ERRCo Cruise Commander issues

Well Norm, that's a new one on me.   I have three engines with ERR CC boards have never noticed any firmware stickers on them.   Only issue I ever had was with one weaver engine had poor reception. Installing a R4LC board over a R2LC board fixed it. Weird to say the least.  

Should be be interesting to see what the experts have to say.

I always test my Cruise M and CC installs by observing the first blink on the Command Base and see if it moves. All of mine have started with the first pulse. Never heard of them starting on the second pulse. Earlier CCs came with and R2LC CO8, now R4LCs. Never noticed a difference in performance. 

Maybe your R2LC has problems? I seem to be collecting bad R2LCs which I have go through and determine if they can be fixed. Most either from used engines I have purchased or friends broken engines. 

Pete

I'm sure you read the part about keeping the original R2LC. I am wondering if anyone else has seen this behavior as this is the first time I've encountered it. Could it be ver 7 had some issues? 

Send it back, ERR is very good about making good on any issues with the product.  I've had a few bad boards over the years, I just send them back and get a good one.

I think that's a good idea. This is probably the first time I've had any real issues with their boards. 

I've used a lot of them, and I figure I see maybe a 1% or less failure ratio.  I had a couple that had bad solder joints, those were easy to fix once I spotted it.  I've gotten several back from upgrades with mystery failures.  I don't know if they're the fault of ERR or they were abused, but they never gave me any trouble replacing them.

I have more issues with R2LCs and try to keep a spare or two around. 

Would anyone know the diff between the firmware versions? I'm assuming that's what the sticker is for...

Norm Charbonneau posted:

I have more issues with R2LCs and try to keep a spare or two around. 

Would anyone know the diff between the firmware versions? I'm assuming that's what the sticker is for...

Try searching on GGG's (George) posts and Santa Fe Fan (Jon Z). Over the years they have listed the differences in firmware. Some versions are specific for only one or two engines.

Pete

Even Lionel isn't sure what the different versions are for, just ask them.   A lot of the earlier stuff isn't well documented, if at all.  For instance, there are several versions that are all called C08...

I mean the firmware on the actual CC board...

OK, that's different, ERR should know what changes were made there.

Here's the sticker in question:

In any case, I will hassle Ken sometime and see if they are willing to swap it. 

Norm,  Correction..   The latest software is 8.0a, but usually comes with the R4LC 08.   I did have a pair of 3rd Rail that had cruise boards with old firmware, but these had boards with actual connectors on the board.  They had MU issues.  Ken did swap them out stating those had older software.  Let us know what Ken says.  G

I had a similar issue with my first ERR install, where the R4LC was incompatible with the CC.  I also swapped out the R4LC for a known good R2LC and all was fine...and the R4LC worked successfully in R2LC donor engine.  I seem to recall, someone else here had the same problems.  I had thought of re-swapping the boards to see if the issue had corrected itself, only after both engines were buttoned back up....and I wasn't ready to go back inside 2 engines again!

Bruce