I'm having a similar issue with my lionchief Hogwarts set, it just started making a popping, crackling sound in the speaker when I'm running the train really slowly, especially on curves, but otherwise it runs great. It doesn't seem to do this at higher speeds or in reverse for some reason. The drawbar looks ok, and is secure in its connection. I emailed Lionel about this and have yet to hear back. As for the skipping chuffs you describe, I have experienced this before on my older lionmaster j3a Hudson with tmcc, I asked Lionel about it and if I remember correctly they told me it was a bad cherry picker or something along those lines. Not sure if the lionchief engines have this however, but could be a possibility.

Lol.   Cherry switch......   And no, LC engines dont have them.....   they have mechanical arms that also operate the smoke unit.   Might be out of alignment.

Matt,

I've got no crackling speaker noise it's just a silence when there should be a chuff.  I tghought that there is a magnet on the drive wheel that activates a sensor which triggers the chuff and I was thinking maybe a cleaning would be in order even though I've only had it a couple of weeks but I'm not sure.  What's a cherry picker?

Paul

So far as I know, a "cherry switch" is what I call a "micro switch" - it is just a small, sprung on-off switch that is driven by a cam or rod or other arrangement to synchronize some events. I don'y know where the term "cherry switch" came from (I'll bet Wiktionary does).

It's a good technology, but I think that Lionel (and others?) use fairly low-end units, and they shouldn't. Hard to get to, usually. Shouldn't fail for years. But they do.

I apologise for asking this, because I don't want to take any attention away from the original posters topic here, but I really need some help with my lionchief Hogwarts, does anyone know what could be causing the popping crackling speaker sound and how I could fix it? It only happens when going forward at a low speed, and the drawbar is connected properly with no visible issues. Otherwise the train runs great. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Matt,

Send it Lionel - email Talktous@lionel.com

Get an RMA, they turn fast. If it is under warranty - no shipping costs to you. Sounds like a loose wire or bad speaker.

D500 posted:

So far as I know, a "cherry switch" is what I call a "micro switch" - it is just a small, sprung on-off switch that is driven by a cam or rod or other arrangement to synchronize some events. I don'y know where the term "cherry switch" came from (I'll bet Wiktionary does).

It's a good technology, but I think that Lionel (and others?) use fairly low-end units, and they shouldn't. Hard to get to, usually. Shouldn't fail for years. But they do.

D500-Cherry was the name of the company that originally invented and made that type of switch.Nick

The LC locomotives have an optical chopper that's actuated by the smoke unit piston lever, it may be out of line or the lever binding.  No, they do not have the "Cherry" switch.

They made a LionChief Allegheny?!?!?

Jon  

KOOLjock1 posted:

They made a LionChief Allegheny?!?!?

Jon  

PENNSYLVANIA ALLEGHENY HAULER BERKSHIRE LIONCHIEF™ TRAIN SETSKU: 6-81269

When I started working in the manufacturing industry in 1963, the properly named limit switches were then called 'Micro Switches'. This follows the same logic as calling a hex key an "Allen wrench", an adjustable wrench a '"Crescent Wrench" and spring locking pliers "Vise Grips"; all of which, Micro, Allen, Crescent and Vise Grips were brands. Cherry started later on with push-button style switches used on keyboards. They also diversified into other types of switches, including limit switches.

Regarding the limit switches, from Wikipedia:  The first micro switch was invented by Phillip Kenneth McGall in 1932 in Freeport, Illinois, patent 1,960,020. McGall was an employee of the Burgess Battery Company at the time. In 1937 W.B. Schulte, ^[1]McGall's employer, started the company MICRO SWITCH. The company and the Micro Switch trademark has been owned by Honeywell Sensing and Control since 1950.^[2] The trademark has become genericized for any snap-action switch. Companies other than Honeywell now manufacture miniature snap-action switches"

After working in the industry for fifty years, I do not recall anyone calling a limit switch a snap-action switch, but I suspect some did.

