and goes to the + red anode of the LED.
The output terminal goes to negative lead of LED. G
GGG posted:Re verse polarity. The R2LC send negative half wave. So the track ground connection is actually + for LED purposes and goes to the + red anode of the LED.
The output terminal goes to negative lead of LED. G
Obviously with a suitable current limiting resistor and a diode to prevent excess reverse voltage on the LED.
Hey John another question I had was that I tried turning off the smoke unit with the - symbol on the legacy remote and it just stayed on. Is there a way to wire that feature in?
The fan will continue to run, but the heater is off. I didn't have an extra pin on the uP to know when smoke was off to disable the fan. It was a compromise, if I had another input, I'd have had to give up a feature somewhere. There is a way to do it, but it adds a couple of components, three to be exact. You simply make yourself a simple 5V power supply with a diode, 100uf 35V cap, and an 78L05 regulator. That circuit receives it's input voltage from the smoke power output from the Cruise Commander. The positive of the fan motor is fed from this, and the negative goes to pin 6 of the Super-Chuffer as it does now. When the smoke power turns off, this also turns off the fan. It doesn't really hurt anything to leave the smoke fan running, which is why I went that way.
So I'm finally done with the T-1!
The led headlight wouldn't work off the GRJ super chuffer, even after a 4 or so ways I tried to wire it. (Trust me I tried them all!) ended up wiring in a 9-18 volt led off track power which doesn't bother me since all the other LEDs will be on constantly anyways. Maybe it's just the LED I was using....who knows?? Also the smoke unit will not turn off (the heating element). So it's wired to a switch under the cab and I'll just turn it off that way. Not a big deal.
Anyways thank you so much to everyone for helping me through this project with your tips, advice, and knowledge. I feel like the next time I do this I'll be much more comfortable. Enjoy the video!!!
Sorry I can't get the video to embed in the post from my phone I guess so the link above will have to do.
I am also having difficulty with lighting on an ERR cruise commander M installation. I was able, at first, to get incandescent lighting in forward but nothing in reverse. Now there is no lighting whatsoever. If nothing, you're in good company, Nick. I will be investigating further to see if the issue can be corrected. I want complete CC. Will let you know if there is a fix.
Bruce
The Cruise Commander M has nothing directly to do with the lights, they were and still are controlled through the R2LC in the same manner as they were before you installed the CC-M.
Sorry about that, John. I meant the R4LC kit. I'm basically doing the same conversion....remove an old PS1 and install ERR.
Bruce
OK, the lights work exactly like they do for TMCC, note that for LED's you need to insure the the positive side goes to frame ground as the lighting outputs are negative in respect to ground. I've installed a ton of these upgrades, and lighting outputs have never been an issue, they just work.
I guess I really need to get in gear and now upgrade mine. I wouldn't mind more details on the LED lighting you did, including the fire box.
sinclair posted:I guess I really need to get in gear and now upgrade mine. I wouldn't mind more details on the LED lighting you did, including the fire box.
It depends on which locomotive. I've gone from simple replacements for headlights to fairly involved wiring of headlights, marker/class lights, number board, cab lights, and strobes. Of course, there is also the flickering firebox.
Here's a flickering firebox from track power that works pretty well, the multiple LED's really enhance the flame effect.
Attachments
Thanks John, now where do I find colored flickering LEDs?
Do a search on eBay for "Ultra Bright Flickering LED Led" and you'll get lots of hits. They have both 3mm and 5mm in a variety of colors. I picked up some of each.
Another place is Lighthouse LEDs, here's the Flickering LED Search.
GRJ,
Please show circuit for turning off smoke fan motor when using Super Chuffer.
Thank you.
If you're using a Lionel smoke unit with the 5VDC fan supply on the smoke unit, it's simple. You just take the positive lead from the smoke motor to the smoke unit 5V power instead of pin 9 or 10 of the Super-Chuffer. The negative lead of the smoke motor still goes to the Super-Chuffer pin 6 to control the chuffing. Since the 5V supply on the smoke unit is controlled by the smoke output of the R2LC, this turns off both when that's inactive.
For a smoke unit that doesn't have a 5VDC fan supply, you have to add a simple power source with a diode, cap, and regulator to power the fan, then you do the same thing.
sinclair posted:I guess I really need to get in gear and now upgrade mine. I wouldn't mind more details on the LED lighting you did, including the fire box.
I buy mine from this website:
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/ledlights1.html
these are the flickering LEDs I used in the firebox. I choose a red one. Make sure to select the 7-19volt option and they can be wired directly to track power! Also the polarity doesn't matter on them, it really takes the guessing out for someone less inclined at wiring.
http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/flickering-led.html
For the headlights I used a 3mm warm white. http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/bl-212.html
gunrunnerjohn posted:The RailSounds Commanders for steam do come with a reed switch and one magnet. I buy magnets in quantity from K&J Magnetics, they have small disk magnets pretty cheap. If you choose to go with a RS4 board, there is a more compact solution than trying to find a MB and using the RS4 power supply. It's the Lionel 691PMB2AC2 Powered Motherboard/Railsounds, this is the old base for the ERR RailSounds Commander. The bonus is that the instructions for the older ERR RS Commander still apply to this board. It's a more compact solution, and probably cheaper than doing it with the two boards.
