I have both these also.
First, the shed light should come on immediately when you apply power to the accessory. The instructions say it comes on when the car enters the unit but that is wrong, they changed the design before production. Lionel confirmed this. So if you don't see the shed light on immediately when applying power I would check your connections to make sure you have it hooked up correctly first.
If it is hooked up right, trying swapping bulbs in the shed with your other one and see if its just a bad bulb.
Ambient light does effect the sensor. Try black electrical tape on both sensors as a test (one on the tower frame and the one on the base) Make sure you cover not just the tip but all around the sides of the one on the frame.
I wired mine to 2 switches. One powers the accessory. The second starts/stops the crane.
If you still cannot get it to work then you may have a bad circuit board inside.
The fact that the shed light doesn't come on seems power is not getting everywhere or you have it miswired.
I bought 4 of these in Bethlehem Steel version and all worked out of box but I heard some had some bad circuit boards and had to be sent back to Lionel.
Originally Posted by E-Rock:
I recently purchased a 6-12983 Culvert Unloader...and it's not working properly. When the car is parked between the optical sensors, the lights on the top of the gantry flash several times, then nothing. The light in the shed never comes on, and so nothing happens. It actually "came to life" one time for me so far, but the crane simply moved over the car and then stopped there...never lowering the magnet.
I also have the companion 342 Loader, which works perfectly.
I've watched the Lionel instructional video for the newest version of the loader/unloader pair, and Mike R. mentions that this type of behavior (lights flash only) is due to too much ambient light hitting the sensor. Well, I've tried everything...blocking the sensor with my finger, turning off the lights in my room, etc. No joy.
I'm stuck here...can anyone offer any suggestions? Is there anything further I should check?