Alex

Serows1,

As GRJ pointed out, LionChief engines use an optical switch to detect the chuff lever.  I would look if the lever is aligned properly first.  It's the same lever that pumps the smoke piston.   You can test the sensor and electronics by manually pressing the lever up and down to block the sensor.  If the engine makes chuff sounds when manually operating the lever, you know there is something wrong in the mechanical section, where the lever is not fully blocking the sensor for some reason.  If the engine does not chuff when manually blocking the sensor, then you know there is something wrong with the electronics side. If that's the case, first look for any broken or disconnected wires.  The chuff sensor will have 3 wires running to a plug on the main board.  There is also the switch to turn chuff on and off, check the wires here as well.  If that all checks out then we can move on to more complex things, or sending it in for repair.  

PolarExpress1225, 

I would guess there is a bad connection somewhere between the speaker and the main board.  Start by checking that the pins in the draw bar connection are clean and are not bent in a way that would provide a bad connection.  From there an Ohm meter may be of help.  With the shells removed from engine and tender, and no power on the track, unplug the speaker/tether plug from the main board.  with the Ohm meter measure the resistance from each pin of the tether connector to each solder lug on the speaker. On of the connections should read very close to 0 for each pin on the connector.  repeat the test while wiggling the drawbar about as well to see if you can detect an intermittent problem.  Chances are you have a loose connection where the wires connect to the draw bar's pins, hidden under the shrink wrap.  If, however all the wires and connections check out, you may have to send in for a repair, as there are no user serviceable parts on the board it's self.  One last thing, it is possible the speaker its self is damaged.  inspect the "paper" cone for and rips or tears, and also measure the resistance right across the speaker, it should mach closely to the resistance printed on the back of the speaker, Likely 4 or 8 ohms

Good luck, 

JGL

JGL, thank you very much for your assistance. I did as you said, and found no issues. After some more running of the train, I discovered that the sound crackles at all speeds, but obviously is more noticeable at low speeds. Also, it only does this going forwards, while going in reverse it doesn't crackle at all. Also, I discovered that it does this crackling sound only at certain spots on my layout, so it crackles at the same places everytime. Therefore, I cleaned the track and even replaced those track sections it crackles at with new ones, but to no avail. I emailed Lionel about this and they said to try cleaning the track and cleaning the tender drawbar wire with an eraser, though I'm a little confused about that one.

Have you cleaned the wheels?

Yes, I've cleaned the pick up rollers on the locomotive and passenger cars, and the locomotives drive wheels. Oddly the tender doesn't have pick up rollers.

Not that odd, it's a cheap set, and the tender only has the speaker inside.

Lionel emailed me saying it could be a dirty wire, though I'm not exactly sure what they mean by that. How would I know if that's the case? 

Probably means the tether connecting pins.  Shoot some Tuner Cleaner in there.   I doubt thats the problem, but you never know...

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Not that odd, it's a cheap set, and the tender only has the speaker inside.

Can we please refrain from calling $300 - $400 trains/sets "cheap"... 

Overpriced and poorly made, yes!  

Train Nut posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Not that odd, it's a cheap set, and the tender only has the speaker inside.

Can we please refrain from calling $300 - $400 trains/sets "cheap"... 

Overpriced and poorly made, yes!  

Could you please dispense with the hyperbole.  You're buying a whole train set for less than $300, exactly what did you expect, Lionel Legacy?  They are cheap sets, and perhaps poorly made as well.  Everything is relative.  You'd probably call an $8,000 car cheap, but it's not really "cheap", right?

I seemed to have run into a bigger problem now. I thought maybe the lionchief terminal track section may have an issue this causing the crackling sounds, so I took it off and used a normal FasTrack terminal section connected to my cw-80 transformer. I powered the transformer throttle to max track power, then I heard a loud crackle sound, then...The train went dead silent, no sounds at all. So I put the lionchief terminal track section back on and tried again, but still dead silence. The lionchief remote is blinking a fast red flash, and will not run the train or trigger any sounds, though all the lights on the locomotive and passenger cars still stay on perfectly, and the red light on the lionchief terminal track section stays on solid as well. Anyone know what happened and what I can do? Thanks

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Train Nut posted:

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Not that odd, it's a cheap set, and the tender only has the speaker inside.