For the antenna, I float the tender shell, I haven't have any significant issues doing that with most tenders. It's a lot easier than screwing around with the handrails, at least IMO.
I "bit the bullet" and bought the crimp tool and an assortment of the various JST connectors used in Lionel locomotives. The Engineer PA-09 crimp tool will do all of the Lionel 2.5mm, 2.0mm, and 1.5mm connectors commonly used in TMCC and Legacy locomotives. All of the connectors and contacts are available from Digikey or Mouser.
@gunrunnerjohn now that you've had a few years to use the crimping tool you so graciously listed above, what is your impression? I haven't always had the best luck with crimping tools that are anything short of the multi-hundred dollar tools used by the company I used to work for. Opinion?
Thanks,
George
GeoPeg posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:The RailSounds Commanders for steam do come with a reed switch and one magnet. I buy magnets in quantity from K&J Magnetics, they have small disk magnets pretty cheap. If you choose to go with a RS4 board, there is a more compact solution than trying to find a MB and using the RS4 power supply. It's the Lionel 691PMB2AC2 Powered Motherboard/Railsounds, this is the old base for the ERR RailSounds Commander. The bonus is that the instructions for the older ERR RS Commander still apply to this board. It's a more compact solution, and probably cheaper than doing it with the two boards.
For the antenna, I float the tender shell, I haven't have any significant issues doing that with most tenders. It's a lot easier than screwing around with the handrails, at least IMO.
I "bit the bullet" and bought the crimp tool and an assortment of the various JST connectors used in Lionel locomotives. The Engineer PA-09 crimp tool will do all of the Lionel 2.5mm, 2.0mm, and 1.5mm connectors commonly used in TMCC and Legacy locomotives. All of the connectors and contacts are available from Digikey or Mouser.
@gunrunnerjohn now that you've had a few years to use the crimping tool you so graciously listed above, what is your impression? I haven't always had the best luck with crimping tools that are anything short of the multi-hundred dollar tools used by the company I used to work for. Opinion?
Thanks,
George
George, I don't pretend to be GRJ in any way, but I picked up the IWISS AWG28-20 crimping tool this fall and found it due a good job easily. (That said, I have not had the pleasure of using any of the multi-hundred dollar industrial crimpers.)
I think the Engineer PA-09 is a slightly better made tool, but I also have the IWISS tool and it works fine as well, and it's cheaper. If you're buying one for casual use, it's hard not to recommend the IWISS, works fine and considerably cheaper. I've been using the PS-09 for some time, and I do crimp a lot of connectors. I have the IWISS in my traveling toolbox with some contacts and connector shells for "on the road" work. 
gunrunnerjohn posted:I think the Engineer PA-09 is a slightly better made tool, but I also have the IWISS tool and it works fine as well, and it's cheaper. If you're buying one for casual use, it's hard not to recommend the IWISS, works fine and considerably cheaper. I've been using the PS-09 for some time, and I do crimp a lot of connectors. I have the IWISS in my traveling toolbox with some contacts and connector shells for "on the road" work.
I assume the IWISS tool you're referencing is this one. Thanks for the feedback!
George
Yep, that's the one. It works fine, I did some connectors with it without issues.
With either of these, you're going to find out that experience is the best teacher, you'll doubtless have a few bad crimps before you get the hang of it, especially on the smaller pitch connector pins.
gunrunnerjohn posted:Yep, that's the one. It works fine, I did some connectors with it without issues.
With either of these, you're going to find out that experience is the best teacher, you'll doubtless have a few bad crimps before you get the hang of it, especially on the smaller pitch connector pins.
Are there a few specific pins used in the JST connectors for RailSounds, LCRUs, etc.?
Might as well get a supply of these items as well. There's just nothing quite like the feeling of having the right tools and the right parts when you start a job!!!!
Thank you yet again!!!
I've posted the information many times for the connectors used with Lionel stuff.
JST-EH (2.5mm), JST-PH (2.0mm), and JST-ZH (1.5mm) are the most common connectors used on both TMCC and Legacy. You'll also find the Molex Mini-SPOX 5264 (2.5mm) connectors in both Lionel and MTH locomotives and rolling stock.
gunrunnerjohn posted:I've posted the information many times for the connectors used with Lionel stuff.
JST-EH (2.5mm), JST-PH (2.0mm), and JST-ZH (1.5mm) are the most common connectors used on both TMCC and Legacy. You'll also find the Molex Mini-SPOX 5264 (2.5mm) connectors in both Lionel and MTH locomotives and rolling stock.
Thanks for one more time!
George
