ERR Cruise Commander M Problem

Interesting that no one has suggested this.  Have you tried calling/emailing the 3rd Rail people or more specifically the Electric Railroad Company?  I have two Locomotives apart on my bench thinking I would like to invest in the product(s) of ERR but I have not, so I have no direct knowledge about their products to give you a direct answer.

Thanks, Jim.

I did send an email to ERR a few weeks ago, but never heard back.  I should probably send another.  My understanding is that John on this forum is the most knowledgeable, so I’m hoping he responds.

AAAH, you are right about GRJ.  Try and email him directly if he does not see this.  Go to the "Members" tab and see if you can contact him.

What do you mean "no cruise"?  Does it run and simply not have speed control, or doesn't it run at all?  Are you running command or conventional?

John,

All works including the throttle, but it doesn’t hold constant speed when load changes.  I’m running Command mode, but did try conventional and same thing.  I thought cruise was suppose to work in both.  This model was early, so no Odyssey.  Is that required for CCM?  I saw conflicting info on the ERR site.

No Odyssey required, you only use one speed control system at one time.  I'm somewhat at a loss why it doesn't work, have you tried the keystrokes to turn cruise on?

Thanks, John.

I tried that and the motor size, too.  Programmed the feature code as well.  I sent a message to ERR and they suggested the same thing.  I’ll go through everything again today.  None of the keystroke commands seem to do anything.  No change in operation at all.  Tried the step change, too.

Is a defective board unheard of?

Don

They're not unheard of, I usually toss any suspect boards on my test set to verify operation, that way I eliminate all the variables of the installation.

If you want to send the board to me, I can test it, first class postage both ways shouldn't be more than around $10.  AAMOF, I just checked, a 6oz package from Hawaii (big island) is $5.

Don,

I have some Cruise M's that are programmed using the keystrokes in gunrunnerjohn's post above BUT I have others that use keystrokes with 0 (zero) instead of DIR.  To turn cruise on for these boards, the sequence is:

AUX1 + 0 + AUX1 + BRAKE + 9 + BRAKE.

This is the same sequence that is used for the ERR Cruise Lite boards.

Try the above sequence.  It will either turn cruise on or it will do nothing.

Well, I tried all the keystroke codes again and nothing changes.  I also tried my Cab 1 system on another locomotive and the cruise works perfectly.  I reprogrammed the feature code again, but nothing changes.  Feature code is 4 for this engine.  I tried a 1, but nothing works except the engine sound.  Going back to 4 had everything working again except the cruise.

John, I appreciate the offer and it may come to that, but I have contact with ERR and maybe they will do a board switch.  I’ll keep you posted.  Thanks for the suggestions so far.  I was aware of the different code Bob suggested, but that one doesn’t work either.

John one other question.  I did try this with a R2LC07 board originally, then got a R2LC013 board to try before I got the correct R2LC08 board.  Could the other boards have damaged the CCM?  Doesn’t seem likely given that everything else works.  

Don

There's no way the board damaged the CC-M, and FWIW, I've successfully run the CC-M with the C07 version multiple times.  I've also shipped out several locomotives with the C13 code and the CC-M, they work fine.  I believe the earlier R2LC versions may give you more issues, but if the R2LC-C07 works properly, I can't see hitting the customer for a new R2LC, it's a needless expense.

I suspected that, even about the C07 board.  The reason I got the 08 was that the 07 wasn’t working and other threads here on OGR indicated the the 07 wasn’t compatible with the CCM.  The ERR literature says 08-013.  I was excited about the 08 thing because I thought I found the problem, but it works just like the 07 did.  Lionel calls out the 08 board for this engine now.  I thought all the versions were compatible, so I first purchased the latest 013, but nothing worked except the engine sound.  Lionel gave me a refund on the 013, and I ordered the 08.

Just sent a note to ERR asking if they will exchange the board for a new one.

Thanks for all your help.  I’ll post an update.

Don

Just an update on my CCM problem.  ERR sent me a new board and cruise worked perfectly on the first try.  Exactly the same install, so it must be a bad board.  Thanks all for your suggestions and offers to help.  Don’t know if the C07 R2LC board would work as John suggested, but I’m going to keep the C08 in and not touch anything further.  I can keep the 07 as a spare.  I am, as they say, a happy camper.

Don

It's not common, but it does happen.