Can we please refrain from calling $300 - $400 trains/sets "cheap"... 

Overpriced and poorly made, yes!  

Could you please dispense with the hyperbole.  You're buying a whole train set for less than $300, exactly what did you expect, Lionel Legacy?  They are cheap sets, and perhaps poorly made as well.  Everything is relative.  You'd probably call an $8,000 car cheap, but it's not really "cheap", right?

Cheaply made i would agree.   Cheap price.  Nope!!  Think most would agree in the context used, makes it sound like its inexpensive...   Get over it!

Polar Express 1225 posted:

I seemed to have run into a bigger problem now. I thought maybe the lionchief terminal track section may have an issue this causing the crackling sounds, so I took it off and used a normal FasTrack terminal section connected to my cw-80 transformer. I powered the transformer throttle to max track power, then I heard a loud crackle sound, then...The train went dead silent, no sounds at all. So I put the lionchief terminal track section back on and tried again, but still dead silence. The lionchief remote is blinking a fast red flash, and will not run the train or trigger any sounds, though all the lights on the locomotive and passenger cars still stay on perfectly, and the red light on the lionchief terminal track section stays on solid as well. Anyone know what happened and what I can do? Thanks

Sounds like a short and blown speaker..   Think its time to send for repair.

Polar Express 1225, 

Based on what you describe, it sounds like it's time to send in for repair.  I'm just stabbing at a guess, but it sounds like the power supply circuit inside the engine was dodgy and finally blew when the AC transformer was used.  I could speculate as to which component failed, but it isn't worth the trouble, as you'd have to have it repaired by an experienced tech anyway.  From what I understand, Lionel's default solution to a board problem is to replace the entire board.  

GRJ and TrainNut,

I think the missing word is 'relatively' .  $300 is dirt cheap for an O gauge train set, but it is a ton of money compared to many of the battery operated Thomas toys out there.  

I will say I'm disappointed in the build quality of my most recent Polar Express engine at $320 retail for the set, but am quite happy with the quality of lower priced started sets I've purchased recently.  $200 for one NYC freight set with a very low end, but seemingly well built RS3, and even the $80 Dino Diesel set seems to provide a lot of value for the money, despite being built down to pinch every penny possible.   I do think there is some room for improvement in build quality of many LionChief products, but not so much that I'm upset about it. 

Anyway, yes, LionChief sets are relatively cheap... but only in comparison to other O-gauge products.  $200-300 seems reasonable to me for what you are getting.  On the other hand, a friend recently purchased a battery operated train set for his daughter, that had a wireless remote control and runs on the same wooden tracks as her push trains for $20.. and it works great.    To me, I guess it comes down to this,  If you want a toy, buy a toy, and if you want 3 rail O gauge, be prepared to spend a couple bucks.  

JGL

JGL, I've been kinda busy and couldn't get back to the forum until now but I did have enough time to diagnose the issue and you where spot on.  The issue was that the lever wasn't passing all of the way in front of the optical sensor all of the time causing the lack of chuff.  I found that to be unusual for such a new engine so I went a little deeper and found no lube where the cam and push rod meet and I suspect wear on the plastic push rod is the culprit.  So, I tweaked the lever slightly so it would cross the optical sensor enough and added lube to the cam/push rod to prevent further wear, the funny thing is the gear box had plenty of lube.  I cleaned it up and got her back on the rails purring like a kitten.  Thanks again for your detailed hypothesis, it was right on the money!

Paul

Serows1,

Glad you got her running again.  Keep an eye on it, and let us know if the problem comes back, or it needs a tweak again.  

JGL

Having 3 lion chief 0 8 0 steam engine s in the fleet that run for hours on the Yard layout... first the tender is only a speaker box and tender plug is only speaker wires so clean the tender conection. Second is the optical switch , this must not have oil, smoke fluid , dirt , on the lens, ( switch located under boiler in front of drive wheels) . Third is the actuating bar blocking the optics at the correct angle to block switch, on, off.... After that its defenently broken wire time or shorted out board , test as required. Happy Training to you...